After dealing with dicey weather and delays in scheduling, Arrington, Va.’s LOCKN’ festival offered its first day of programming on Thursday, and the festival lived up to its collaborative reputation with Khruangbin welcoming Trey Anastasio for a 40+ minute sit-in.

The psych-funk trio took the main stage at 8 p.m. and after opening with a trio of originals (“Maria Tambien,” “Dern Kala” and “August 10”), Khruangbin welcomed Trey Anastasio for LOCKN’s first unannounced collaboration of the weekend. 

“We’re going to bring a very special guest onstage… Needless to say we are very honored and very surprised. Let’s see how this goes,” guitarist Mark Speer told the crowd before Anastasio emerged from the wings.

The Phish guitarist—who is slated to perform several times over this weekend, with his own Trey Anastasio Band on Friday and Tedeschi Trucks Band on Saturday—added his guitar to Khruangbin originals “Lady and Man,” “The Infamous Bill,” “Evan Finds The Third Room” and “People Everywhere (Still Alive).” 

That final tune saw Anastasio and Speer trading licks and bathing in the white light of the main stage, much to the delight of the crowd. Afterwards, the two guitarists hugged in celebration

And while Anastasio was fully prepared to leave the stage, and unplugged his guitar, he was goaded by the trio to stick around for one more tune. The newly formed quartet closed their cosmic single set with Khrangbin’s “Bin Bin.”

Anastasio is an admitted Khruangbin fan, and in addition using the trio’s music during Phish setbreaks, he invited the act to open his April 20 Ghosts of the Forest gig in Berkeley, Calif.

“My daughter turned me on to Khruangbin after she saw them at a festival a couple years ago, and I love them,” he recently told Relix. “They have their finger on the pulse. I love how melody-centric they are, particularly the bass, which was the first thing to catch my ear. They sound like they are mining for the universal melody. I believe in that. Music beyond stylistic boundaries—it feels borderless.”

LOCKN’ continues this weekend in Arrington, Va. For more information click here.

Check out the full setlist and watch Anastasio join Khruangbin around the 15-minute mark below:

Khruangbin
Aug. 22, 2019
LOCKN, Arrington, Va.

Maria Tambien, Dern Kala, August 10, Lady and Man*, The Infamous Bill*, Evan Finds The Third Room*, People Everywhere (Still Alive)*, Bin Bin*

Notes:
*with Trey Anastasio