On Friday, Nov. 6, Trey Anastasio delivered his fifth of eight performances at the Beacon Theatre for his ‘The Beacon Jams’ series. The show was streamed live on Twitch. For this week’s edition, Anastasio performed his Ghosts of the Forest suite along with the Ghosts of the Forest band, the first such performance since April 2019.

In addition to ‘Beacon Jams’ mainstays Ray Paczkowski (keys) and Tony Markellis (bass), the Ghosts of the Forest band was filled out by its same 2019 members: Celisse Henderson and Jennifer Hartswick on backing vocals and Phish’s own Jon Fishman – sporting a mighty quarantine beard – on drums. In addition, Jo Lampert served as an additional backing vocalist. Lampert has performed with Anastasio and Fishman twice previously: she was a backing vocalist for Phish’s 2016 Halloween costume set (Ziggy Stardust, which also included Hartswick and Henderson), and she served as one of Anastasio’s clones during 2019’s New Year’s Eve gag.

The setlist mirrored the previous Ghosts of the Forest shows exactly. The show began with the album’s title track, a galloping but mysterious song in 7/8 time. Next came “Drift While You’re Sleeping,” one of the GotF songs that has thoroughly made the jump into Phish’s repertoire. The song particularly highlighted Fishman’s deft and precise drummer.

After “Drift…,” Anastasio introduced an expanded – or as he put it, “spatchcocked” – lineup of the Rescue Squad Strings. Instead of the usual quartet, this week’s Katie Kresek, Maxim Moston, Phil Payton and Mary Jo Stilp on violin, Monica Davis and Rachel Golub on viola and Eleanor Norton and Anja Wood on cello. The strings performed “Friend,” before leaving for “Sightless Escape,” “Halfway Home” and “If Again.”

The strings returned throughout the night, for songs such as “In Long Lines,” “There’s a Path Above” and perhaps the highlight of the set, “Beneath a Sea of Stars Parts 1 & 2.” The sprawling composition and jam was augmented with pre-recorded nature effects as well as the aforementioned strings.

Late in the set, prior to an emotional rendition of “A Life Beyond The Dream” with the Rescue Squad Strings, Anastasio discussed the Divided Sky Fund, which has raised nearly 400 thousand dollars during the livestream series. The funds will go toward building a drug rehabilitation center in Vermont; Anastasio revealed during last night’s stream that it should be completed by the end of 2021. After “In This Bubble,” the set closed with “Beneath a Sea of Stars Part 3 (Blue).”

After a brief break, Anastasio, Markellis and the strings returned to the stage for an acoustic performance of “Brief Time.” As the rest of the musicians re-took the stage, Anastasio and Fishman engaged in some nudity-related banter before closing out the show with “Pieces in the Machine.”

Anastasio is featured on the cover of the upcoming Oct/Nov issue of Relix magazine. Read the piece here, and subscribe at Relix.com/trey.

‘The Beacon Jams’ series returns for its sixth installment on Nov. 13. Tune in at twitch.tv/treyanastasio.

Check out the full setlist below, via Phish.net.

Trey Anastasio
Nov. 6, 2020
The Beacon Jams, Beacon Theatre, NYC
Set 1: Ghosts of the Forest > Drift While You’re Sleeping, Friend [1], Sightless Escape, Halfway Home > If Again, In Long Lines[1], There’s a Path Above[1], About to Run, The Green Truth, Beneath a Sea of Stars Parts 1 & 2[1] > Mint Siren Dream[1], Stumble Into Flight > Ruby Waves, Shadows Thrown By Fire[1], Wider, A Life Beyond The Dream[1], In This Bubble > Beneath a Sea of Stars Part 3 (blue)

Enc: Brief Time[1], Pieces in the Machine

[1] With The Rescue Squad Strings.