Photo Credit: Bill Kelly

On Thursday, May 9, Trey Anastasio and Classic TAB touched down in Chicago for a thrilling tour opener at The Salt Shed. After the last-minute cancellation of its performance during BeachLife Festival’s Sunday program, the quartet marked its first live showing of 2024 and its first Windy City set since 2022 with a tight, funky, and exploratory engagement lined with stripped-back Phish classics and Anastasio originals. To set off its 15-stop summer run in style, the band debuted three new songs, treating the Chicago crowd to a taste of good things to come.

Classic TAB–which sets Anastasio alongside bassist Dezron Douglas, drummer Russ Lawton and keyboardist Ray Paczkowski–is renowned for its inspired reworks of Phish standards, bringing a brightly harmonic, deep-pocketed, and high-spirited air to the legendary ensemble’s classic melodies. Thursday’s tour opener offered a wealth of this sort of reframing as the band opened with the rootsy, progressive “Back on The Train.” The first set also included “The Moma Dance,” “Ocelot” and TAB staple “Sand,” alongside the rarer “Wolfman’s Brother” and Anastasio’s quarantined solo standout “A Wave of Hope.”

Trey brought on more of his solo work in the evening’s second act, opening set two with the 2023 offering “Oblivion,” which notably opened the second set of Phish’s final performance at Las Vegas’ Sphere (for now). Following a revival of Phish’s 2016 cut “No Men in No Man’s Land,” the band entered a staggering run of new material, beginning with the debut of “What’s Going Through Your Mind,” which Anastasio introduced as “Your Mind.” After the yet-unreleased solo entry “Outside the Lines,” which proved a staple selection in Classic TAB’s 2023 run, the band issued two more brand-new tracks, titled “Poppy It” and “Demons.” The group brought this untenable energy to an all-encompassing ease with the feel-good “Everything’s Right” before finally closing its second set with Farmhouse’s “First Tube,” which coincidentally (or otherwise) closed out its last Sphere set.

After a beat away, the group presented an encore of Anastasio’s “Cayman Review” and Phish’s “Ghost,” then sent the audience off into the night wanting more. Fans who were unable to attend the astounding performance in person can download and stream audio via Live Phish. Anastasio and Classic TAB will return to the stage tonight, May 10, for a show at St. Paul, Minn.’s Palace Theatre. For tickets and further details on the band’s summer tour, visit trey.com/tour/. 

Read on for the complete setlist from May 9.

Trey Anastasio and Classic TAB
The Salt Shed – Chicago
5/10/24

Set I: Back on the Train, The Moma Dance, A Wave of Hope, Ocelot, 46 Days, Wolfman’s Brother, Sand
Set II: Oblivion, No Men In No Man’s Land, What’s Going Through Your Mind+, Outside the Lines, Poppyhead+, Demons+, Everything’s Right > First Tube
Encore: Cayman Review, Ghost

Notes:
+ Debut