[Photo Credit: Joshua Timmermans]

Trey comes to town this weekend for two shows at the classic downtown theatre. The first night still has plenty of seats available and Saturday is almost sold out so get your tickets now. 

For those new to the Trey Anastasio Band (also known as TAB), the shows often take on a similar structure to your standard Phish gig with the first set being pretty straightforward with the second set focused on the jams. But the jams with TAB are often a bit more funky and straight up rock with Trey primarily leading the charge and the band supporting his every move along the way. But that's not to say the band members don't take a solo and for fans of the organ will surely be impressed by Ray Paczkowski. Ray and drummer, Russ Lawton, are in a duo named Soule Monde, which some of you may remember played in NYC this past summer and Trey made one hell of an appearance. 

Another great part about TAB shows are the different covers played compared to what goes down at Phish. It's not uncommon to hear covers of Gorillaz ("Clint Eastwood"), Bob Marley ("Small Axe"), Zeppelin ("Black Dog"), Dire Straits ("Sutlans of Swing"). And of course, there are the Phish cross overs with "Sand", "First Tube", "Gotta Jiboo" and the occassional "Magilla". But both "Sand" and "First Tube" got their start with the original TAB band.

The first time I caught them was actually at the Orpheum Theatre back on 2/21/2001 and it was the same night of the Grammy Awards and it just so happened that they were up for an award for "First Tube" in the category Best Rock Instrumental Performance. Unforrunately they didn't win and if memory serves me correctly they lost to Metallica. But the show, from what I can remember, was fantastic. It was the first show with horns for TAB, which of courese are now a staple featuring one of Vermonts, and honestly one of rocks, best trumpeter in Jennifer Hartswick. 

So if you are still on the fence and are at all a fan of Phish, here's a rendition of "Gotta Jiboo" from their 2012 show at the Orpheum that may entice you to bite the bullet. 

For those that may not be the biggest fan of newer songs like "Bounce" upon listening to studio versions, perhaps this live version from 11/28/14 (a few days ago) of this very song will give you new hope.