The physical atmosphere at the Tweeter Center on the eve of Friday, June 14 was a steady sprinkle and a permeating gloom. The rain, however, did not stop the masses from gathering in the lot to form a friendly, albeit pervasively commercial, atmosphere. I entered the revamped Tweeter (half the lawn obliterated in favor of shelterless bleacher seats) in anticipation of some good music. This tour, the Trey Anastasio Band (TAB) consisted of a five-piece horn section, keys, bass, drums and percussion, with Anastasio on lead guitar, and a halo of lights hovering above all. Anastasio assumed centerstage where he would communicate with, lead, and at points, literally conduct the other nine bandmembers into making brilliantly composed pieces of jam rock. The two sets consisted of songs mainly off of TAB's recently released album, which is available for listening free of charge on www.treyanastasio.com. Unlike Phish, TAB exhibits more worldly influenced rock, highlighted by the horn section and renowned percussionist Cyro Baptista.

The show started off with "Simple Twist Up Dave," which included some piercing, brand name Anastasio rips, showing everyone that this band belonged to him. This song was followed by "Acting the Devil," a very un-Phishlike ska tune that I was pleased Anastasio got out of the way early on. Next was "Cayman Review," the first thrill of the night. Jennifer Hartswick provided some powerfully sexy backup vocals, which were followed by Anastasio dueling with Baptista on the washboard.

"Will It Go Round In Circles" made for an incredible light show. The stage was lit with a Wilsonesque fury while Chris Kuroda (lights) immersed the crowd in spinning and flashing yellow spirals. Tony Markellis busted into some fast '70s Shaft-Funk bass rips that evolved into "Burlap Sack and Pumps." There were some mesmerizing sax solos and "Jaboo"-like space here, and then Anastasio paid homage to Jimi Hendrix with a superb waa effect. That Anastasio was conducting and controlling his own personal orchestra was evident by the way he faced his band, always zoning in on a particular bandmate and raising their level of play. The first set ended with "Money, Love and Change." Here, Kuroda provided an underwater blue-green effect that evolved into a hypnotic rhythmic bouncing, immersing anyone who dared focus in. The song ended with sweet fluting, oblivionesque vocals, a hard driving bassline, and six stop-starts that had the crowd on their toes and excited for the second half.

Following a "Yankees Suck" chant at setbreak, TAB kept the intensity going with an explosive light show accompanying dominating percussion and a nasty Anastasio solo on "Last Tube," which slowed to a stop and was then followed by "Flock of Words," giving all the lovebirds in the audience a time to sway arm in arm.

"Flock of Words" was nicely juxtaposed with the hard rockin' "Mr. Completely," which progressed Oe la Phish through the space-time continuum while being supported perfectly by horns and flute. The fun returned with Hartswick on tuba and then segued into a grooving "The Way I Feel." At one point, the song quieted to an inaudible whisper, but then it returned and finished in full force.

The second set concluded with "Night Speaks to a Woman," which included some solid Type I jamming interspersed with wild percussion and rocketing horns. After band introductions, the horn section danced off stage while playing, followed by the rest of TAB. The group then returned sans instruments in a conga line with Anastasio on caboose, dancing and shaking hands with the front row, and then they finally left the stage.

The horn section returned playing the same way they exited. Then it happened. As the band was tuning up, local boy and Phab Phourist bassist Mike Gordon walked out on stage and the place went absolutely insane. They could have played anything, but when the horns did the traditional opening riffs for "Mike's Song" it brought the house down. For a "Mike's Song" it was nothing exceptional, but to see Gordon and Anastasio out there was worth the price of admission itself, despite the fact their usual mind portal communication line was a little rusty. To make it even more memorable, Gordon and Anastasio did their thing on the trampolines (to which they were obviously out of practice) that they normally do while performing "YEM."

The night ended with a "Weekpaugh Groove" that had a tight Gordon solo. It was a night of excellently performed modern all world jamming, with a sign of hope for all the traditionalist Phish heads in attendance and the world over.