Tower City Amphitheater, CLeveland, OH

Date: Sat, 15 Jun 2002 23:55:26 -0400
From: Melanie Laking Melanielaking@hotmail.com
Subject: Review 6-09-02

Man, this show was crazzy.
 
Unbelievable energy, supper tight jams, just a real good vibe all around. Right from Last Tube
opening, which must have been at least 25 minutes, till Push on Till the Day encore the band was
on fire.
 
I guess Trey was grandstanding a bit . . .my buddy commented that he was playing his guitar like
his penis . . .but with this band under his lead he has that right. Money, Love, and Change -
Drifting - and The Way I feel were high points well worth the money and travel alone!
 
I don't know about Ray making Medeski look sane . . .I just saw MMW tonight in T.O. and they were
pretty freakin' far from sane, but this Trey band - Cyro most notably - takes the cake. If you're
a Phan missing this tour in hiatal depression, you're really missing something that gives Phish a
run for their money any day of the week.
 
Peace.

Date: Fri, 14 Jun 2002 23:34:34 -0500
From: Matthew Harris mharristx@prodigy.net
Subject: RE: REVIEW 6-9-02

The Trey Anastasio Band - 9 June, 2002  -- Tower City Amphitheater - Cleveland, OH

This was one of the sickest shows I've ever seen.  This is a new venue, and Trey commented at the
end of the first set on how it was a cool place to play, and that it sounded good.

Last Tube opener was high-energy and jammed out for a while.  The band is ultra-tight; Russ and
Tony are rock-solid, and Cyro is a madman.  Jennifer sounds phenomenal on backing vocals (and
trumpet for that matter).  I know that Trey is having a blast being the director of his own band,
but sometimes I felt like he was grandstanding a bit.  Nevertheless - it did not take away from
the overall experience, nor did it have a negative effect on the sound of the group as a whole.  
The acoustic pieces were somewhat of a buzzkill, but very polished and smooth.  Ray on the keys
makes John Medeski look fairly sane.  He seemed to playing a fairly supportive role throughout the
first part of the evening, but took a killer second set solo that stole the show, and you could
tell that even Trey himself was floored.

The lot-scene was laid back, with a relatively good amount of vendors.  I did not see as many
heads as I expected, and for the most part, I found the crowd a little older than any Phish show
I've seen.


All in all - this show was super high energy, and very, very tight.  Anyone who is sitting around,
passing up this tour because they're waiting for Phish to get back together is selling himself or
herself short.  Trey has a good thing going; he's having fun, making good jams, and rocking killer
shows.  Definitely make the effort to check it out.


mharristx@prodigy.net

click here to return to the 2002 reviews page


hits (many)