Trey band kicks off Vegoose

I arrived in Las Vegas for the Vegoose festival late Friday evening with my dancing shoes on. After dumping my bags at the front desk of the Jockey Club (which was lovingly dubbed "the Jock Strap" by some of the 8 inhabitants of room 504), I headed down the strip (and a mile or so off it) to the Orleans Arena for the first of many shows to be seen this wonderful weekend.

Trey Anastasio helped kick the second annual Vegoose festival off with a late-night show supported by pedal steel virtuoso, Robert Randolph and his Family Band. The arena, at least three times as large as last year’s sold out Alladin Theatre venue, was about 1/4 full for most of the show which hinted that fans have begun to lose faith in Trey’s capability to throw down at hyped up gigs. I must say though, Trey had some fun in store for us regardless of the empty seats.

After the so-so "Simple Twist up Dave", the band launched into the first of 4 Phish/Trey hybrids with the grammy nominated "First Tube" which featured a raucous outro jam completely atypical from any "First Tube" I’ve seen. Next, he invited Robert Randolph to sit in for a go at Jimi Hendrix’s classic "Stone Free" and the swamp-funk of the Phish favorite "46 Days". After a few less than desirable new tunes Trey closed his set with an outstanding blissed out version of the groovy launchpad "Gotta Jibboo". Although there were some moments of mediocre meandering, most of the jams tonight flowed forward while building lots of energy. It’s also great to see a real light show again, I’ve been seeing far too many indie bands who wouldn’t know how to light a candle, much less the empty canvass of an arena wall.

Trey’s support for the show, Robert Randolph and his Family Band, played a rockin’ set full of many songs from their new album (I presume, I didn’t recognize any songs) and warmed the crowd up nicely for Trey with their southern blues tinged pop-rock. I must say, RR’s bassist has one of the best falsetto voices going.


Set list: Simple Twist Up Dave, First Tube, Stone Free*, 46 Days*, Sweet Dreams Melinda, Push On Til the Day, What’s Done, Goodbye Head, Plasma, Gotta Jibboo -> jam
E: Mr. Completely, Tuesday
* w/ Robert Randolph on pedal steel guitar.