Last night, Trey Anastasio performed his latest orchestral work, Time Turns Elastic, with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. The two-set performance took place at Baltimores Meyerhoff Symphony Hall and, as promised, offered a healthy selection of songs from the Phish canon. Anastasios first set featured string-laced versions of The Divided Sky and Brian and Robert, before the symphonys brass section emerged for The Inlaw Josie Wales and Water In The Sky. The guitarist then closed out his set with fully orchestrated versions of Pebbles and Marbles and First Tube, the latter of which the Phish frontman had never played live with an orchestra. In a touching moment, Anastasio dedicated Water In The Sky to his sister Kristine Anastasio Manning, who recently passed away after a long struggle with cancer.
The multi-part composition Time Turns Elastic took up most of Anastasios second set, though the guitarist also ran through his string-enhanced solo number Let Me Lie and the original orchestrated version of Guyute, which contains portions of My Friend, My Friend. To the surprise of many, the evenings encore was the lovely Hoist ballad If I Could, a rare Anastasio solo composition that has not been played live since the summer of 2000. As previously reported, Anastasio will bring Time Turns Elastic to New Yorks Carnegie Hall this fall. Portions of the composition will also likely end up in Phishs summer repertoire.