5-22-02, Salem Armory Auditorium, Salem, OR

Date: Wed, 05 Jun 2002 08:16:21 -0700
From: andy abracco@lane.k12.or.us
Subject: review: trey 5/22/02

TREY ANASTASIO
Salem Armory | Salem, OR | 05.22.02
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Set I:
Cayman Review
Mozambique
Night Speaks To A Woman
Noodle Rave Daddio
Money, Love & Change
At the Gazebo
Last Tube
Set II:
Mr. Completely
The Way I Feel
Drifting
At the Barbecue
Ray Dawn Balloon
Sand
E: Alive Again

Before describing the music, I really should set the scene for those of you who havenıt spent
much time in Oregon. Salem is about 30 minutes south of Portland, or one hour north of Eugene via
I-5. I mention it in context of these two cities, because although Salem is the state capitol of
Oregon, it really doesnıt have the character or music scene of the latter two.

I arrived at the parking lot about an hour before the doors were to open. I was totally surprised
that there were very few people in the lots. I donıt really enjoy a crazy "shakedown" lot, but
when they opened the doors at 6:30, I estimate there were less than 50 cars parked outside,
seriously. There was a very small line of about 60 people waiting to get in when John Langenstein
(head of security for Phish) came out and opened the doors. A true professional: in order to take
care of the people in the front of the line first, he politely asked everyone else to take a few
steps back, which we all did, smiling. Security at the door was a couple of guys doing extremely
light pat downs, and a quick squeeze of my backpack - that was it. Thatıs what itıs like out
here; people generally are mellow and behave themselves, so we donıt get hassled much.  A 20 oz.
water costs 1.25.

The Salem Armory is a pretty small venue; I think it holds about 3,000. This is where I saw my
first Phish show in 1994. Widespread Panic and Oysterhead have also played this venue recently.
It has a gym-style floor with rows of seats in the back. The rail that separates the crowd from
the front of the stage was unusually far back from the stage, providing a barrier of about 10
feet.

When the show started (about 7:40) it seemed strange to me that the venue wasnıt very full. I
guess I just donıt get it how Phish can sell out 30,000 tickets, but most of these people wonıt
come see a spin-off like Treyıs band. I was up front for the entire show. It was never crowded,
there was always tons of room to boogie, and boogie we did!

Trey was smiling a lot through out the first set, and dancing quite a bit as well. This is good,
because when Treyıs happy, Iım happy. During a quiet moment, I yelled: "Thanks for coming to
Oregon," which made him chuckle a bit to the delight of the front few rows. Treyıs band is
definitely under his direction. They all constantly watch him for cues; sometimes it even felt
like they were waiting for a time when they could play something as well. Overall, I thought Trey
did a good job of "conducting" (at one point in the second set, Trey even used a conductorıs
baton to lead the band through a little jam). At the same time, I felt like I wanted to hear 
morefrom the band. The horns section is a solid presence throughout (Jennifer H. also does great 
on
back up vocals), but I donıt remember hearing much - solo or otherwise - from Ray Paczkowski
(keyboards). Tony Markelisı (bass) role seems to be pretty well defined. He was positioned behind
the horn players, and pretty much just kept the groove going. At least on this night, he wasnıt
slappinı ^Ìem down or getting ultra funky with his base lines. I hope as the tour progresses that
the other band members get a little more confident in taking the lead sometimes, and that Trey is
comfortable with this as well.

The second set consisted of a lot of quiet and spacey jams. Like I said, Oregon is pretty laid
back and mellow, and so was a lot of this set. Even during "Sand" and "Alive Again" (encore) I
was wishing they would pick it up a little bit.

One person to keep your eyes on is percussionist Cyro Baptista. This guy is truly a freak-daddy.
I saw him light a fire under Trey more than one time during the show.

I had a really good time at this show, I thought the music was great, even if really mellow and
slightly repetitive at times. The last time I saw Trey was an Oysterhead show in Los Angeles. The
show in Salem was truly more enjoyable because of the crowd, the vibe and the music.

Andy Bracco
JamBase | Oregon
Go See Live Music!


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