Phront-man visits Berkeley sans Phish July 20, 2001 - Daily Californian (U. CA-Berkeley) by Rebecca Meyer After kicking off his 19-date solo tour in San Diego, Phish frontman Trey Anastasio parked his groove train at Berkeley's Greek Theatre on July 13 and 14 for two nights of jamming funk. Anastasio's ever-expanding crew has established itself as a crowd-pleasing jam band. Each song captures a feeling and pushes that vibe through looping improvisation over simple themes. Lyrics like "You can hear the symptoms, but you can't affect the cause" capture Trey's ethic-I want to tell you how strange the world is, now let me jam on my guitar. The band started out with a marathon opener, revving up the crowd with a big-band, jazzy horns section rollicking over a samba beat. Trey's electric guitar riffs tacked on noisy complexity. Halfway through the set, the trombone cut loose. Fast, funky and fresh, "Burlap Sack and Pumps" made me feel like everyone had gotten out of their cars at an intersection to groove during a red light. Next came the slower "That's the Way I Feel," a long musical jam session that went into overtime and left me waiting for something to happen. Things came together with pizazz at the end of the set. "We should be wrong, and we should be right" hit it just right, mingling a catchy baseline, tight horns and great improvisation by Trey for a dynamic, energetic finish. Anastasio may have been the mastermind behind the performance, but on Saturday night the horn section stole the show. Saxophonists Dave Grippo and Russell Remington, trumpeter Jennifer Hartwick and trombonist Andy Moroz blasted a big-band sound, swaying and waving their brass in unison. Their jazzy dynamics soared above bassist Tony Markellis and drummer Russ Lawton, the veteran rhythm section who anchored the cacophonous free-for-all with samba, disco, and ska beats. The second set was tighter, kicked off with an extended funk-heavy jam. The energetic high-point hit with the third song, "Summertime Days" -- the light board went to town while Trey jammed and the horns rocked out. Although the brass section dominated the sound, Anastasio was clearly the master of ceremonies-for the next song, he put down his guitar to conduct the horns through a technical, dissonant introduction that reminded me of a traffic jam on Halloween. "Quantegy" reminded me of earlier Phish songs, creating an underwater feeling amplified by green and blue lights. The flute was funky, but this song put me to sleep with its mellow groove. With Phish on an indefinite hiatus since October, Anastasio has kept busy. After touring 10 Eastern stops in February and March, he spent April at his recording studio in Vermont, working on an Oysterhead album with Primus bassist Les Claypool and former Police drummer Steward Copeland. After Berkeley, Anastasio and crew are working their way east until Aug. 5. To close the final set, Trey switched to acoustic guitar and sat on his stool, while Markellis pulled out a cello. The horns opened with a beautiful, symphonic sound and we finally heard a song that was meant to be beautiful. This final number made me realize how busy their sound had been all along-there was nothing minimalist about their lively, raucous suites. Whenever a band member embarks on a solo tour, it enables you to see the negative space where the rest of the band once played. When I listen to Paul Simon without Art Garfunkel, I realize that I like Simon's stuff even better, but Anastasio's performance just made me miss Phish. While Anastasio retained the pop-song feeling that catapulted Phish into the mainstream with their 1994 album Hoist, we lost some originality. Rumor has it that Trey wanted to get a group together to explore some new sounds, but the sound didn't strike me as particularly daring. I'd heard this jam band thing before. The performance was, ultimately, unmemorable.