Trey Anastasio stretches out July 22, 2001 - Denver Post by G. Brown New material dominates shows With a decade and a half logged as a group and a huge, unbelievably dedicated fan base, Phish is established at the head of the "jam band" class. Few things have been more dependable each summer than Phish on the road. Trey Anastasio was all smiles Tuesday night at Red Rocks. He's on sabbbatical from Phish, but says the band isn't calling it a day. Until this year. Phish is on an "unofficial sabbatical," to use guitarist Trey Anastasio's term. But Anastasio isn't on vacation at the beach. The Vermont boho has completed a record with Primus bassist Les Claypool and Police drummer Stewart Copeland - under the band name Oysterhead - in "the Barn," his home recording studio. And he's touring solo. His two sold-out shows at Red Rocks Amphitheatre on Tuesday and Wednesday were highlights of his carefree road jaunt - his wife and college buds were in attendance, and even having to field the "When will Phish reunite?" question from Phishheads couldn't stomp his buzz. According to Anastasio, Phish is a long way from calling it a day. "There are no plans to get back together any time soon, ... but doing side projects is only going to help when we do," he said. "There'll be a new fire." These days, Anastasio's burning it up with his expanding band. In spring 1999, he toured with the rhythm section of bassist Tony Markellis and drummer Russ Lawton. For a tour last February, he added Dave "the Truth" Grippo (of Giant Country Horns fame) on saxophone, Jennifer Hartswick on trumpet and Andy Moroz on trombone. The group became an octet this summer when saxophonist Russell Remington and Viperhouse keyboardist Ray Paczkowski joined the lineup. At Red Rocks, the majority of the shows consisted of newly written titles including "Money, Love and Change," "Burlap Sack and Pumps" and "Cayman Review." Anastasio also played songs that he wrote with Markellis and Lawton for Phish's "Farmhouse" album - "First Tube," the exuberant "Gotta Jibboo" and the bottom-heavy "Sand." Where Phish's live performances are marked by improvisations that show off their instrumental strengths, Anastasio did away with much of the goofy humor and musical meanderings. He came out and shimmied to a choreographed opening, and the jams rawked as opposed to rocked - a little louder and more stretched out. The results were "funky fresh," deep grooves with more room for Anastasio's driving, jazzy staccato picking. He didn't address the crowd very much, but he looked more inspired than in recent memory. Of course, colorful fans were in attendance, doing the trance-dance in their tie-dyed duds and exuding an aura of beatitude. But it seemed to be a subsection of Phish fans - a couple of years older than college kids, more into the music than the counterculture scene. And some of them made a nice gesture. At a string of Phish concerts at Red Rocks in 1996, an altercation between cops and fans without tickets took place on the streets of Morrison, and there were several arrests. On Wednesday, a "green troop" of 15 to 20 people cleaned up the nearby town and made sure there were "no footprints." In all, no one should mind if the next Phishing expedition takes a while longer. The Oysterhead record, "The Grand Pecking Order," is due in stores Oct. 2, and Anastasio will hit the road with the band this fall. Two words: "Fillmore" and "Halloween."