The guitarist's fans clearly wanted to hear favorite Phish songs, too, and they got a fair number of them, again with orchestral accompaniment. The generally laid back selections included "Divided Sky," which featured an understated duet between guitar and strings that created a folksy, pastoral sound-scape.
There was a brief derailment when Anastasio started "Let Me Lie" in the wrong key for the orchestra, but once aligned harmonically he delivered the haunting song poetically, with nicely shaded support from the ensemble. He dedicated "Water in the Sky" to the memory of his sister, who died from cancer a few weeks ago. It's too folk-like a song to gain much from a string arrangement, though; the effect was on the schmaltzy side.
"Guyute" seemed to gain from the expansive orchestral treatment, becoming an eventful mini-concerto for electric guitar, complete with rousing anthem-like passage. "If I Could" provided a gentle encore to what was, on balance, a rather low-keyed evening of symphonic rock.
