Trey Anastasio, in Howard Stern interview, discusses playing with Springsteen (LISTEN HERE)

Trey Anastasio appeared on “The Howard Stern Show,” Nov. 2.

On his Nov. 2 appearance on SiriusXM Satellite Radio’s “Howard Stern Show,” Phish frontman and Princeton native Trey Anastasio discussed the first concert he ever attended, when he was 14 — Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band at Princeton University’s Jadwin Gym, on Nov. 1, 1978 — and the two times he performed with Springsteen. The Boss made guest appearances with Phish at the Bonnaroo Festival in Tennessee in 2009, and with The Trey Anastasio Band when they took the stage immediately before Springsteen and The E Street Band did at tbe Sea.Hear.Now festival in Asbury Park, in 2024.

You can listen to the segment at the 45-minute mark of the video embedded below.

Here is a partial transcript:

The first concert I ever went to, in New Jersey, was, I was 14, my sister took me to Bruce at Jadwin Gym, which was, like, an iconic, iconic concert at this point in time. 
Like, ’78? I was a young teenager. It was incredible. 
Incredible. And I remember I went to another concert at Jadwin Gym a couple of weeks later, my second concert, which, with all due respect, was Boston. … I love Boston, but they weren’t great live. 
And I remember thinking, like, “Whoa.” I thought rock concerts were, like, “Rosalita,” and like, throwing the guitar onstage and sliding across the stage on your knees and, like, “Oh, my God,” ’cause Bruce, at that point in time, was like an explosion of energy, and I was like, “That’s what a rock concert is.” It was a very defining moment, you know, seeing this. And then we played with him at Bonnaroo (in 2009). We got to know him a little bit. He was very interested in meeting Sue, my wife, because she grew up in Freehold. 
They had relatives that they were connected to and all that stuff. Sue’s parents knew his parents. Her dad used to sit next to his dad in grammar school and stuff. So there was a connection there.


But the part I wanted to tell about Bruce, because it just says what a legend this guy is: So, he played at Asbury Park, right? A couple of years ago, for the first time ever, on the beach. 
Bruce Springsteen on the beach at Asbury Park, right? And my solo band … were gonna go onstage right before him. 
So I reached out and I was like, “Man, when I was 14, I saw this concert at Jadwin Gym, and you just crushed it. You didn’t play my favorite song, which is ‘Kitty’s Back.’ ” … I said, “Would you come out and play ‘Kitty’s Back’ with my band?” So he was like, “Okay.”

Now, the reason I’m bringing this up is, this guy is about to play Asbury Park, on the beach. People are freaking out. And I’m essentially the warm-up act. Now, who comes out and has that kind of trust, and plays their own song with the warm-up act, 15 minutes before they walk onstage for the headline set? 
Like, no one. It’s just, like, so kind. And I really think, that’s why this guy is a legend. 
You know what I mean? 
That’s what I was thinking while it was happening … “Yes, I’ll walk out.” Like, “I trust you.”

I think we did a great job. We really learned (the song). But, man, he showed up and came into the thing, then walked out, and when you think about a career that long, anybody’s who’s got, like, a 40-plus year career, has got to have that kind of quality. 
There’s so many things that could go wrong. It’s like a lineup of stuff that can go wrong in music. 
And here he goes. And then, by the way, his set was … I’ve seen him, like I said, since I was 14. 
… I know there’s a lot of Howard fans that are Bruce fans. If you’re hearing this, tell me if you agree. I would put that at one of the top three, five Bruce shows of all time: that “Bruce on the Beach.” He played all the old stuff. You know, “Blinded by the Light. ” He’s like, playing these songs. He’s like, “See that bench over there, man? I was sitting on that bench when I wrote this song.”

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The Trey Anastasio Band will perform at the Grand Reopening Weekend of the Loew’s Jersey Theatre in Jersey City, Nov. 13 at 7:30 p.m. Visit ticketmaster.com.

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