During the pandemic, my wife and I spent a lot more time listening to each other's music than we previously did. We made jokes that we were going to design a music festival that was the center of our Venn diagrams of musical tastes. When the Catbird Music Festival lineup was announced, we decided that this was basically as close to the center of the diagram that we'd get. She wanted to see a bunch of the alt country bands (they all slayed), I was there for the jam bands (they did as well).

I knew after the first day that Trey Band would be on an exceedingly tight timeline as every act was right on time, so I was going through my head of what I expected they'd play. Called the Cayman Review, POTTD, and knew they'd close with a First Tube. Turns out I was pretty spot on. They came out swinging with a hot SYSF, everyone sounded great (big shoutout to the road crew who made everyone sound super good). Great versions all through the setlist, Trey was having a ton of fun getting the crowd that was at that point all waiting for Tyler Childers into the jams. When he got to Life Beyond the Dream, he stopped and pointed out the mic stand that James would have been occupying, asked for love and light from everyone there, and then proceeded to play a very emotional version. For those of us who were there for TAB, there were a lot of misty eyes. It was very special. I was surprised at the length of Everything's Right, and also the depth of the jam. They sent it in what can only be described as type 2 territory. I was watching the clock, knowing that we'd have a condensed First Tube if he didn't wind it up soon, then just as if he knew I was getting nervous, launched into a blistering FT. A few minutes shorter than you'd normally expect, but with an intensity that came from the depths of his soul. The entire place was screaming as it reached crescendo, and a big sustained roar as he lifted the guitar in the feedback peak.

Amazing show, amazing weekend with my wife, and if next year's lineup is anything like this one, we'll be back for year 2 of Catbird!