Ryan Cormier | The News Journal

GLENN RUSSELL/FREE PRESS

Amy Harris/AP

It was February 1993 when jam band Phish first performed in Delaware, dedicating the song "Lawn Boy" to First State fans who paid $18 each to get in.

Jerry Garcia was still alive, the Grateful Dead were on the road and Phish had not yet been unofficially anointed as the scene's new center point.

The Vermont-bred band led by singer/guitarist Trey Anastasio was building an organic fan base on the road, touring heavily. It returned to the Bob Carpenter Center in Newark just 14 months later for another show on April 18, 1994.

Since that spring night, Phish fans waited 8,253 days for news of Anastasio returning to Delaware -- almost as long as one of the band's trademark extended jams.

Well, the wait is over.

The Grand will announce Monday that Anastasio will headline a rare solo acoustic show at the Market Street theater this winter. The 7:30 p.m. show on Tuesday, Feb. 13, should draw fans from across the region, in addition to Delaware die-hards.

Jay Blakesberg

Tickets to see Anastasio at the historic 1,200-person Grand cost $65-$75. The on-sale begins Friday, Dec. 1, at 10 a.m. in person at the box office, via thegrandwilmington.org or by calling 302-652-5577. A pre-sale for donors to The Grand is set for Thursday, Nov. 30 at 10 a.m.

It's one of nine East Coast solo shows, kicking off in Morristown, New Jersey on Feb. 8 and wrapping up in Athens, Georgia on Feb. 18.

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In the past, Anastasio has performed only a handful of solo shows each year, if any. This year, he performed five solo shows including a trio of East Coast March concerts in New Hampshire, Massachusetts and upstate New York.

In September, he performed a pair of shows with orchestras, something he has done multiple times since 2001. He teamed up with both the Nashville Symphony and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra in their respective cities.

"It feels like a really big show," says Stephen Bailey, managing director of programming at The Grand. "My feeling is that everybody and their brother is going to be calling in every possible favor when tickets get tight."

AP

The Grand's announcement that Anastasio was returning to Delaware is a dream come true for fans, especially those who were at the University of Delaware shows in the early '90s.

Musician Kevin McCabe of Brandywine Hundred has seen Phish about 80 times and his first was Phish's 1994 return to The Bob. He remembers it all: getting a free ticket, going on a fluke and being blown away.

There was a circus atmosphere that night as giant inflatable balls bounced around the arena and the band bounced on trampolines while they played.

McCabe, now 43, was immediately hooked.

"When they came out, it was an instant punch to the face," McCabe says. "It was crazy."

In the years since that night, McCabe has been keeping his lighter lit for the act, playing their songs in his Delaware bands over the years, including jam band Caravan, which was formed the same year as that Phish show.

This year, Phish has played 18 shows, including their celebrated 13-show "Bakers Dozen" run of shows at New York's Madison Square Garden over the summer. The band returns to the same stage for its annual string of New Year's concerts late next month, completing their support for 2106's "Big Boat," the four-piece's 13th studio album.

Bailey says the booking was a bit of payback for a show The Grand lost to Atlantic City recently.

Paradigm Talent Agency, which has a deep roster of acts and recently brought Lyle Lovett and John Hiatt to The Grand, decided to route Anastasio's tour to Wilmington for a show to help make up for it.

"When you're slogging along in a market like I am with Philadelphia right there and now Live Nation here, you really don't get a lot of breaks. You get trampled on and you learn to live with that," Bailey says. "But every once in a while, someone decides you've been trampled on enough and throws you a bone."

Contact Ryan Cormier of The News Journal at rcormier@delawareonline.com or (302) 324-2863. Follow him on Facebook (@ryancormier), Twitter (@ryancormier) and Instagram (@ryancormier).

IF YOU GO

WHAT: Trey Anastasio

WHEN: Tuesday, Feb. 13, 7:30 p.m.

WHERE: The Grand, 818 N. Market St., Wilmington

COST: $65-$75

ON-SALE DATE: Friday, Dec. 1, 10 a.m.

PHISH FLASHBACK

Phish setlist from the band's last time in Delaware (Bob Carpenter Center, Newark, April 18, 1994):

Set 1: Chalk Dust Torture, Glide > Poor Heart > Julius, My Friend, My Friend > Rift, Split Open and Melt, Dog Faced Boy, The Oh Kee Pa Ceremony > AC/DC Bag

Set 2: Also Sprach Zarathustra > Sample in a Jar, Sparkle > Bathtub Gin, Big Ball Jam > Ya Mar, Mike's Song, The Man Who Stepped Into Yesterday > Avenu Malkenu > The Man Who Stepped Into Yesterday > Down with Disease > Hold Your Head Up > I Wan'na Be Like You > Hold Your Head Up, Cavern