Last night, Phil Lesh & Friends followed up a memorable night one at The Capitol Theatre with another fantastic performance. With help from the evening’s talented “Friends” lineup (Karl Denson, Robert Randolph, Neal Casal, Ross James, Jason Crosby, Tony Leone, and Alex Koford), the Grateful Dead bassist delivered two sets of classic Dead tunes and a handful of choice covers. As with the previous night’s show, the addition of Randolph’s sacred steel guitar and Denson’s flute gave the old favorite tunes a unique new flavor throughout the night.
After opening the show with “Box of Rain” and “Althea,” the band delivered a version of Bob Dylan‘s “It Takes a Lot To Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry,” a former staple of the Dead’s live catalogue. They followed that with renditions of “Loser,” “Here Comes Sunshine,” and “Stagger Lee” before finishing set one with two more covers: The Velvet Underground‘s “Sweet Jane” and The Rolling Stones‘ “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction.”
While set one offered a selection of choice tunes and sing-alongs, the show’s second frame played as more of a cohesive set–and to thrilling effect. “Uncle John’s Band” got the ball rolling, and saw the band traverse a “Dark Star” jam and a rendition of “Playing in the Band” before returning to the “Uncle John’s” theme. Next up was the show’s emotional highlight–a cover of the Allman Brothers Band‘s hit “Midnight Rider,” originally from their 1970 sophomore album Idlewild South. The song served as a tribute to Gregg Allman, who passed away earlier in the day at the age of 69. You can watch fan-shot footage of the touching Allman tribute below, via YouTube user CHuck Siegel:
Following “Midnight Rider,” the Cap crowd was moved brightly by a beautiful rendition of seminal composition “Terrapin Station,” which in turn gave way to another kind of “Rider”–Dead staple “I Know You Rider.” The band then closed the set with “Sugar Magnolia,” before returning for a “One More Saturday Night” encore to close out the weekend on a high note.
You can watch an assortment of fan-shot videos from the performance below, via YouTube user Sean Roche:
“Box Of Rain”
“Here Comes Sunshine”
“It Takes A Lot To Laugh It Takes A Train To Cry”
“Sweet Jane”
“Playing In The Band” > “Uncle John’s Band (Reprise)”
“I Know You Rider”
Next up for Phil is a performance with the Terrapin Family Band at the 50th anniversary edition of the famed Monterey International Pop Festival on Sunday, June 18th. For more information on Phil’s upcoming shows, head to his website.
[h/t – JamBuzz]
[Cover photo via Marc Millman/The Capitol Theatre]