Phil Lesh traveled to the Jersey Shore for a Fourth of July filled with fun in the sun, playing alongside his Friends at The Stone Pony Summer Stage. The concert in Asbury Park featured the Grateful Dead bassist with Taylor Goldsmith (guitar/vocals), Griffin Goldsmith (drums), Trevor Menear (guitar/vocals), and Lee Pardini (keyboards) of Dawes as well as vocalist/trumpeter Jennifer Hartswick (Trey Anastasio Band), Nicki Bluhm, guitarist Grahame Lesh (Midnight North), and saxophonist Stuart Bogie (Antibalas).
This marked the latest full-band assist from Dawes, who also joined Lesh in finishing his Capitol Theatre residency last October.
“Being on stage and being with Phil and learning how to get into that zone with him has been such a massive lesson for all of us,” Taylor told app. ahead of Monday’s show. “I remember at one of our first rehearsals … I asked him, because there were three guitarists on stage and a keyboard player, ‘Who do you want to take that solo after that second chorus?
‘ … He was like, ‘All of us and none of us.’ And that became the M.O. for the rest of our time together. I started to understand what he was looking for.”
To start the show, Phil Lesh & Friends threw it all the way back to the Dead’s 1967 self-titled debut with “The Golden Road (To Unlimited Devotion)”. After that, it was time for “Dancing in the Street” ahead of “Deal”. On that sunny July afternoon, New Jersey was the Golden Shore as the band delivered Bob Weir‘s bouncing California tribute, “Estimated Prophet”. Following “Uncle John’s Band”, Phil Lesh & Friends dished out a set-closing take on Chicago‘s “Saturday in the Park”, and though it was a Monday “I think it was the Fourth of July.”
Returning for the second set, Phil & Friends took audiences down to yet another shore with “Alabama Getaway” before those freak flags started flying with “Liberty”. From there, set two was on with runs through “Let It Grow”, “Eyes of the World”, and “The Wheel”. The mood came down with the pensive reflection of “Standing on the Moon” ahead of Buddy Holly & The Crickets‘ “Not Fade Away” before “The Music Never Stopped” ironically closed out set two. Taking the stage one last time, Phil Lesh offered his traditional donor rap before “Truckin'” wrapped the celebration.
Setlist: Phil Lesh & Friends | The Stone Pony Summer Stage | Asbury Park, NJ | 7/4/22
Set One: The Golden Road (To Unlimited Devotion), Dancing in the Street, Deal, Estimated Prophet, Uncle John’s Band, Saturday in the Park
Set Two: Alabama Getaway, Liberty, Let It Grow, Eyes of the World, The Wheel, Standing on the Moon, Not Fade Away, The Music Never Stopped
Encore: Donor Rap, Truckin’