Eggy had a very Jerry night in Berkeley, kicking off a string of California shows with a guest appearance by Grahame Lesh and Jerry Garcia‘s “Alligator” Fender Stratocaster guitar. The gig at Cornerstone occurred less than a mile from the former site of Keystone, the 476-capacity club Garcia favored for intimate solo gigs during his time off from the Grateful Dead in the ’70s.
Eggy kept things in-house for the majority of the first set, opening with “One Stop Shop” and continuing uninterrupted through “A Moment’s Notice”, “Atomic Age”, and “You”. At the show’s first break in action, guitarist Jake Brownstein called up very special guest Grahame Lesh. The son of late Grateful Dead bassist Phil Lesh lent his guitar and backing vocals to the title track from Jerry Garcia Band’s 1978 album Cats Under the Stars, further enriching Eggy’s already robust vocal harmonies and locking in with Brownstein for some thrilling back-and-forth playing to close the first set.
There were more surprises in store when Eggy returned for the second set, as Brownstein came armed with Jerry’s Fender Stratocaster he favored from 1970 to 1973—a gift from Graham Nash for Garcia’s studio work on some of his songs. Brownstein put ‘Gator to work on Eggy original “Sweat Equity” which, naturally, found its way into “Midnight Moonlight”. The Old & In The Way classic opened up into some impressive improvisation, as drummer Alex Bailey experimented with polyrhythms while Brownstein explored the rich, smooth tone that makes ’70–’73 Dead such a favorite among fans. Surprisingly sitting out the Jerry cover, Lesh rejoined the fray for recently debuted Eggy original “Trixieville”. The extra six-string made the song’s catchy main riff even slinkier, and with Alligator in hand and Lesh in tow the band was firing on all cylinders. Grahame took off and Eggy finished the set with “Fly Frederick Fly” and “Wayless”, but Eggy still had another trick up its sleeve.
For the encore, Eggy brought out viral jam band comedian Cam Herdt for some storytelling on the open-ended “Onitsuka Tiger”. Though Eggy didn’t cover any more Dead on Friday, the band did sneak in some teases of “Dancing in the Street” before finally ending the show.
Watch Eggy jam with Grahame Lesh and Jake Brownstein play Jerry Garcia’s Alligator guitar in the videos below. Eggy’s swing through California continues tonight, February 21st in Felton followed by stops in Los Angeles on Saturday and Solana Beach on Sunday. Find tickets and tour dates on the band’s website.
Eggy, Grahame Lesh — “Cats Under The Stars” (Jerry Garcia Band) — 2/20/25
[Video: Teleterrapin]
Eggy — “Midnight Moonlight” (Old & In The Way) — 2/20/25
[Video: Teleterrapin]
Eggy — “You”, “Cats Under The Stars” (Jery Garcia), “Sweat Equity” -> “Midnight Moonlight” (Old & In The Way), “Trixieville”, “Fly Frederick Fly”, “Wayless”, “Onitsuka Tiger” — 2/20/25
Setlist: Eggy | Cornerstone | Berkeley, CA | 2/20/25
Set One: One Stop Shop > A Moment’s Notice-> Atomic Age[1] > You, Cats Under The Stars[2]
Set Two: Sweat Equity-> Midnight Moonlight[3], Trixieville[4], Fly Frederick Fly, Wayless
Encore: Onitsuka Tiger[5]
[1] with Spanish Moon (Little Feat) teases
[2] Jerry Garcia cover, with Grahame Lesh on guitar
[3] Old and In The Way cover
[4] with Grahame Lesh on guitar
[5] with Cam Herdt story telling, Dancing In The Streets teases
Show Notes: Jake played Jerry Garcia’s Alligator for all of set II and encore