On the heels of releasing their new double album, Let It Wander, Circles Around The Sun was forced to cancel a brief tour across the East Coast due to an “urgent health matter”. The five-date tour was scheduled to take the psychedelic Grateful Dead-inspired act across the Northeast from August 22nd to 26th. Two weeks later, the Chris Robinson Brotherhood announced that guitarist Neal Casal, and CATS’ fearless leader, would miss a handful of upcoming Chris Robinson Brotherhood shows. Greg Loiacono, who plays with Chris Robinson’s all-star side project, Green Leaf Rustlers, as well as The Mother Hips, filled Casal’s void until he returned.

Happily, with a healthy Neal Casal back in action, the rockstar guitarist made his return to Circles Around The Sun’s lineup over the weekend, with performances at Phil Lesh’s Terrapin Crossroads, followed by a two-night run at Half Moon Bay, CA’s Old Princeton Landing.

CATS opened the show with “On My Mind”, off of their recently released sophomore album, Let It Wander. With a healthy Casal sounding loose and tight-knit on the guitar, the band powered through, led by an impressive beat held down by Marc Levy on drums. Mixing things up with old and new material, Circles moved forward with “Gilbert’s Groove”, off of their debut Interludes For The Dead album. With Adam MacDougall signaling for take off with some intergalactic sounds on his keys, Casal took things into a spacey territory, eventually bringing things back to California and landing the ship. With a brief pause, CATS transitioned into “One For Chuck”, before bringing the set to a close with the crowd-favorite “Scarlotta’s Magnolias”. With hints of the Grateful Dead’s “Scarlet Begonias” and “Sugar Magnolia”, Circles Around The Sun danced all over the Dead tunes with their own style and flavor.

Following a brief set break, CATS came back out to open set two with “Hallucinate A Solution”, giving the 30-minute jam an extended and psychedelic intro with Levy and bassist Dan Horne locked in with each other. MacDougall pattered through some impressive work on the keys before Casal once again took the reigns and dialed things in, with his three bandmates following him in sonic synchronicity. Slowing things down a bit, Circles Around The Sun went into “Immovable Object”, giving Casal a chance to improvise with no hesitation or expectations. CATS brought the evening to a close with “Halicarnassus”, off of their most recent studio effort. With Casal opening up with the tune’s signature snappy riff, Circles Around The Sun once again proved why they are one of the most unique and innovative groups on the road.

Listen to Circles Around The Sun’s Sunday performance from Half Moon Bay’s Old Princeton Landing below:

Circles Around The Sun – Old Princeton Landing – 9/28/2018 (full-show audio)

[Audio: Moricle]

Up next for Circles Around The Sun is a three-night run over Thanksgiving week, starting Wednesday, November 21st, at the UC Theatre in Berkeley, CA. After Thanksgiving proper, on Friday, November 23rd, Circles Around The Sun will play the Teregram Ballroom in Los Angeles, CA, with the run’s final show scheduled for Saturday, November 24th, at the Belly Up in Solana Beach, CA.

Individual ticket links for the three shows can be found at Circle Around The Sun’s website.

Setlist: Circles Around The Sun | Old Princeton Landing | Half Moon Bay, CA | 9/28/2018

Set One: On My Mind, Gilbert’s Groove, One For Chuck, Scarlotta’s Magnolias

Set Two: Hallucinate A Solution, Immovable Object, Halicarnassus