The spirit of Phil Lesh filled The Capitol Theatre on what would have been the beloved bassist’s 86th birthday as his son Grahame Lesh and an all-star band capped the four-night Unbroken Chain: A Celebration of the Life & Music of Phil Lesh. After three nights with a rotating lineup and several unexpected guests, Sunday’s grand finale featured a surprise sit-in from Sam Grisman and ended with an emotional tribute to Phil, with Grahame and Capitol Theatre owner Peter Shapiro leading the crowd in a “Happy Birthday” singalong before a sentimental pairing of “Attics of My Life” and Lesh’s signature “Box of Rain”.
Sunday’s two-set showcase featured an outstanding cast comprised of virtuoso guitarist Stanley Jordan, Widespread Panic bassist Dave Schools, dual drummers Tony Leone (Little Feat) and Cody Dickinson (North Mississippi Allstars), vocalist Amy Helm (daughter of The Band drummer Levon Helm), former Doom Flamingo singer Kanika Moore, and keyboardist Holly Bowling, along with fellow Phil & Friends alums Steve Molitz (Particle), multi-instrumentalist Larry Campbell, and his wife Theresa Williams.
The evening kicked off with a classic “China” > “Rider”, followed by the seaworthy lament “Ship of Fools” and American Beauty deep cut “Till the Morning Comes”—a tune played by the Grateful Dead only a handful of times surrounding the album’s release in 1970 and later revived by Phil, who played it nearly 30 times with various Phil & Friends incarnations and nine times with Furthur, per the Setlist.fm stats.
Grahame Lesh & Friends – “China Cat Sunflower” (Grateful Dead) > “I Know You Rider” (Traditional) – 3/15/26
Sam Grisman then emerged from the wings to sub in for Schools for the remainder of the set, including “Deep Elem Blues”, “Tennessee Jed”, “Friend of the Devil”, and “How Sweet It Is (To Be Love by You)”.
Returning for round two, the band finally delivered the long-awaited “Dark Star” that had been teased every prior night of the run. With a sense of collective spontaneity befitting Phil’s free approach to jamming and ethereal guitar work from Stanley Jordan, it was a rendition worth revisiting. Jordan’s breathtaking guitar solo carried the band straight into an instrumental version of “Over the Rainbow”, which also featured an evocative fiddle solo from Larry Campbell.
Like a ray of light piercing the clouds, “Here Comes Sunshine” emerged next, followed by “Pride of Cucamonga”—one of few studio tracks the Dead never brought to the stage, though Phil performed it over 100 times with his different latter-day projects.
The set finished with a string of classics—a fluttering Kanika Moore-led “Bird Song” giving way to a psychedelic “The Other One”, followed by “Stella Blue”, which showcased Amy Helm on lead vocals with Campbell and Jordan weaving melodies around each other on fiddle and guitar, and a pairing of the late Bob Weir‘s “Cassidy” and the obligatory “Not Fade Away”.
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Grahame delivered the famous “donor rap” his father recited at every show, beseeching the crowd to become organ donors with a reminder that “I got 25 extra years of my dad, you got 25 extra years of him playing this wonderful music with you because Cody turned to the people he loved and said, ‘If anything ever happens to me, I want to be an organ donor.'”
Peter Shapiro then offered a touching tribute in which he credited Phil for “changing the trajectory” of the Capitol Theatre by making it his home away from home. The room boomed with the sound of “Happy Birthday” in honor of Phil, who celebrated his last birthday on the venue’s hallowed stage.
A solemn “Attics of My Life” provided a moment of reflection before the weekend celebration culminated with a joyous “Box of Rain”.
Check out fan-shot video highlights and full-show audio from the final night of Unbroken Chain: A Celebration of the Life & Music of Phil Lesh at The Capitol Theatre. All four nights are available to stream on demand via nugs. [Editor’s note: Live For Live Music is a nugs affiliate. Ordering your subscription or purchasing a download via the links on this page helps support our work covering the world of live music. Thanks for reading!]
Grahame Lesh & Friends – “Till The Morning Comes” (Grateful Dead) – 3/15/26
[Video: sgibson818]
Grahame Lesh & Friends – “The Other One” (Grateful Dead) – 3/15/26
[Video: sgibson818]
Grahame Lesh & Friends – “Attics Of My Life” (Grateful Dead) – 3/15/26
[Video: sgibson818]
Grahame Lesh & Friends – “Somewhere Over The Rainbow” (Harold Arlen) – 3/15/26
[Video: sgibson818]
Grahame Lesh & Friends – “Stella Blue” (Grateful Dead) – 3/15/26
[Video: sgibson818]
Grahame Lesh & Friends – The Capitol Theatre – Port Chester, NY – 3/15/26 – Full Audio
[Audio: ddyche]
Setlist: Grahame Lesh & Friends | The Capitol Theatre | Port Chester, NY | 3/15/26
Set 1: China Cat Sunflower (Grateful Dead) > I Know You Rider (Traditional), Ship of Fools (Grateful Dead), Till the Morning Comes (Grateful Dead), Deep Elem Blues (Traditional) [1], Tennessee Jed (Grateful Dead) [1], Friend of the Devil (Grateful Dead) [1], How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You) (Marvin Gaye) [1]
Set Two: Dark Star (Grateful Dead), Over the Rainbow (Harold Arlen), Here Comes Sunshine (Grateful Dead), Pride of Cucamonga (Grateful Dead) (unfinished) > Bird Song (Jerry Garcia) > The Other One (Grateful Dead) > Stella Blue (Grateful Dead) [2], Cassidy (Bob Weir), Not Fade Away (The Crickets) [3]
Encore: Happy Birthday to You (Mildred J. Hill & Patty Hill) (sung by Pete Shapiro, Grahame Lesh & audience), Attics of My Life (Grateful Dead), Box of Rain (Grateful Dead)
Note: Grahame Lesh, Stanley Jordan, Dave Schools, Larry Campbell, Theresa Williams, Steve Molitz, Holly Bowling, Tony Leone, Cody Dickinson, Amy Helm, Kanika Moore, Sam Grisman
[1] with Sam Grisman
[2] with Amy Helm
[3] with “There Is A Mountain” tease