Terrapin Family Band welcomed family friends Dan “Lebo” Lebowitz (ALO) and Molly Tuttle during a two-night run at The Guild Theatre in Menlo Park, CA.
Grahame Lesh, Ross James, Jason Crosby, Alex Koford opened night one with “Help on the Way”, as if to tease the special guest appearances that would help elevate the weekend. Segueing straight into “Let It Grow”, they then welcomed Lebo, a fellow Terrapin Crossroads veteran, to sit in the rest of the night. The ensemble stuck mostly to the Grateful Dead songbook but also included a few surprises, like Bob Dylan‘s “Tangled Up in Blue” and a pair of festive Christmas tunes, Vince Guaraldi Trio‘s “Christmas Is Coming” from A Charlie Brown Christmas and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers‘ “Christmas All Over Again”. They also ended the night quoting ALO‘s “Try” during a joyful “Franklin’s Tower”.
The core foursome started things off on their own again on night two, this time playing a full set that included TFB original “Galilee” and Jason Crosby’s “Gambler’s Conceit”. They finished the first set with “The Mountain Song”, a tune conceived by Jerry Gracia, David Crosby, and others in 1971 during the PERRO Sessions and later revived and reworked by Furthur with lyrics by Grahame’s brother Brian Lesh.
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The run culminated in set two with a sit in from Molly Tuttle, who joined the band for “Dire Wolf”, a pair of her own originals “Crooked Tree” and “Next Rodeo”, a spellbinding “Standing on the Moon”, and Jefferson Airplane‘s “White Rabbit”. After she exited the stage, TFB finished off the set with a few more upbeat Dead tunes and Jason Crosby’s signature Nirvana/Grateful Dead mashup “Friend of the Lithium”. A moving “donor rap” in honor of the late Phil Lesh preceded the final encore, with the band continuing to honor Phil by playing his signature composition “Unbroken Chain” to cap off the run.
Check out a video playlist of fan-shot video highlights from Terrapin Family Band with Molly Tuttle at The Guild Theatre below (click the icon in the top right or arrows in the bottom left of the video player to navigate between songs). Scroll down to view the full setlists.
Terrapin Family Band With Molly Tuttle – The Guild Theatre – Menlo Park, CA – 12/20/24
[Video: Club Ninja]
Setlist: Terrapin Family Band | The Guild Theatre | Menlo Park, CA | 12/19/24
Set 1: Help on the Way > Let It Grow, Uncle John’s Band (with Dan Lebowitz), Althea (with Dan Lebowitz), Casey Jones (with Dan Lebowitz), Lazy River Road (with Dan Lebowitz), Tangled Up in Blue (with Dan Lebowitz) > Viola Lee Blues (with Dan Lebowitz)
Set 2: Christmas Is Coming (with Dan Lebowitz) > Good Lovin’ (with Dan Lebowitz) > Christmas Is Coming Reprise, Dark Star (Verse 1) (with Dan Lebowitz) > St. Stephen (with Dan Lebowitz) > Shakedown Street (with Dan Lebowitz) > Dark Star (Verse 2) > Let It Rock (with Dan Lebowitz) > Jack Straw (with Dan Lebowitz)
Encore: Christmas All Over Again (with Dan Lebowitz) > Slipknot! (with Dan Lebowitz) > Franklin’s Tower (with Dan Lebowitz) (with “Try” by ALO quote)
Setlist: Terrapin Family Band | The Guild Theatre | Menlo Park, CA | 12/20/24
Set 1: Scarlet Begonias, Loser, Playing in the Band, Galilee, Gambler’s Conceit, Cumberland Blues > Candyman > Cumberland Reprise, The Mountain Song
Set 2: Dire Wolf (with Molly Tuttle), Crooked Tree (with Molly Tuttle), Next Rodeo (with Molly Tuttle), Standing on the Moon (with Molly Tuttle), White Rabbit (with Molly Tuttle), Throwing Stones, Alabama Getaway > Cream Puff War > Alabama Getaway Reprise, Friend of the Lithium
Encore: Unbroken Chain (preceded by Donor Rap)