March will mark a pair of momentous occasions for Phil Lesh as the Grateful Dead bassist celebrates both his 83rd birthday and 100th show at The Capitol Theatre since it reopened in 2012. The celebratory run is set for March 15th, 17th, 18th, and 19th (Lesh’s 100th show at The Cap) in Port Chester, NY.
Joining Lesh for his latest stint at The Cap are Rick Mitarotonda (Goose), John Medeski, Graham Lesh (Midnight North), Nicki Bluhm, John Molo, Katie Jacoby, and the Trey Anastasio Band horn section of James Casey, Natalie Cressman, and Jennifer Hartswick. Bluhm and Jacoby will perform the 17th–19th while Cressman and Hartswick will only be on hand for Lesh’s birthday proper on the 15th.
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The Capitol Theatre has become one of Lesh’s primary performance platforms since he largely stepped away from touring in the last several years. In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, former Furthur guitarist John Kadlecik reflected on the differences in touring preferences between Lesh and Bob Weir. Speaking about preferences that contributed to the end of Furthur, he explained, “It was just one of those things where Bobby and Phil were hitting their boundaries with each other. It’s this older/younger brother energy. And there were things like the fact that Phil can’t sleep in a moving vehicle, and Bobby can’t sleep in Manhattan [laughs]. It eventually came to a head since Phil wanted to do more residencies, which is what he’s doing now. And Bobby likes to tour.”
Over the course of 96 shows and counting, The Capitol Theatre has become a home away from home for Lesh. His last extended stint at The Cap came in October of 2022, when he set up shop in Port Chester for nine shows over the course of three weekends featuring many of the friends set to return to the lineup in March.
Tickets for the Phil Lesh 83rd birthday run at The Capitol Theatre go on sale on Friday at 10 a.m. ET via Ticketmaster. For a full list of upcoming Phil & Friends dates, head here.
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