While Phil Lesh & Friends performed on Friday night at San Francisco’s The Fillmore, the headline of the evening was not the two stellar sets of music onstage, but rather the announcement the Grateful Dead bassist divulged during the show’s encore about the launch of a venture dubbed Terrapin Clubhouse, a mysterious new entity that presented Friday’s show.
Taking the stage for his typical encore “Donor Rap”, Lesh deviated from the script: “Before we play the encore, I want to invite you all to join us in a trip that we’re planning called Terrapin Clubhouse. We’re going to be doing all kinds of things at the Terrapin Clubhouse, which is not officially a space by the way. You can find out more by going to terrapinclubhouse.com, that’s where you’ll find information about the trips that are coming through.” Watch the clip below.
Phil Lesh & Friends – “Clubhouse Rap” – 11/3/23
[Video: Deadheadland Films]
The website provides little additional information about what exactly Terrapin Clubhouse is, but does direct visitors to follow the operation on various social media channels. This announcement comes two years after Phil and Jill Lesh closed their beloved Terrapin Crossroads music venue/restaurant in San Rafael, CA. Opened by the Lesh family in 2012, the venue served as a home base for the touring-averse 83-year-old bassist, who would regularly sit in with visiting bands. Terrapin Crossroads weathered the storm of the 2020 live music shutdown only to announce its closure in November 2021. The venue hosted its final concert, a show by Stu Allen & From The Mars Hotel, on Halloween 2021 with .
The revelation of Terrapin Clubhouse wasn’t Phil’s only announcement, as he also revealed Phil & Friends will return to The Fillmore in December for a two-night run. He did not specify any dates.
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Lesh’s Friends on Friday included a simplified lineup of guitarists Grahame Lesh and Eric Krasno, keyboardist Steve Molitz, and drummer Nathan Graham. Together, they chugged through two sets of Grateful Dead classics, with the first frame featuring lengthy explorations of “Bertha”, “China Cat Sunflower” > “I Know You Rider”, “Brown-Eyed Women”, and “Ramble On Rose”, all sandwiched between two halves of “Playing In The Band”.
The superjam took a similarly spaced-out approach to the second set, which began with “Help On The Way” > “Slipknot” before detouring through “Deal” and “Shakedown Street”. Phil & Friends then pulled into “Terrapin Station” and even included Robert Hunter‘s oft-overlooked seventh song of the Dead’s orchestral suite “Jack O’ Roses” (which the OG band never performed live) before winding up at the long-awaited “Franklin’s Tower” to close the set. Following Phil’s Terrapin Clubhouse rap, the band closed the evening with a rocking electric “Ripple” to send the Bay Area crowd home singing and smiling.
Check out fan-shot videos from Phil Lesh & Friends at The Fillmore by Ted Silverman AKA TedToob and audio from AuxrenTaper. Stay tuned for more information on Terrapin Clubhouse.
Phil Lesh & Friends – “Playing In The Band” > “Bertha” – 11/3/23
Phil Lesh & Friends – The Fillmore – San Francisco, CA – 11/3/23 – Full Audio
Setlist: Phil Lesh & Friends | The Fillmore | San Francisco, CA | 11/3/23
Set One: Playing In The Band >Â Bertha, China Cat Sunflower > I Know You Rider (Traditional), Brown-Eyed Women, Ramble On Rose > Playing In The Band Reprise
Set Two: Help On The Way > Slipknot! > Deal, Shakedown Street, Terrapin Station > Jack O’Roses (Robert Hunter), Franklin’s Tower [1]
Encore: Ripple
[1] w/ “Blue Sky” (Allman Brothers Band) jam
[H/TÂ JamBase]