On Saturday night, Phil Lesh & The Terrapin Family Band and Leftover Salmon took over the iconic Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Morrison, Colorado, with a co-headlining performance filled with collaborations. Each act performed on extended set, inviting members from the other group to come out and join them in addition to a number of other special guests.

Leftover Salmon kicked off the night, riding high on the release of their brand-new album Something Higher, which was released on Friday. After an energetic and feel-good start to the show, with takes on fan favorites “Let’s Give A Party”, “High Country”, “All Night Ride”, and a “Boo Boo” containing “Gimme Da Ting”, a good majority of their set was dedicated to performing Something Higher in its entirety, from the album’s opening track, “Places”, through to its twelfth and final track, “Burdened Heart”—this segment also included a sit-in from Jeremy Garrett on fiddle for the number “Game Of Thorns”.

Following Leftover Salmon’s performance of Something Higher, the Colorado-based band invited out Phil Lesh ahead of his own headlining set for renditions of Bob McDill and Allen Reynolds’ “Catfish John” as well as Jimmy Reed’s “Big Boss Man”. During the all-star collaboration, Lesh was given plenty of space to solo and showcase his talents, which would be full on display later in the night. From there, Lesh departed the stage, leaving Leftover Salmon to finish out the set with “Way Up On The Hill Where They Do The Boogie” and “Better”.

Setlist: Leftover Salmon | Red Rocks Amphitheatre | Morrison, CO | 5/5/2018

Set: Let’s Give A Party, High Country, All Night Ride, Boo Boo > Gimme Da Ting > Boo Boo, Places, Show Me Something Higher, Southern Belle, Analog, House Of Cards, Colorado Evermore, Astral Traveler, Foreign Fields, Game Of Thorns (with Jeremy Garrett on fiddle), Let In A Little Light, Winters Gone Today, Burdened Heart, Catfish John (with Phil Lesh), Big Boss Man (with Phil Lesh), Way Up On The Hill Where They Do The Boogie, Better

Following Leftover Salmon’s fiery set, Phil Lesh & The Terrapin Family Band wasted no time getting started, opening the show by inviting Leftover Salmon’s Vince Herman, Drew Emmett, Andy Thorn, and Erik Deutsch to join them for their opening rendition of “Cumberland Blues”. Following this collaboration, the members of Leftover left the stage as Phil Lesh & The Terrapin Family Band segued gracefully into standout take on “Viola Lee Blues”, which contained cacophonous peaks that heightened the tension within the tune.

After the soulful Aoxomoxoa track “Mountains of the Moon”, the band offered up an energetic rendition of “Jack Straw”, which they segued into a cover of Bob Dylan’s “Like A Rolling Stone”, eliciting huge cheers from the audience. “Jack O’ Rose” came next, which led into a triumphant rendition of “Terrapin Station”, which segued into a beautiful and climactic “Morning Dew”. Leaving fans to wonder what could follow this exceptional run of songs, the band closed out their set with the crowd-pleasing “Uncle John’s Band” and the slinky fan-favorite “New Speedway Boogie”.

Phil Lesh came out during the set break, laying out his traditional “Donor Rap”, where he thanked his organ donor for saving his life and encouraged fans to do the same. Following his speech, Mihali Savoulidis of Twiddle came out along with the rest of the band for fiery renditions of “Fire On The Mountain” and “The Music Never Stopped”. Mihali’s appearance was not necessarily surprising, especially given that Phil and Grahame Lesh had joined Twiddle the night before during their own headlining Red Rocks show. After the opening two numbers of the encore, Savoulidis left the stage, leaving Phil Lesh & The Terrapin Family Band to finish out the night with a rendition of “Box Of Rain”.

Setlist: Phil Lesh & The Terrapin Family Band | Red Rocks Amphitheatre | Morrison, CO | 5/5/2018

Set: Cumberland Blues* > Viola Lee Blues, Mountains of the Moon, Jack Straw > Like a Rolling Stone, Jack OO Roses-> Terrapin Station > Morning Dew, Uncle John’s Band, New Speedway Boogie

Encore: Donor Rap, Fire on the Mountain+, Music Never Stopped+, Box of Rain

* with Vince Herman, Drew Emmett, Andy Thorn, and Erik Deutsch of Leftover Salmon | + with Mihali Savoulidis of Twiddle

Phil Lesh & The Terrapin Family Band – Red Rocks – 5/5/2018 (Full Audio)

 

[Audio: bonobeats]