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| Phil Lesh & Friends @ the Fillmore (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
“My nephew says this is Phil Lesh’s last concert,” a man in his 60’s said to me as we stood outside The Fillmore on Friday night. I couldn’t help but laugh a little as false reports of 83-year-old Phil’s health and impending inability to perform seem to have circulated in whispers and murmurs for more than a decade around the scene. “Not that I’m aware of. That’s the first I have heard of it – this time,” I replied. Spoiler alert: Phil Lesh is going anywhere - except to the stage. Four hours later, Lesh had put the night’s configuration of “Phil Lesh and Friends” through fourteen jam-filled songs over two sets in a performance that lasted nearly two and a half hours. He laid the rumors to rest before the encore, letting the crowd know that he would be back to the Fillmore for two more concerts in December and encouraging everyone to keep an eye on a new website. “Terrapin is not a physical place,” he said. “It’s this community.”
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| Phil Lesh @ the Fillmore (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
Phil had taken the stage smiling at 8:30 pm – bringing with him a band composed of his son Grahame Lesh on guitar, Eric Krasno on the other guitar, the eclectic keyboardist (and video game music director) Steve Molitz and drummer Nathan Graham – the younger Lesh’s bandmate in Midnight North. Leading off with Krasno singing the frequent Grateful Dead opener “Playing in the Band” – the band delivered a heavily psychedelic, slithery version of the song that saw each of the members given a chance to stretch and finished with wild, spacey sound effects before they transitioned into “Bertha.” Grahame Lesh led the vocals as the band leaned heavily into Molitz’s organ in the early going and then saw Krasno light a fire with his clean, jazzy guitar on his signature guitar followed by Grahame taking his bluesy Gibson for a ride. Throughout the song, Phil and Graham delivered an accelerated pace that drove the song forward.
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| Grahame Lesh @ the Fillmore (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
Phil Lesh called for a timeout following “Bertha” to address what he deemed some technical difficulties. The author of Searching for the Sound has never been one to settle for anything less than ideal sound. As levels were adjusted and new cables and connections were tested, I was reminded of the time he halted a free outdoor show at Terrapin Crossroads to replace a speaker that wasn’t to his liking. On this night, the solution was about ten minutes in coming before Grahame Lesh struck the familiar opening of “China Cat Sunflower.” Phil’s bass led the band through a five-minute version that segued smoothly into its couplet companion of “I Know You Rider.” The song saw all three front strings players harmonizing on the early vocals as spiraling graphics were projected behind them. While the night’s music was completely top-notch, the lighting and projections seemed uninspired Friday – especially compared with the visual extravaganza that Lesh’s Dead bandmate Bob Weir had put on less than a week earlier at Frost Amphitheatre. On this night, the light show leaned too heavily on just flooding the stage with minimal house spots of only blue and magenta tones. The occasional use of the house disco ball added a bit to the audience spectacle on a few occasions. The most interesting visual dynamic of the concert was the leveraging of The Fillmore’s famous chandeliers (all too often ignored in performances at the historic venue) with variable illumination levels and colors.
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| The Fillmore's chandeliers (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
Grahame Lesh and Krasno played tight synchronized solos on “Rider” before Lesh laid in his patented “Phil Bombs” on bass as the front three once again harmonized at the song’s end. Krasno then led the way on the last two songs of the first set. “Brown Eyed Women” once again saw solos handed across the stage with Krasno yielding to Molitz before Grahame Lesh soared once more on guitar. Krasno showcased his terrifically soulful voice with the ending of the song. A fun, long version of “Ramble on Rose” followed and carried the crowd into a brief reprise of “Playing in the Band” and then on to intermission.
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| Eric Krasno @ the Fillmore (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
The first half hour of the second set delivered a charge to the audience as Grahame Lesh took lead vocals on a terrific “Help on the Way” with Molitz’s organ and sound effect work once again serving as a rightful center of attention. Nathan Graham then led the band into a wild “Slipknot” that saw the drummer getting the opportunity to deliver his sound forward. Rather than completing the traditional “Help->Slip->Frank” triplet with “Franklin’s Tower,” the band then rocketed into a fast-paced “Deal” with Krasno taking lead vocals and showing his most bluesy guitar-playing of the evening following more heroics from Molitz on organ and Grahame Lesh on guitar.
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| Phil Lesh & Friends @ the Fillmore (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
The “Disco Dead”-era staple of “Shakedown Street" was delivered at a blistering, full-speed ahead pace with Krasno bringing the psychedelic guitar sound and Phil Lesh and Nathan Graham driving a breakneck pace. Grahame Lesh took the first round of vocals before Krasno took the second and leading the crowd into a hearty “WOOOO” before the song finished with Grahame Lesh assuming main mic duties once more.
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| Nathan Graham @ the Fillmore (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
The second half-hour of the second set began with a gorgeous version of “Lady with a Fan” and then led into “Terrapin Station”. Grahame Lesh sang the first verse with Phil Lesh taking the second and the two passed lead vocal duties back and forth throughout. It was a joyful sight to watch a father and son share such a special moment and when Phil struggled to recall a lyric – shaking his hand to a round of encouragement from the crowd - Grahame jumped in to complete it and lead his father back to the path. Molitz laid in beautiful piano throughout the song and as Terrapin reached its crescendo - Krasno and Graham’s guitars took the spotlight as the crowd raised their arms triumphantly to unite in the chorus.
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| Steve Molitz @ the Fillmore (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
Grahame Lesh then delivered the most beautiful song of the night as they performed a cover of Robert Hunter’s “Jack O’Roses” – the seventh song of the original “Terrapin Station Suite” that was never performed by the Grateful Dead and has been molded and shaped by Grahame and his brother Brian since Hunter. On this night, Grahame Lesh’s vocals were full of longing and heartbreak while Krasno added a deeply bluesy guitar to the proceedings. The song was the highlight of the night to me.
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| Phil Lesh & Eric Krasno @ the Fillmore (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
After the band briefly conferred on stage, they dropped back into “Slipknot” before closing the still open triplet as Krasno and Molitz then led them into a rollicking version of “Franklin’s Tower.” The crowd shrieked with delight as Phil sang “God save the child that rings that bell” and as Grahame Lesh went into a riveting solo that sent his fingers on a wild tour up and down the fretboard. The whole auditorium sang along with the “Roll Away the Dew” chorus to end the main set.
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| Phil Lesh & Friends @ the Fillmore (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
Phil Lesh returned to the stage to make his announcement about returning to The Fillmore in December and hint at much more to come with Terrapin Clubhouse. He then brought everyone back on stage and the band blistered through an incredibly fast-paced, electric version of the traditional encore favorite of “Ripple.” five-minute version with Phil taking lead vocals sent the crowd happily out into the street with the promise that there would be more “songs to fill the air” to come.
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