(I’ve been writing quick recaps of our 12-show opening run of concert at Terrapin Crossroads as often as I can, but today I have a special treat to post. After we got off stage on Thursday night, our very special guest Sunshine Becker mentioned that she wanted to write up her experience that night singing and playing with us, specifically the highlight of the night, her fantastic rendition of “If I Had The World To Give”. Not long after, she sent me the entry below. I’m very honored to post this and hope you enjoy! -Grahame)
So last night I was invited to sit in as one of Phil’s friends at the newly opened Terrapin Crossroads, a dream of the Lesh family that came to fruition at the familiar and former Seafood Peddler (that name cracks me up every time i hear it still) and also where Furthur did several rehearsal shows a while back.
To say I was excited to get that phone call from Phil would be an understatement. Why? I mean, we play in a band together already, right? So no big deal. Nope. This was different. I had been quietly watching the soft opening of the Crossroads via their posts and reviews online, thrilled to see my Furthur cohorts coming together with many other fine players to ring in the room right. Would the food be fantastic? Would they have nice tequila? Would the sound in the Grate Room blow doors on what I remember from our rehearsals many months ago? I could only imagine what the walls of the place would feel and breath like, since becoming the Terrapin Crossroads. Read more…
Even more opening nights! 2 down…
The wall of guitars. From Thursday 3/15 Rehearsal.
So now the Grate Room at Terrapin Crossroads is open! I figured I’d throw up the 3/17 and 3/18 setlists on this site. Hope everyone who came out had a blast – I know I did – and I hope to see many more people there for the next 10 shows! In case you missed it, the musicians from the last two nights: Phil Lesh, Chris Robinson, Jimmy Herring, Jeff Chimenti, Joe Russo, Jackie Greene, Bob Weir, Brian Lesh, and me.
March 17th, 2012 Setlist:
Quick notes:
- “Lady With A Fan” was a recording from Dick’s Picks #15, from Englishtown, NJ, on Sept. 3, 1977. We spent a decent amount of time picking the right one LWAF. We came in with a 3-part harmony starting on “Inspiration”, and the live band took over from there.
- The letters next to the songs show who sang what. The “B” next to “Seven Drunken Nights” is my brother Brian, who played mandolin, electric guitar, and acoustic guitar for these two shows. The “B” next to “The Other One”, “Playin”, and “One More Saturday Night” is, of course, Mr. Bob Weir.
Set 1:
Here Come’s Sunshine (GL) >
Feelin’ Alright (CR)
Big River (BL) >
Cumberland Blues (All)
Rock n Roll Blues (PL)
Two Time Loser (BL – Deep Dark Woods cover)
New Speedway Boogie (JG)
Casey Jones (CR)
Set 2:
Jam >
Shakedown Street (CR) >
Mason’s Children (All) >
Althea (CR) >
Eyes Of The World (PL) >
Born Cross-Eyed (JG) >
Dark Star (All) >
Day In The Life (Inst: Jimmy) >
Dark Star (All) >
Help On The Way (JG) >
Slipknot >
Franklin’s Tower (PL + JG)
Encore:
Goin’ Down The Road Feelin’ Bad > We Bid You Good Night (All)
More notes:
- “New Speedway Boogie” had a different feel for the 1st two verses – a straight rock groove instead of the swung boogie that it usually has. That was completely spur-of-the-moment (credit to Jackie – his idea!), and I think it was awesome. It was especially epic when we switched back to the original groove before the 3rd verse.
- (this comment applies to both nights and to life in general): Holy shitballs Jimmy Herring. That is all.
- Wait, let me amend that: Holy shitballs Jimmy Herring and Chris effing Robinson. Whoooaaaaaaa.
- “Two Time Loser” is a badass tune. It’s by a great group of musicians called the Deep Dark Woods. I saw them in SF a couple months back. Check em out if they come to your city.
Rock n roll,
-Grahame
Terrapin Crossroads Opening Weekend Mega-Recap
Photo by Claire Teter
I really wanted to post individual recaps for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights like I did for Thursday’s show, but I severely underestimated just how much time I would have to sit down and write this weekend. We had rehearsals, rehearsals, and more rehearsals, each day with different musicians and different tunes. I may have also snuck in a fantasy baseball draft on Saturday afternoon, but that was only while my dad was sound-checking in SF with Railroad Earth for his sit-in that night.
So, with all that in mind, instead of individual recaps of each night, here are some of my assorted thoughts from the entire weekend. Call it a mega-recap. Skip to the bottom if you just want to check out some setlists, photos, and Youtube videos. Read more…
Terrapin Crossroads Casual Opening
As you may know, last night was “casual opening” of the Terrapin Crossroads bar and restaurant. Me, my dad Phil, Jaz Sawyer, Jackie Greene, Jeff Chimenti, Tim Bluhm, Nicki Bluhm, and Ross James set up in the bar and played some tunes for about two and a half hours. It was, as you might expect, ridiculously fun. Some random thoughts about the night. These are in no particular order: Read more…
Leap Day Concert Recap – 2/29/12
Yesterday we got our extra day for 2012, and I celebrated by playing a Leap Day concert. Bonus day, bonus music: hooray!
Last night was all kinds of fun. For the 2nd concert this month (the other being on Feb 4th in Auburn, CA), I opened for my good friends the Dry Creek Rounders. I went on at 8pm or so, played 6 originals and 3 covers in the next 45 minutes, and then enjoyed a delicious J.C. Flyer IPA and a burger while the Rounders played their set of rollicking awesomeness.
My setlist is below, but here are some details from my set: Read more…
Songs Of The Week, pt. 4
Welcome to a long-overdue edition of “Songs Of The Week,” a series of articles whose name I should probably change at some point since I haven’t actually followed through on posting weekly. However, I have an excuse! Big things have been going on since the last one of these I posted. I wrote a bunch of tunes, practiced them solo acoustic and with a band, wrote some more, and I even played a show on February 4th that I think went really well. Oh, and that one other thing: I’ve been practicing all of the Grateful Dead tunes I know for a huge run of shows with Phil Lesh and Friends at the new Terrapin Crossroads in a month. So yes, busy busy. But not too busy to listen to tons of music! So here are my 5 favorite tunes since I last picked 5 favorite tunes.
(Remember, I won’t post write-ups about songs unless I can find live videos of them on Facebook. So hopefully even if you know these songs really well I can still point you in the direction of some new versions.)
Phil Lesh and Friends Terrapin Crossroads Opening!
So, the exciting news broke yesterday. Terrapin Crossroads, the awesome (trust me – I’ve seen it!) restaurant, bar, and music venue that my parents are opening in San Rafael, will be launching with a 12-show Phil Lesh & Friends run starting on March 17th! And I’m going to be in the band for all 12 shows. Whoa. Anyways, when that news broke, I figured I’d take a quick break from working and woodshedding like a maniac (as Ryan Adams once said about Phil & Friends, “you need 6 fingers to keep up with this band”) to post a little bit about these shows.
First, I’m not exactly sure how much I’m supposed to give away, so I’m going to err a bit on the side of caution. But you’ve all seen the lineups for the 12 nights, and I think I can hint at some other tidbits. Those lineups are pretty insane, huh? Chris Robinson, Jimmy Herring, Jackie Greene, Warren Haynes, Larry Campbell, Teresa Williams….(*whew* /takes a wheezing breath)….John Kadlecik, Joe Russo, Jeff Chimenti, and Jaz Sawyer. Oh, and Bob Weir for the opening night. And little ole me and my little brother Brian (ha…I called Brian “little”. He’s like 6’4″) will help out as well – Brian for the 1st 2 shows and me for all 12. Obviously, not everyone will be playing at the same time, so we’re working hard to make sure that every night we’re able to spotlight the guest du jour. I’ll be working my butt off to help make the various bands better in every way that I can. I’ll mostly be playing rhythm or acoustic guitar and singing a ton of backup vocals, but I may have a lead vocal or guitar solo thrown in every once in awhile. Also, Brian, my dad, and I will also be serving up an extra helping of the 3-part family harmonies that we’ve been working on these past couple years, and we think those will sound real nice.
I know that it has been hinted at on the Terrapin Crossroads website, but we are in fact preparing a few acoustic sets in the restaurant and bar part of the Crossroads. I can’t say when, for how long, or with who (and I might get yelled at for confirming it at all), but it’s something I’m excited about and I want to mention it here. Those gigs will obviously be free to all restaurant go-ers, and it will make for quite an awesome night as the food will be delicious and the music will be very fun.
I hope to have more updates soon for anyone who happens across this little corner of the Interwebs (I have noticed a bit of an uptick in traffic since yesterday’s announcement), but for now that’s all I have for you! I’m going to try to get some exclusive content for this site from rehearsals and whatnot, but no guarantees. My best advice? Stay tuned to TerrapinCrossroads.net to be 1st to hear the newest news 
-Grahame
ps: 1 last thing. At the end of the run, everyone will join up for a 20 verse, 60 minute Sugaree-off. Everyone who has ever covered Sugaree with Phil & Friends, Furthur, or any other Grateful Dead family band will get a chance to sing a verse of Sugaree. At the end we’ll vote on the best one. Also, this isn’t actually happening, but it’d be pretty damn funny, huh?
pps: Don’t forget to watch the Phil Lesh & Friends webcast tonight featuring the PLF band that will be playing the Broomfield, CO shows from 2/16-18. Phil, Warren, John Scofield, Jackie, and Joe Russo. It’s gonna be smoking! 6pm PST on TerrapinCrossroads.net for free. More details here. Hurry! It starts in 1 hour!
