Phil Lesh rolled into The Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, NY on Thursday for the first of three shows as part of the former Grateful Dead bassist’s 79th birthday celebration, scheduled to continue throughout the weekend. To celebrate the first of three sold-out shows at The Cap, a venue which Lesh knows all too well, the bassist was joined on stage by a mix of talented “Friends” including Benmont Tench, John Scofield, Jackie Greene, John Molo, and his son/Terrapin Family Band regular, Grahame Lesh.
Friday night’s performance opened up with a very lively “Mason’s Children”, an early Grateful Dead which was originally written and recorded for Workingman’s Dead, but never made it onto the 1970 album. The first set continued with “Mr. Charlie” and the always romantic “Bird Song” before the band tore into a two-song combination of “Scarlet Begonias” into “Eyes of the World”. The first half of the show continued with a rendition of “So Many Roads” before sending the audience into the set break with a performance of “U.S. Blues”. Fans can watch the pro-shot video below to relisten to the first few tunes from Thursday’s opening set.
Phil Lesh & Friends – “Mason’s Children”, “Mr. Charlie”, “Bird Song” – 3/14/2019
[Video: Relix]
Lesh and company returned to the stage to open the second half of Thursday’s show with primal-Dead psychedelic classic “Dark Star”. From there, Lesh stepped up to the mic to lead the band in singing his beloved American Beauty ballad, “Box of Rain”, which continued into “Wharf Rat” before returning to “Rain”. The second set kept rolling with plenty of energy as Lesh continued with “Franklin’s Tower”, “Uncle John’s Band”, and “St. Stephen”. Next came a performance of “Let It Grow”, a Dead original from the latter half of the band’s discography, followed by “The Wheel”. The set came to a close with their rendition of “I Know You Rider”, followed by a one-song encore of “Going Down the Road Feelin’ Bad” to wrap the performance.
Deadheads can watch the fan-shot video below to relive the band’s performances of “Scarlet Begonias” > “Fire on the Mountain” from Thursday below:
Phil Lesh & Friends – “Scarlet Begonias” > “Fire on the Mountain” – 3/14/2019
[Video: Sean Roche]
Phil Lesh will be back in action on Friday night (his actual birthday) for another show which is set to also feature John Scofield, Benmont Tench, John Molo, Jackie Greene, and Grahame Lesh. Fans can head to Lesh’s website for ticket info to his upcoming performances.
Setlist: Phil Lesh & Friends | Capitol Theatre | Port Chester, NY | 3/14/2019
Set One: Mason’s Children, Mr. Charlie, Bird Song, Scarlet Begonias > Eyes of the World, So Many Roads, U.S. Blues
Set Two: Dark Star, Box of Rain, Wharf Rat, Box of Rain, Franklin’s Tower, Uncle John’s Band, St. Stephen, Let It Grow, The Wheel, I Know You Rider
Encore: Going Down the Road Feelin’ Bad
The post Phil Lesh Opens The Capitol Theatre Birthday Run With Lively Mix Of Grateful Dead Favorites [Videos] appeared first on L4LM.
