Bob Weir Guests With The Phil Lesh Quintet At The Meadows In 2001

The early ’00s was a glorious period for bassist Phil Lesh, who settled in on a lineup dubbed by fans as “The Q” after a number of runs featuring a revolving door of musicians. Lesh was joined in his long-running quintet by guitarists Jimmy Herring and Warren Haynes, keyboardist Rob Barraco and drummer John Molo. The Phil Lesh Quintet embarked on a Summer Tour in 2001 that saw Bob Weir and RatDog open many shows with Weir often making time to guest with “The Q.”

A standout show from the Phil Lesh Quintet/RatDog run came on this date in 2001 at The Meadows in Hartford. Phil’s sets are featured in a crispy recording which is the focus on this week’s Full Show Friday column. “The Q” began the first set the way many of their sets did, with an expansive jam. Eventually, the five-piece kicked into “Cosmic Charlie.” Weir then came out to lead Lesh and the quintet on “Truckin'” and an adventurous “Cassidy.”

After Weir’s time on stage, the set continued with Haynes leading the group through his own “Beautifully Broken.” A “King Solomon’s Marbles” > “Stronger Than Dirt” pairing showed what the band is capable of instrumentally ahead of a set-closing “Doin’ That Rag” sung with gusto by Barraco. The second set featured more of the same including an opening jam, a wild “Dear Mr. Fantasy” that spanned nearly 17 minutes, an inventive “St. Stephen” > “Eyes Of The World” > “St. Stephen” pairing and downright jaw-dropping “Help On The Way” > “Slipknot!” > “The Eleven” > “Slipknot!” > “Franklin’s Tower” sequence. Phil Lesh & Friends ended the night with a “Built To Last” encore.

Listen to audio of Phil Lesh & Friends at The Meadows on July 21, 2001 featuring special guest Bob Weir recorded by Ben Erhsam:

Setlist (via The Phil Zone)

Set One: Jam > Cosmic Charlie, *Rainy Day Woman tease> *Truckin’> *Jam> *Cassidy, Beautifully Broken> King Solomon’s Marbles> Stronger Than Dirt, Doin’ That Rag

Set Two: Caution Jam> Dear Mr. Fantasy, St. Stephen> Eyes> St. Stephen> Help> Slipknot!> The Eleven> Slipknot!> Franklin’s Tower

Encore: Built To Last

*with Bob Weir