Dogs In A Pile Mourn Phil Lesh With Beautiful ‘Brokedown Palace’ Cover In Philadelphia

Dogs In A Pile are among the legions of younger jam acts heavily influenced by Phil Lesh and the music of the Grateful Dead. The band, who take their name from a “He’s Gone” lyric, paid tribute to Phil Lesh shortly after news of his death was announced by breaking out a cover of “Brokedown Palace” to start the encore of a Friday night show dedicated to the bassist at Brooklyn Bowl Philadelphia.

This past weekend’s two-night stand at Brooklyn Bowl Philly was the start of an extensive fall tour. Dogs In A Pile — Jeremy Kaplan (keyboards/vocals), Brian Murray (guitarist/vocals), Joey Babick (drums), Jimmy Law (guitarist/vocals) and Sam Lucid (bassist/vocals) — are based in Asbury Park, New Jersey.

DIAP loaded Friday’s show with fan-favorite originals, including exploratory versions of “Nicolette,” “Blues For Brian,” “Thomas Duncan, Pt. 2,” “Samba For Sam,” “Let U Go” and “Shenanigans.” The quintet also fit a few covers into the first set, playing Billy Preston’s “Will It Go ‘Round In Circles” and Jimi Hendrix’s “Fire.”

The band members solemnly returned to the stage for the encore. Jimmy Law sang the beginning of Dogs In A Pile’s first “Brokedown Palace” since December 18, 2022 before handing over the reins to Brian Murray. The pair traded lead vocal duties for the remainder of song written by Jerry Garcia and Robert Hunter that the Grateful Dead recorded for their iconic 1970 album American Beauty.

Law took a soaring solo towards the end of “Brokedown” ahead of a transition into “Dancing In The Street.” Dogs In A Pile gave extra funkiness to the disco-tinged arrangement of the Motown classic performed by the Grateful Dead between June 1976 and April 1987. “Dancin'” bled into the end of the beloved “Go Set” before the band dedicated the show to Phil Lesh and Cody, the man whose liver the bassist received in 1998. Dogs In A Pile also honored Lesh with a “Donor Rap” as they asked fans to become organ donors.

Watch pro-shot video of Dogs In A Pile’s “Brokedown Palace” cover below along with taper audio-enhanced footage of the full show captured by Rich Stoler:

Official Audio (via nugs.net)

Setlist (via Go-Set.net)

Set One: Westward, Nicolette, Will It Go ‘Round In Circles? > Blues for Brian-> 4th of July > Snow Day, Happy Song > Thomas Duncan, Pt. 2-> Trunk Rum, Fire

Set Two: You Didn’t Hear It From Me, Samba for Sam > Por Que Pedro > Let U Go > EDM Song > Spun-> Gumball > Shenanigans, Bent Strange

Encore: Brokedown Palace[1], Dancing in the Street -> Go Set[2], Donor Rap

• [1] – LTP 12/18/2022 (223 Shows)
• [2] – Ending Only