Watch Grahame Lesh Sit In With Eggy In Berkeley

Eggy’s West Coast run continued last night with a show at The Cornerstone in Berkeley, California. Midnight North guitarist Grahame Lesh made multiple appearances with the band and Jake Brownstein played Grateful Dead guitarist Jerry Garcia’s famed Alligator guitar throughout the second set.

Lesh, who is the son of late Grateful Dead bassist Phil Lesh, first appeared ahead of the last song of the first set to join Eggy on Jerry Garcia’s “Cats Under The Stars.” Grahame played guitar and sang lead on the cover of the title track to the Jerry Garcia Band’s 1978 album. The +17-minute collaboration led into the evening’s set break.

Eggy guitarist Jake Brownstein returned from the break with Alligator in hand. Graham Nash gifted Alligator – named after a sticker placed on its pickguard – to Garcia as compensation for playing pedal steel guitar on the Crosby, Stills & Nash classic “Teach Your Children” and Nash’s first solo album, Songs For Beginners. Garcia played the 1955 maple-neck Fender Strat, which was modified at Alembic by Frank Fuller and Rick Turner, between 1971 and 1973.

Andy Logan, the founder and president of Grateful Guitars, obtained Alligator in 2019. Brownstein played the iconic instrument for the rest of the concert.

Set two began with “Sweat Equity” segueing into another Garcia-affiliated song, Peter Rowan’s Old & In The Way standout “Midnight Moonlight.” Lesh was brought back for a second sit-in and accompanied the band on the ensuing exploratory “Trixieville.” The rest of the set was filled in with “Fly Frederick Fly” and “Wayless.”

Thursday’s encore, “Onitsuka Tiger,” featured Best Show Ever podcast host Cam Herdt onstage telling a wild tale about an adventure induced from eating a gummy, complete with his spot-on Bob Weir impersonation.

Eggy’s West Coast quest continues tonight at Felton Music Hall in Felton, California. Watch video from last night’s livestream featuring Grahame Lesh and Alligator appearing with the band below:

Setlist (via The Carton)

Set One: One Stop Shop > A Moment’s Notice-> Atomic Age[1] > You, Cats Under The Stars[2]

Set Two: Sweat Equity-> Midnight Moonlight[3], Trixieville[4], Fly Frederick Fly, Wayless

Encore: Onitsuka Tiger[5]

Notes:

• Jake played Jerry Garcia’s Alligator for all of set II and encore
• [1] with Spanish Moon (Little Feat) teases
• [2] Jerry Garcia cover, with Grahame Lesh on guitar
• [3] Old and In The Way cover
• [4] with Grahame Lesh on guitar
• [5] with Cam Herdt story telling, Dancing In The Streets teases