Leftover Salmon Welcomes David Grisman On This Date In 1996

After nearly 30 years since their formation, pioneering jamgrass act Leftover Salmon are still touring hard and have a new album on their way. On this date in 1996, LoS teamed up with veteran Bay Area multi-instrumentalist Pete Sears and legendary mandolin player David “Dawg” Grisman to close out a memorable two-night stand at The Fillmore in San Francisco. This week’s Full Show Friday selection is a crispy soundboard of the performance available for streaming or downloading on the Live Music Archive.

Leftover Salmon’s lineup at the time featured founding members Vince Herman, Drew Emmitt and Mark Vann joined by bassist Tye North and drummer Michael Wooten. Sears, who frequently toured with Leftover Salmon during that period, performs on the entire show the band played at The Fillmore 22 years ago today. Grisman emerged towards the middle of the first set and stayed out to guest for the rest of the concert.

The self-described “Polyethnic Cajun Slamgrass” act had recently released the popular Ask The Fish live album and were working on their Hollywood Records debut. Leftover Salmon recruited Sears to contribute to that LP, Euphoria, which came out the following year. Dawg joined the action for fan-favorite “4:20 Polka” and added to such numbers as “River’s Rising,” “Doin’ My Time” and “Ask The Fish.”

Leftover Salmon were in a celebratory mood throughout the concert and made a handful of references to how nice it was to play The Fillmore. Grisman and Emmitt dueled on mandolin at points and at other times Dawg went toe-to-toe with Mark Vann, who sadly passed away in 2002. The Colorado-based band was enthused to share the stage with Grisman and showcase the mandolin wiz in each song. LoS and their guests ended the second set with the beloved “Pasta On The Mountain” and then returned for an encore of “Hey Joe” and “Rise Up, Wake & Bake.”

Listen to a soundboard recording of LoS’s performance from this day in 1996 shared by Lobster:

Setlist

Set One: Ain’t Gonna Work, Boo Boo, Tu N’as Pas Aller, 99 Years, Headbag, 4:20 Polka, Rocky Road Blues, Blues In A Bottle, Lonesome Road, Reuben’s Train

Set Two: River’s Risin’, Shame & Scandal, Country Blues, Bosco Stumble, Doin’ My Time, Better, Hot Corn/Cold Corn, Jackknife, Shenandoah Breakdown, Ask The Fish, This Is The Time (The Bridge), Pasta On The Mountain

Encore: Hey Joe, Wake & Bake