Lukas Nelson Celebrates Jerry Garcia’s Birthday At Red Rocks

As reported, Lukas Nelson spent the weekend at Red Rocks supporting Tedeschi Trucks Band. The second and final show of the run at the idyllic venue in Morrison, Colorado fell on what would have been Jerry Garcia's 84th birthday, an occasion both bands marked by performing a Grateful Dead cover.

Lukas Nelson and his band — fiddler Jake Simpson, bassist Corey McCormick, percussionist Tato Melgar, pedal steel guitarist Dakota Holden and keyboardist Eli Salus-Kleiner — debuted their rendition of “Althea” in the middle of their 14-song set on Saturday. While Nelson had never performed the song with his current ensemble, he did play the Garcia/Hunter co-written tune a handful of times with Promise Of The Real, including takes with Bob Weir in 2017 and 2023.

First performed by the Grateful Dead live on August 7, 1979, the legendary band recorded “Althea” for their 1980 studio album Go To Heaven. The song remained a staple of the GD live repertoire through the group’s penultimate show on July 8, 1995 at Soldier Field in Chicago.

“This one’s for Jerry!” Nelson exclaimed before beginning “Althea.” The son of Willie Nelson guided his group through a faithful version of the song at Red Rocks. Salus-Kleiner nodded to the Brent Mydland era by utilizing a similar tone to that of the Grateful Dead’s longest tenured keyboardist, while Simpson and Holden added Americana flair on fiddle and pedal steel, respectively. Nelson delivered a potent guitar solo towards the end of the cover.

Watch Lukas Nelson roll out his cover of “Althea” at Red Rocks below:

The rest of the set was packed with songs from Nelson’s POTR era, including “Fool Me Once,” “Just Outside Of Austin,” “Carolina,” “Find Yourself” and more. Lukas also honored his father by covering “Bloody Mary Morning” and performed “Born Runnin’ Outta Time” and “Pretty Much” from his debut solo album, 2025’s American Romance.

TTB nodded to Garcia later in the night by performing “Sugaree” as part of a medley with “Angel From Montgomery.” Lukas Nelson went on to join the headliners for covers of Derek & The Dominos’ “Why Does Love Got To Be So Sad?” and Joe Tex’s “Show Me” to close out the weekend on the Rocks. Nelson and his band will spend the next two weeks supporting TTB at shows along the West Coast.