Phish Bassist Mike Gordon Joins Phil Lesh & Friends At Terrapin Crossroads: Photos & Videos

Terrapin Crossroads in San Rafael, California hosted the first-ever “Big Bass Bash” on Sunday night which ended with Phish bassist Mike Gordon joining Phil Lesh & Friends for a pair of sets and encore outside the venue. Mike and Phil both played bass on an incredible selection of Phish and Grateful Dead songs as well as an inspired choice of covers.

The day started with sets from Midnight North and Infamous Stringdusters featuring Nicki Bluhm. Phil & Friends then took the stage at 3:20 p.m. with Lesh and Gordon joined by Jackie Greene on guitar, Barry Sless on guitar and pedal steel, Jason Crosby on keys and John Molo on drums. Jackie sang “Shakedown Street” to start the set and the band soon embarked on a “Low Rider” jam before seguing into Gordon’s “Yarmouth Road.” Nicki Bluhm came out to help sing “Yarmouth” which was her only appearance of the Phil & Friends sets. From there, the band played Dead classics “Loose Lucy” and “Pride Of Cucamonga” ahead of Mike leading the group through a cover of Son Seals’ “Funky Bitch,” a staple of the Phish repertoire. Crosby, Lesh and Greene teamed to sing “Mason’s Children,” while Gordon was back in the spotlight for a cover of Little Feat’s “Six Feet Of Snow.” Andy Falco (guitar) and Andy Hall (dobro) of The Infamous Stringdusters came out to help on the Little Feat cover. Falco, Hall and their ‘Dusters band mate Jeremy Garrett also added to the “Cumberland Blues” that ended the first set.

It wouldn’t be a Dead-related show on a Sunday without “Samson & Delilah” and Mike Gordon had the honors of singing the version that opened the second set last night. Up next was a jammed-out “Viola Lee Blues” featuring Phil, Jackie and Jason sharing vocal duties. Phil then had a chance to lead the ensemble to a particularly expansive take on one of his signature songs, “Unbroken Chain.” A Jackie-sung “Fire On The Mountain” followed. Mike Gordon had his second chance of the night to sing a Phish song as he was up front for “555.” The second set ended with a ridiculous “That’s It For The One” > “Not Fade Away” sequence that included a Mike-sung cover of Daniel Lanois’ “The Maker” in the middle. A lengthy encore included takes on “Uncle John’s Band,” “Brown-Eyed Women,” “Deep Elem Blues,” “Deal” and “Goin’ Down The Road Feeling Bad” > “And We Bid You Goodnight.”

Watch a few clips of “Yarmouth Road”:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BH_QDGUAK9L/

Here’s a few tastes of “Samson”:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BH-6AbgAGys/ https://www.instagram.com/p/BH_QJ_jgepK/

Enjoy a video of “Funky Bitch”:

Photos by Sterling Munksgard

[Best_Wordpress_Gallery id=”318″ gal_title=”20160717 Phil Big Bass Bash Terrapin Sterling”]

Phil Lesh & Friends Setlists (Compiled by Rob Scalcione for Deadheadland)

Set One: Shakedown Street jgr w/Low Rider jam, Yarmouth Road mg *, Loose Lucy jgr, Pride of Cucamonga pl, Funky Bitch mg, Mason’s Children pl jgr jc, Six Feet of Snow mg ^, Cumberland Blues pl jgr ^+

• * w/Nicki Bluhm on vocals
• ^ w/Andy Falco on guitar & Andy Hall on dobro from the Infamous Stringdusters
• ^+ w/Andy Falco on guitar, Andy Hall on dobro & Jeremy Garrett on fiddle from the Infamous Stringdusters

Set Two: Samson & Delilah mg, Viola Lee Blues pl jgr jc > Unbroken Chain pl Fire on the Mountain jgr, 555 mg, Cryptical Envelopment pl > The Other One v1 pl > The Maker mg > The Other One v2 pl > Not Fade Away pl jgr jc

Encore: donor rap, Uncle John’s Band pl jgr, Brown Eyed Women jgr, Deep Elem Blues jgr, Deal jgr > Goin’ Down The Road Feeling Bad pl jgr jc > And We Bid You Goodnight pl jgr, band intros