Watch Phil Lesh & Friends Bust Out Beatles Cover At The Warfield

Phil Lesh & Friends returned to the familiar confines of The Warfield in San Francisco on Saturday. The Grateful Dead bassist and band offered a setlist full of 1960s and ‘70 GD favorites and a breakout cover of The Beatles’ “Strawberry Fields Forever.”

The Phil & Friends lineup at The Warfield on January 13 consisted of Phil Lesh accompanied by guitarists Eric Krasno, Stu Allen and Grahame Lesh, drummer John Molo and keyboardist Steve Molitz. The ensemble kicked off the concert with “Playing In The Band.” Phil & Friends kept it in the Weir realm with “Born Cross-Eyed,” off the Grateful Dead’s 1968 album Anthem of the Sun.

The band then dusted off the largely John Lennon-penned psychedelic Beatles masterpiece “Strawberry Fields Forever,” last played at Terrapin Crossroads on April 21, 2015, as per Setlist.FM stats. Steve Molitz delivered the song’s iconic Mellotron intro before Stu Allen led the group through the number, which initially arrived as a double single in February 1967 with Paul McCartney’s “Penny Lane.”

Lesh drove the “Strawberry Fields” jam with his signature bounding bass lines while the guitarists interweaved lines expertly. The song ended with some psychedelic soundscaping. Watch Phil Lesh & Friends on “Strawberry Fields Forever” via Deadheadland Films below:

More psychedelia followed in “Doin’ That Rag” off the Dead’s 1969 album Aoxomoxoa — ahead of “Althea,” the latter debuted in 1979 and subsequently appearing on the band’s 1980 album, Go To Heaven. “Althea” marked the latest released song performed. Phil captained “Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo” to wrap the first set.

Set two got underway with “Lady With A Fan” and “Terrapin Station,” within which Phil & Friends sandwiched “Stella Blue.” The seamless opening sequence was capped with Robert Hunter’s “Jack O’Roses.”

Two classic pairings — “St. Stephen” and “The Eleven” along with “China Cat Sunflower” and “I Know You Rider” — brought the second frame to a close. Following Phil’s donor rap, the legendary bassist helmed his signature song, “Box of Rain,” to close the concert.