Watch Phil Lesh & Bob Weir Connect For Stealth Gig In 2001 After 3-Year Estrangement
The Grateful Dead bandmates were joined at Sweetwater Music Hall by John Molo, Jimmy Herring, Rob Barraco and special guest Warren Haynes.
By Scott Bernstein Jan 9, 2026 • 12:30 pm PST
One of the most important in the post-Jerry history of the Grateful Dead took place at the intimate Sweetwater Music Hall in Mill Valley, California on June 10, 2001. The Crusader Rabbit Stealth Band made their debut that night, marking the first time GD co-founders bassist Phil Lesh and guitarist Bob Weir shared the stage in nearly three years.
Footage of nearly the entire show, filmed by legendary photographer Ed Perlstein, was posted on YouTube for the first time earlier this week. Perlstein found shooting difficult due to the cramped quarters at the Bay Area venue, but despite the challenging circumstances, the video is still worth seeing.
Deadheads were shocked to see Phil Lesh and Bob Weir perform together as the pair had a falling out over a venture capital deal that eventually fizzled out. Lesh feared the band would use the vault, their biggest asset, as collateral in a potential deal. Weir, Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann outvoted Lesh, who then wrote an open letter to his former bandmates insisting he would never perform with them again.
Cooler heads prevailed and Phil and Bobby performed with Lesh’s “The Q” bandmates, guitarist Jimmy Herring, drummer John Molo and keyboardist Rob Barraco, under the Crusader Rabbit Stealth Band moniker. Warren Haynes, who was also in “The Q,” sat-in on the encore.
The memorable night at Sweetwater laid the groundwork for a 2001 Summer Tour featuring Phil Lesh & Friends and the Weir-led Bob Weir & RatDog. Phil Lesh and Bob Weir would bring back the “Crusader Rabbit Stealth Band” name for a post-midnight set on New Year’s Eve 2001 at Oakland’s Kaiser Auditorium that saw the pair and “Q” members joined by Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann. The Dead’s “core four” toured in Fall 2002 as part of “The Other Ones” and hit the road as “The Dead” in 2003 and 2004.
Watch Ed Perlstein’s (YouTube’s MusicImagesDotNot) footage of the Crusader Rabbit Stealth Band concert from June 10, 2001 below:
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Setlist (via Deadheadland.com)
Set One: Jam > Truckin > Smokestack Lightning > Friend of the Devil > China Cat Sunflower > The Eleven > Brown-Eyed Women
Set Two: The Music Never Stopped > Jam > Get Together > Cassidy, Mason’s Children > Viola Lee Blues > Maggie’s Farm > Viola Lee Blues
Encore: Promised Land > I Know You Rider
(Warren Haynes sat in for the encore)
