[UPDATED] Phil Lesh & Friends Ascends Into The Light & Plays Outdoor Campfire Encore Again

On Wednesday night Phil Lesh & Friends completed an inventive “From Darkness To Light” series of two shows at Terrapin Crossroads in San Rafael, California. Wednesday’s finale had the theme of “ascending into the light” featuring the Grateful Dead bassist joined by guitarists Neal Casal and Jackie Greene as well as CRB keyboardist Adam MacDougall and Circles Around The Sun drummer Mark Levy plus vocalist Nicki Bluhm. For the second night in a row the concert moved outside for an encore performed around a campfire.

The band started with a jam before Casal took the lead on “Here Comes Sunshine.” Jackie then fronted the band on a cover of Bob Dylan’s “Mr. Tambourine Man.” Nicki had her first turn in the spotlight on the traditional “Down To The River To Pray.” One of the evening’s highlights came next as the ensemble crushed The Allman Brothers Band’s “Dreams” and worked in teases of “Jessica” and “Mountain Jam” ahead of a Phil-sung “Eyes Of The World.” The interesting song choices continued with Casal handling lead vocals on the Beatles’ “Within You Without Out.”

The main set moved on with Jackie up front on “Scarlet Begonias” and a cover of U2’s “Beautiful Day.” Nicki then delivered Jefferson Airplane’s “Somebody To Love” before the set continued with a Lesh-sung “Broken Arrow.” Bluhm channeled Joni Mitchell on “Both Sides Now” leading into a jubilant “Franklin’s Tower” complete with the ending of “Scarlet Begonias.” Phil Lesh & Friends’ ended last night’s main set with the Grateful Dead trifecta of “Comes A Time” > “Dark Star” > “The Wheel.”

After the main set the action moved outside as the band and attendees headed to the backyard for an encore set. Casal and Greene utilized acoustics for the Beatles’ “You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away,” the gospel song “Angel Band,” an acoustic “Down To The River To Pray” and Grateful Dead repertoire gems “Ripple” and “Not Fade Away.” Listen to “Dreams” > “Jam” > “Eyes Of The World” > “Within You Without You” > “Scarlet Begonias” captured by Quinfolk and stay tuned for full show audio:

https://soundcloud.com/quinfolk/04-dreams-jam-eyes-of-the-world-within-you-without-you-scarlet-begonias

Setlist (Compiled by Rob Scalcione for Deadheadland)

Set: Jam > Here Comes the Sun nc, Hey Mr. Tambourine Man jgr, Down to the River to Pray nb, Dreams jgr nb > Jam (w/Jessica & Mountain Jam riffs) > Eyes of the World pl > Within You Without You nc > Scarlet Begonias jgr nb > Beautiful Day jgr, Somebody to Love nb, Broken Arrow pl, Both Sides Now nb > Franklin’s Tower jgr nb nc pl (Scarlet coda ending), Comes a Time nc >Dark Star v2 jgr nc nb > The Wheel pl jgr nb nc

Encore: (Jackie & Neal on acoustic guitars) You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away pl jgr nc nb, Angel Band jgr pl nb, Down to the River to Pray nb, Ripple pl jgr nb, Not Fade Away pl jgr nb