Phil Lesh & Friends Fill Mission Ballroom Run With David Crosby Tributes

Phil Lesh & Friends wrapped up a two-night run at Denver’s Mission Ballroom on Sunday. The weekend saw the Grateful Dead bassist and company playing a number of David Crosby songs honoring the late great singer-songwriter who sadly died in January.

The Phil Lesh & Friends lineup in Denver consisted of guitarists Rick Mitarotonda and Grahame Lesh, drummer John Molo and keyboardist Jason Crosby along with the Trey Anastasio Band horn section of trumpeter Jennifer Hartswick, trombonist Natalie Cressman and saxophonist James Casey, who celebrated his 40th birthday on Saturday.

Night one opened with an interesting “Dark Star” into “Ripple” sequence before Phil and company loaded the first set with additional Dead classics like “Ship Of Fools,” “Jack Straw,” “China Cat Sunflower” and “New Speedway Boogie.” Phil also delivered one of his signature tunes, “Pride of Cucamonga.”

The band closed out the first set with the first Croz tune of the evening, “Long Time Gone,” appearing on Crosby, Stills & Nash’s 1969 self-titled debut. Grahame, Hartswick and Casey traded verses and all delivered powerful vocal performances with James really shining. “That was for our friend David,” Phil said after the song.

The second set got underway with “Viola Lee Blues” with additional set two highlights including Phil’s “Unbroken Chain,” “Wharf Rat” and an adventurous closing set sequence of “Help On The Way,” “Slipknot!,” “Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo” and “Franklin’s Tower.”

About halfway through the set, the band delivered Croz’s “Tamalpais High (at about 3).” The song appears on Crosby’s 1971 debut solo album If I Could Only Remember My Name, which Phil Lesh and most of the Grateful Dead contributed to. After leading the audience in singing “Happy Birthday” to James, Phil wrapped the set with another signature tune, “Box Of Rain.”

Night two kicked off with “Shakedown Street” and also included “Sugaree,” “High Time,” “Deep Elem Blues,” “Dire Wolf” and “The Wheel.” Once again, Phil & Friends closed the first set with a Crosby song, a shimmering rendition of If I Could Only Remember My Name standout “Laughing,” sung by Casey

“St. Stephen” got the second set underway followed by a song from Crosby’s days in The Byrds, “Eight Miles High.” The psychedelic number co-written by Crosby, Roger McGuinn and Gene Clark, appeared on The Byrds’ 1966 LP, Fifth Dimension.

The second set continued with “Scarlett Begonias,” “The Eleven,” “Eyes Of The World,” “Stella Blue,” “Let It Grow” and set closer “Terrapin Station.” But the Croz celebration wasn’t done yet, Phil & Friends would return to encore with If I Could Only Remember My Name opener “Music Is Love,” which featured acoustic guitar and gorgeous vocals.

Night Two Audio