Phil Lesh & Friends Kick Off Terrapin Clubhouse ‘Darkstarathon’ Series With 42-Minute Sequence
Watch the latest iteration of Phil Lesh & Friends roll through “Dark Star” and more.
By Nate Todd May 15, 2024 • 3:19 pm PDT
Phil Lesh shared the first installment of his previously announced Darkstarathon series. Arriving via the Grateful Dead bassist’s Terrapin Clubhouse YouTube channel, the new video features the latest iteration of Phil Lesh & Friends performing “Dark Star” and more.
Lesh detailed Darkstarathon last fall. Read what Phil had to say about the project:
“Hey now! Welcome to the ‘Darkstarathon!’ What is a ‘Darkstarathon,’ you may ask? I will be collaborating with many musical friends to create a “Dark Star” that pauses but never ends. Each band will pick up where the last band left off and it will be a living breathing infinite piece of music. If you’re as crazy about this sort of thing as I am, please subscribe to the channel and join us on this journey. I promise to make it weird.”
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The first Darkstarathon video follows a Terrapin Clubhouse video released ahead of Phil Lesh & Friends concert at The Warfield in San Francisco last week featuring the lineup for that evening: Phil’s son guitarist Grahame Lesh, guitarist Daniel Donato, keyboardist Holly Bowling, vocalist Nicki Bluhm and drummer John Molo.
The Darkstarathon video boasts the same lineup performing in the same space as the Terrapin Clubhouse video. The beginning of the clip sees Phil outlining the performance, emphasizing, “it’s in everyone’s power to suggest a song.”
The ensemble certainly picked up what Phil was laying down, beginning with John Molo expertly dropping the band into “Dark Star,” which then then flowed into “Franklin’s Tower” initiated by Grahame and sung by Donato. After another improv segment, Phil nodded the band into a “Here Comes Sunshine” tease over which Bowling shined on electric and acoustic piano.
Grahame then threw the group into “Good Lovin,” which segued into a buoyant jam and on into “Morning Dew” — laced with a powerful vocal performance from Bluhm. A snappy rendition of Bob Dylan’s “When I Paint My Masterpiece” helmed by Grahame followed ahead of an outro jam that had shades of “He’s Gone” or “Ramble On Rose” before Donato threw in one final tease to end the 42-minute sequence.
Watch the first Darkstarathon video below:
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