Phil Lesh & Friends Celebrate Love With Rare Covers On Valentine’s Day At The Fillmore

Phil Lesh brought his Phil Lesh & Friends project back to The Fillmore last night to play a special Valentine’s Day concert. The bassist and his band mixed staples from the Grateful Dead live repertoire with rare covers referencing love and romance at the historic San Francisco venue.

The Phil Lesh & Friends lineup on Wednesday found the Grateful Dead bassist joined by guitarists Stu Allen, Stanley Jordan and Grahame Lesh as well as keyboardist/violinist Jason Crosby and drummer John Molo. Phil and his ensemble took the stage in front of large emblems depicting a rose, a skeleton head and a heart with the Grateful Dead lightning bolt running down the middle.

Stu Allen led the group on “Here Comes Sunshine” to open and then passed the baton to Grahame Lesh who sang “Ramble On Rose.” Allen belted out the ensuing “Scarlet Begonias” before Phil Lesh had his lone turn of the evening on lead vocals for a cover of Robbie Robertson’s “Broken Arrow.” Next came the fitting “My One And Only Love.” Stanley Jordan captained the Phil & Friends debut of the song popularized by Frank Sinatra. The sextet closed the set with a Grahame-sung “Sugar Magnolia.”

“Not Fade Away” got the call to kick off last night’s second set. Phil Lesh & Friends then took on The Manhattans’ “Shining Star” for the first time with Stu Allen helming the love song often covered by the Jerry Garcia Band. Next up was the early GD original “The Golden Road (To Unlimited Devotion)” and an expansive “Let It Grow.” Jordan then channeled Van Morrison on the romantic “Moondance” before “Uncle John’s Band” capped the closing stanza.

Phil Lesh went on to deliver his donor rap and introduced the members of the band. When the ensemble returned, they lit into a take on The Beatles’ “All You Need Is Love” as their lone encore. Stu Allen sang lead on the Fab Four’s 1967 single which was previously played by Phil Lesh & Friends just once on August 10, 2013 at Terrapin Crossroads as per Setlist.FM.

Watch fan-shot footage streamed by Doug Clifton from Phil’s Valentine’s Day concert below:

My One And Only Love

https://www.facebook.com/doug.clifton.77/videos/1237613710327986

Shining Star

https://www.facebook.com/doug.clifton.77/videos/912221463740524

Moondance

https://www.facebook.com/doug.clifton.77/videos/762256848766442

All You Need Is Love

https://www.facebook.com/doug.clifton.77/videos/1066227144667008

Photos by Susan Weiand

Setlist (via Deadheadland)

Set One: Here Comes Sunshine, Ramble On Rose, Scarlet Begonias, Broken Arrow, My One & Only Love, Sugar Magnolia

Set Two: Not Fade Away, Shining Star, The Golden Road (To Unlimited Devotion) > Let It Grow, Moondance > Uncle John’s Band

Encore: All You Need Is Love