Phil Lesh Guests With Phish At Shoreline

For a long period of their career Phish tried to avoid the inevitable comparisons to the Grateful Dead. While the Vermont jam act covered plenty of Dead songs during the first few years of their career, they didn’t perform any of the group’s tunes between 1987 and 1998. The quartet debuted a cover of “Terrapin Station” to the delight of fans on August 9, 1998 in Virginia Beach and the next spring Trey Anastasio and Page McConnell performed three shows as part of Phil & Friends in San Francisco. At that point Phish had achieved success on their own terms and didn’t seem as concerned about Dead comparisons, so when they visited Shoreline Amphitheater on September 17, 1999 they invited bassist Phil Lesh for a guest spot.

Lesh’s sit-in on September 17 was the first time a member of the Dead played with Phish and to date stands as Phil’s only appearance with the band. In true Phish fashion, the quartet brought out the Grateful Dead bassist towards the end of one of their signature songs – “You Enjoy Myself.” Lesh helped propel the “YEM” jam, took a quick turn on the trampolines that are always a part of the song’s performance and even engaged in a beautiful bass duet with Mike Gordon.

Next up was “Wolfman’s Brother,” which was one of just four Phish originals played by Phil & Friends during the run with Anastasio & McConnell five months earlier. Lesh liked “Wolfman’s” so much he added it to his repertoire for handful of performances without any of the members of Phish.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJIlrK3N3V0

Lesh then handled vocals on “Cold Rain & Snow,” which at the time was just the second Grateful Dead cover Phish had played in the past 12+ years. “Cold Rain & Snow” is the rare Dead song that Jerry Garcia & Co. started performing at the beginning of their career and never shelved for an extended period of time over the course of their 30- year touring career.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sT7baxyTPhQ

When Phish came back for the encore at Shoreline they were not only joined by Phil Lesh but also by Warren Haynes, who had sat-in with them the previous night at the Bay Area venue as well. Haynes and Lesh guested with Phish on a rousing “Viola Lee Blues.” While video of “Viola Lee” isn’t available on YouTube, listen to a recording of the entire show by Steven James via From The Aquarium including Lesh and Haynes’ guest spots:

Our story ends, for now, at this past summer’s Fare Thee Well concerts when the Phish/Dead connection paid dividends once more with Anastasio’s participation as lead guitarist.