Phil Lesh & Joe Russos Almost Dead Debut PhilRAD

The highly-anticipated PhilRad New Year’s Run at The Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, New York kicked off last night with a show filled with a bevy of Grateful Dead heavy hitters. Bassist Phil Lesh was joined on stage for two lengthy sets and an encore by Joe Russo’s Almost Dead guitarists Scott Metzger and Tom Hamilton, keyboardist Marco Benevento and drummer Joe Russo. Regular JRAD bassist Dave Dreiwitz did not perform during night one, leaving Lesh to handle all of the bass parts.

PhilRAD’s debut was filled with creative jams and while there’s still some rust to be worked off, we’re excited to see what’s in store for the next two nights. The marathon first set began with Metzger handling vocals on “Truckin” and sharing the lead with Hamilton and Phil on “Jack Straw.” The quintet then delivered their take on the famed “Estimated” > “Eyes” pairing before treating fans to a gorgeous “Crazy Fingers” and a fiery “King Solomon’s Marbles.” Lesh put the cap on the set by fronting the group on “Box Of Rain” to close out the first set.

Lesh and his new band mates began the second set with “Mason’s Children” and by the time yet another lengthy set had concluded, fans had witnessed PhilRAD’s takes on such GD classics as “Dark Star,” “The Wheel” and “Terrapin Station.” Russo handled vocals for a verse of “Dark Star” and PhilRAD weaved “All Along The Watchtower” within “Dark Star.” The band said farewell for now with a “Shakedown Street” encore. Phil Lesh and Joe Russo’s Almost Dead continue the three-night run tonight. A webcast is available via Nugs.tv.

Head here to listen to audio of last night’s performance thanks to Quinfolk.

Setlist

Set One: Truckin > Jack Straw, Estimated Prophet > Eyes Of The World, Crazy Fingers > King Solomon’s Marbles, Box Of Rain

Set Two: Mason’s Children > Throwing Stones > Dark Star > All Along The Watchtower > Dark Star > The Wheel > Dark Star > Lady With A Fan > Terrapin Station > I Know You Rider

Encore: Shakedown Street