Phil Lesh Quintet Plays 1st Show Since 2021

Grateful Dead bassist Phil Lesh staged a concert of his Phil Lesh & Friends lineup known as The Quintet or simply “The Q” on Monday night at The Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, New York. The show kicked off a run of performances celebrating Lesh’s upcoming 84th birthday.

The Q last performed together for Lesh’s birthday run at The Capitol Theatre that due to the pandemic was held in October 2021. Joining Lesh last night at The Cap were guitarists Warren Haynes (Gov’t Mule) and Jimmy Herring (Widespread Panic), drummer John Molo (Moonalice) and keyboardist Rob Barraco (Dark Star Orchestra).

Lesh, who turns 84 on March 15, kicked off this year’s birthday run at The Cap with the fitting “Celebration,” a song he co-wrote with Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter and recorded with The Q for the 2002 studio album, There And Back Again. Lesh then showed off his Jack Bruce chops as the ensemble ripped into “Sunshine Of Your Love.” The Cream cover’s jam section saw spirited interplay between Haynes and Herring.

The band then dialed up a pair of Grateful Dead songs, Lesh first singing lead on a performance of “Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo,” which was followed by the early-Dead rarity “Doin’ That Rag,” sung by Barraco. The set continued with another There And Back Again selection, as Haynes led a take on his “The Real Thing.” Lesh fronted The Q on the set closer, another tune from the early stages of the Dead’s repertoire, “Mason’s Children.”

The second set began with a lengthy intro jam that circuitously arrived at “Help On The Way.” The commonly paired angular instrumental “Slipknot!” came next, but rather than complete the typical trifecta with “Franklin’s Tower,” Lesh and the others steered their way into a Haynes-helmed “All Along The Watchtower.” Haynes and Herring’s synergistic playing was then on display on a sweet rendering of “Crazy Fingers.”

The latter part of the second set was filled in with Lesh singing his Grateful Dead rarity, “Pride Of Cucamonga.” The band then dialed up an expansive jam out of the subsequent “Viola Lee Blues.” Set two came to a close with another song associated with early-era Grateful Dead, the psychedelic blues rocker “Cosmic Charlie.”

Lesh did not deliver his usual pre-encore Donor Rap encouraging organ donation but did receive a rousing cheer from the audience at The Cap when he and his bandmates returned to the stage for the encore. Haynes was then put in charge of the final song of the evening, Wilson Pickett’s searing “In The Midnight Hour.”

Phil Lesh’s 84th birthday celebration at The Capitol Theatre continues with another “The Q” concert on Wednesday, March 6, followed by three Phil Lesh & Friends shows on March 13, 15 (his birthday) and 16.

Watch videos and listen to an audience recording of the first Phil Lesh Quintet performance since 2021 below:

https://www.facebook.com/TheCapitolTheatre/videos/412708338007555/

Audio Taped by marcb