Terrapin Family Band Trades Guest Spots With ALO, Welcomes Cass McCombs At Brooklyn Bowl

The Terrapin Family Band and ALO went heavy on collaborations and cross-pollination Saturday during their joint concert at the original Brooklyn Bowl in New York City. ALO guitarist Lebo (Dan Lebowitz) provided an apt description when he said it was as if “a little West Coast module came out on a satellite.”

Lebo and bandmates keyboardist Zach Gill, bassist Steve Adams and drummer Ezra Lipp took the stage first. ALO kicked off their set with fan-favorite “Maria” and the lead single from their new album Frames — “Blank Canvas.” Gill then guided the band through the frenetic “Blew Out The Walls.”

Grahame Lesh became the first guest of the set when he joined ALO for a version of oldie “Try” that saw him sing part of “Franklin’s Tower” and team with Lebo for a “Blue Sky” jam. Next, Lipp handled lead vocals on Frames standout “Rescue Our Demons” before Jason Crosby emerged to join Gill on keys for an extended “I Love Music.”

Steve Adams then told the story of an ALO gig that he missed, which led to him writing “The Party (I’m Sorry I Missed).” TXR Family Band bassist Ross James came out to add extra guitar as Adams sang the cut from ALO’s 2020 EP Creatures, Vol. 2: Weave. The quartet continued by taking fans back to the ’80s with a Lebo-helmed cover of New Order’s “Bizarre Love Triangle.” They then returned to Frames for the infectious “Hot Damn” ahead of a “Cowboys & Chorus Girls” set closer.

The Terrapin Family Band — Grahame Lesh, Ross James, Jason Crosby and Alex Koford — worked a free-form jam into “Shakedown Street” to get their set underway. Lesh then fronted a “Cold Rain & Snow” before Gill came out to join Crosby on keys for a cover of Warren Zevon’s “Lawyers, Guns & Money.”

The ensuing “Standing On The Moon” would be the last guest-less song of the night. From there, Lesh moved to keys along with special guest Kellen Asebroek of Fruition, while Crosby played guitar and led his “Friend Of The Lithium” mashup of the Dead’s “Friend Of The Devil” and Nirvana’s “Lithium.”

Asebroek wasn’t the only surprise guest of the night as The TXR Family Band brought out guitarist/vocalist Cass McCombs to helm Hunter/Garcia gems “Dire Wolf” and “Sugaree” following Kellen’s appearance. Dan “Lebo” Lebowitz then joined the quartet on the rest of their set.

Lebo swapped between pedal steel and guitar for “The Mountain Song.” He then hopped back on pedal steel as Koford sang “Stella Blue” from behind his drum kit. Next came the oft-paired GD classics “Estimated Prophet” and “Eyes Of The World,” which each featured Lebo on guitar. A rollicking version of Bob Dylan’s “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall” punctuated the set before The Terrapin Family Band and Lebo returned for an “I Know You Rider” encore.

Watch full-set video of ALO and The TXR Family Band’s performances at Brooklyn Bowl below:

Setlists & Audience Recordings by Cam Keough

ALO

Set: Maria, Blank Canvas, Blew Out The Walls, Try^ > Franklin’s Tower^^ > Try^, Rescue Our Demons, I Love Music+, The Party (I’m Sorry I Missed)#, Bizarre Love Triangle, Hot Damn, Cowboys and Chorus Girls

• ^ – w/ Grahame Lesh on guitar
• ^^ – w/ Grahame Lesh on guitar and vocals
• + – w/ Jason Crosby on organ
• # – w/ Ross James on guitar

Notes: Franklin’s Tower was partial. Try featured a Blue Sky jam. Steve teased Money (Pink Floyd) in Cowboys

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The Terrapin Family Band

Set: Jam > Shakedown Street, Cold Rain & Snow, Lawyers Guns & Money^, Standing On The Moon, Friend Of The Lithium^^, Dire Wolf+, Sugaree+, The Mountain Song#, Stella Blue#, Estimated Prophet# > Eyes Of The World#, A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall#

Encore: I Know You Rider#

• ^ – w/ Zach Gill on keys
• ^^ – w/ Kellen Asebroek on keys
• + – w/ Cass McCombs on guitar and vocals
• # – w/ Dan “Lebo” Lebowitz on guitar and vocals