Peter Rowan, Eric Krasno & Jerry Garcia’s Guitars Join Terrapin Family Band In Menlo Park

The Terrapin Family Band celebrated what would have been late Grateful Dead guitarist Jerry Garcia‘s 82nd birthday with a concert Thursday at The Guild Theatre in Menlo Park, California. Previously announced guest guitarist Eric Krasno played Garcia’s famed Alligator guitar, while the “very special unannounced guest” turned out to be Garcia’s former Old & In The Way bandmate, guitarist Peter Rowan.

The Terrapin Family Band consists of guitarist Grahame Lesh, multi-instrumentalist Jason Crosby, bassist Ross James and drummer Alex Koford. Lesh’s Midnight North bandmate, Elliott Peck added vocals throughout much of last night’s concert.

The show took place steps away from the location where The Warlocks held their first concert in 1965, the band soon after changing their name to the Grateful Dead. The first set began with Rowan’s “Panama Red,” which was played by Old & In The Way, opening the evening’s festivities. Rowan then led the traditional “Rosa Lee McFall,” followed by Krasno steering the Dead’s “Ship Of Fools.”

After turning a performance of Otis Redding’s “Sitting (On The Dock Of The Bay)” into a sing-along, Rowan remarked about how happy he was to be playing Jerry Garcia’s 1943 Martin D-28 acoustic guitar.

“Lonesome L.A. Cowboy,” another Rowan song like “Panama Red” that was recorded by Dead-adjacent group The New Riders Of The Purple Sage, kept the first set blowing along. Elliott Peck then emerged to help sing the Old & In The Way song “I Ain’t Broke but I’m Badly Bent” and remained in the mix for the remainder of the show.

Rowan teed up a visit to what he called “reggae land” before Krasno sang lead on Jimmy Cliff’s “The Harder They Come.” Krasno and James exited ahead of Lesh and Peck dueting on the traditional gospel tune “Angel Band” were the next entries on the setlist. The full band was fully reassembled before rolling through B.B. King’s “Thrill Is Gone” to end the set.

The second set commenced with the Motown classic “I Second That Emotion,” one of a few songs in the second set drawn from Jerry Garcia’s solo repertoire. Others in that category played in set two included Van Morrison’s “And It Stoned Me” and Little Milton’s “That’s What Love Will Make You Do.” Elsewhere in the second set were offerings of Rowan’s “Sweet Melinda” and “Walls Of Time,” and The Rolling Stones’ “Wild Horses,” which was part of Old & In The Way’s live sets.

Grateful Dead songs also emerged in the second set, as Alligator was utilized for performances of “Sugaree,” “Standing On The Moon” and “Deal.” The celebratory evening ended with Rowan leading a joyous rendition of perhaps his best known composition, “Midnight Moonlight,” another song frequently played by Jerry Garcia.

An on-demand replay of last night’s Terrapin Family Band concert is available to nugs.net subscribers. The Terrapin Family Band will also team with Krasno next weekend at Cervantes’ in Denver on Friday, August 9 and Saturday, August 10. Rowan will again join the group on the 9th with Ivan Neville on board on the 10th.

Photos by Susan Weiand