Unbroken Chain: Grahame Lesh & Decade-Spanning Friends Begin Tribute To Phil Lesh’s Musical Legacy In Majestic Fashion

On the eve of what would have been Grateful Dead bassist Phil Lesh's 85th birthday, Deadheads from far and wide converged on the iconic Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, New York to kick off a four-night celebration of his life and musical legacy at the site of so many birthday runs of years past.

Before the show itself, impresario Peter Shapiro hosted an incredibly special dedication of “Phil Lesh Lane” at the corner of Broad Street and Westchester Avenue right outside the venue – featuring speeches from legendary Deadhead and radio host Gary Lambert plus Shapiro and Grahame Lesh, each shared their own perspective on Phil’s legacy at the Cap before the street sign was unveiled among cheers from the amassed crowd of fans.

A few hours later, the theater filled in as showtime drew closer, with anticipation at a high as an all-star cast of Phil Lesh’s “Friends” from across the decades prepared for the first show of the weekend. Last night’s show, hosted by Grahame Lesh, featured guitarists Rick Mitarotonda and Eric Krasno, bassist Oteil Burbridge, drummer John Molo, trumpeter Jennifer Hartswick and keyboardist Jason Crosby, plus several other guests who rotated in and out through the lengthy show.

Grahame Lesh was emotional from the first notes of the opening “Box of Rain,” his gratitude for his father and all the Deadheads clear from his huge smile as the band moved through the Phil staple with multi-instrumentalist Alex Koford providing additional backing vocals.

The energy went up several notches next with the intro to “Cumberland Blues,” Mitarotonda and Krasno eyeing each other from opposite sides of the stage and engaging in some speedy lick trading and interplay, an amazing trend last night from two accomplished musicians who were clearly having a ball playing together for the first time.

At 71, Molo was the oldest musician on stage yet played with a speed and intensity of someone half that for every note of last night’s show, utilizing his mastery of the Grateful Dead catalog to add flourishes and unique fills that have kept the music fresh for so long.

“They Love Each Other” was tapped next and saw Krasno take lead vocals ahead of a fiery solo “round” between him, Lesh, Crosby and Hartswick while Burbridge peppered in head-spinning fills with an ear-to-ear grin on his face. Taking a few extra spins around the ending to give Mitarotonda a spotlight, the Goose guitarist then led the band through an always-reliable first-set “Tennessee Jed.”

A rocking “Bertha” led into a blistering “Brown-Eyed Women” that saw Mitarotonda handle lead vocals and an incredible solo – by this point in the set, it felt like nearly every voice in the room was belting every word to all the songs as the band played them with so much joy.

Starting with “Brown-Eyed Women,” Koford was welcomed back to the stage – this time on drums – as well as Ross James on guitar. James and Hartswick fronted the ensuing “The Music Never Stopped,” which opened up into the improvisational highlight of the first set with all four guitarists miraculously staying out of each other’s way and crafting a great peak with accents from Hartswick on trumpet.

The first set easily could have ended there, but the band called for a “Casey Jones” to give us one last burst of energy into the lengthy setbreak.

Returning for the second frame, now joined by guitarist Scott Law, the band eased into an instrumental rendition of “Dark Star,” each member floating around one another in that classic Grateful Dead free-space zone with some jazzy elements. Molo was easily the MVP of this segment, utilizing an ebb and flow underneath the guitarists as he threw in variations on the laid-back beat – at times dipping into irregular time signatures and even a disco section.

Teeing up the “Uncle John’s Band” segue several minutes in advance, the band drifted back into improvisational territory before slowly transitioning into the upbeat opening to “UJB” led by Lesh.

As it is wont to do, “Uncle John’s” produced a driving and jazzy minor-key jam, once again showing off all the guitarists’ ability to mesh without sounding like a messy soup – not an easy thing to pull off with four lead players at once. The final chorus led to a bonus outro jam where a start/stop motif was developed into an astounding bass solo by Burbridge before Krasno led the band through “Playing in the Band.”

Sticking to a major-key space, the guitarists worked some Allman Brothers style harmony work into the jam while once again playing with dynamics to build into a fantastic peak and finish to the song.

“New Potato Caboose” was called next and gave us the lone “deep-cut” pick from the Dead catalog before a gorgeous mid-set “Morning Dew” sung by Amy Helm and Koford. Crosby laid down impeccable organ work throughout the song, but Krasno and Mitarotonda got the spotlight on this one, with each taking on a gorgeous solo. The Goose guitarist evoked serious emotion on the outro as he built from quiet to a huge blast of energy.

Keyboardist Holly Bowling was welcomed to the stage for the ensuing “Eyes of the World,” which highlighted her chemistry and interplay with Crosby as the two shredded the first solo section. Helm once again handled lead vocals before Burbridge unleashed a beautifully melodic solo of his own, creating a dreamy soundscape that saw “Eyes” fade away to near silence before building back into the third verse.

Burbridge then took his lone lead vocal of the night on “Mountains of the Moon,” which saw Crosby play fiddle while Bowling handled keyboard duties. By this point in the night, all musicians were listening to each other so well and the lick trading between fiddle and Mitarotonda’s guitar was a spectacular addition to the cooldown.

Drummer Lavon Collins was brought out to the stage for the set-closing “Turn On Your Love Light,” which had Lesh, Krasno and Mitarotonda all going nuts on solo trading, blazing hot licks, and extended Allman Brothers teases including “Blue Sky,” “Mountain Jam” and “Jessica,” much to the glee of those on stage and off. Mitarotonda and Hartswick shared vocal duties on this raucous closer while Burbridge danced around like a kid in a candy store – as mentioned before, the amount of sheer joy pouring off the stage last night was really something to behold.

Before the encore, Shapiro took a moment to acknowledge Phil Lesh’s dedication to living life in the best way possible and shouted out longtime Capitol Theatre street team leader Sue Harmon with a trophy before Grahame returned to the stage to do his father’s “Donor Rap,” an encouragement of everyone in the audience to become an organ donor – Phil had done that at every single show he performed after being the recipient of a lifesaving liver transplant in late 1998.

A tender and beautiful “Attics of my Life” came after Grahame’s most heartfelt thanks and a truly emotional moment that was felt by all in the building before “Touch of Grey” brought the first Unbroken Chain concert to a close.

The same lineup of Lesh, Molo, Burbridge, Mitarotonda, Krasno, Hartswick and Crosby returns for the second show tonight – plus several other guests (a poster for the run noted John Scofield, John Medeski, Natalie Cressman and Adam Minkoff – as there is still so much more music to celebrate, especially with today being Phil’s birthday.

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Additional Fan-Shot Video

Audience Recording (Taped by Cam Keough)

Setlist (via Z-Man)

Set One: Box Of Rain*#, Cumberland Blues > They Love Each Other, Tennessee Jed, Bertha, Brown-Eyed Women#+, The Music Never Stopped#+, Casey Jones#+

Set Two: Dark Star@ > Uncle John’s Band@ > Playing In The Band@, New Potato Caboose > Morning Dew*#, Eyes Of The World*^! > Mountains Of The Moon^ > Turn On Your Love Light^%

Encore: Attics Of My Life*#, Touch Of Grey*#@^+$

• * With Amy Helm On Vocals
• # With Alex Koford On Vocals
• @ With Scott Law On Guitar
• ^ With Holly Bowling On Keyboards And Vocals
• ! With Scarlet Begonias Tease
• + With Ross James On Guitar
• $ With Levon Collins On Drums
• % With Blue Sky, Jessica, Mountain Jam Teases

Core Band: Grahame Lesh (electric guitar, acoustic guitar and vocals), Eric Krasno (guitar and vocals), Rick Mitarotonda (guitar and vocals), Jason Crosby (keyboards, fiddle and vocals), Oteil Burbridge (bass and vocals), Jennifer Hartswick (trumpet and vocals)