Phil Lesh & Friends
2014-03-13
Terrapin Crossroads
100 Yacht Club Drive, San Rafael, CA
8:00 PM, Thursday, March 13, 2014
[7:25 PM Jackie messin' around on the B-3; off by 7:44 PM]
[7:47 PM Phil out to warm up his rig, yeah! Off at 7:56 PM? Done, anyway….off at 8:00 PM]
[7:56 PM out to mess around with the funky synth rig for a couple minutes]
[8:17 PM AM back a moment, then off; 8:24 PM band out; lights down, go!]
[10:01 PM JG out to grab his Les Paul]
[10:04 PM noodling from Phil for about 5 min, then off]
[10:20 PM Phil says Anders is out with a flu bug, back in a few…]
[10:39 PM, band out with Craig MacArthur on guitar instead of AO, lights down]
More folks than usual waiting in line tonight, drat! Guess I should have skipped the Starbucks stop – or at least popped in to put down a jacket first! Anyways, the line heads in around ten after, and I'm happy to pick a spot dead center. Might be 2-3 people further back from stage than usual, but that's no matter in the big scheme for now. Post show update: Ting showed up a little later and wiggled herself into the usual 2nd/3rd row spot – what a surprise!
The first set is strong. Jackie is particularly hot, taking command with his ripping lead guitar solos, and bubbling along nicely on the B-3 during Anders' Burning on the Inside.
Set break seems to be dragging on a bit long, and about 50 min in, Phil comes out to tell us that Anders is too sick to return, and that they're scrambling to find a last minute fill-in. Twenty minutes later, the band returns, with Craig MacArthur in tow as second guitar.
The set begins pretty well, with Jackie and Phil really stepping up the energy. I'm bummed that the Midnight Rambler segues into New Speedway Boogie without the big coda jam, but the transition is smooth, and worth comment. The energy comes down a bit for Bird Song and the Wheel, but that's probably a good thing – variety is the spice of life, right?
Ross James has snuck in on the tail end of the Wheel, and after the band comes to a full stop, he and Craig make a quick swap. Adam is teasing Slipknot! voicings on one of his keyboards, and when Jackie chimes in with a few in-key plucks. Cool! I hadn't been expecting Help On the Way tonight.
Interestingly, the second set setlist wasn't changed all that much from what was originally planned – only two songs different. We got Bird Song subbing for Heart of Gold, and Samson & Delilah instead of Rockin' in the Free World. Guess that attests to the strength of the assembled cast!