Phil Lesh & Friends at the Grate Room, January 31, 2018
- Set One
- Set Two
- Performers
- Notes
- Photos

Phil Lesh & Friends at the Grate Room, January 31, 2018

Terrapin Crossroads presents Phil Lesh & Friends featuring Karl Denson, Chris Gelbuda, Scott Metzger, John Molo, Robert Randolph and Barry Sless
the Grate Room at Terrapin Crossroads
100 Yacht Club Drive, San Rafael, CA 94901 USA
8:00 PM, Wednesday, January 31, 2018

Back to the previous event! ☸ Up to the 2018 yearbox! ☸ Up to the 2018 event list! ☸ On to the next event!

Set One

[8:22 PM lights down, band out; KD starts out on alto saxophone]

[8:23 PM] Mason's Children (CG/PL/SM) @
[8:33 PM] Dire Wolf (CG) @
[8:37 PM Gospel-tinged noodling from RR; KD swaps to tenor for the next few tunes]
[8:39 PM] Easy Wind (KD)
[8:46 PM] Feel Like a Stranger (SM) +
[Another noodling start]
[8:56 PM] Pride of Cucamonga (PL)
[Noodle again; KD swaps to flute]
[9:05 PM] Bird Song (CG/PL) £
[KD back to tenor saxophone & percussion]
[9:17 PM] Throwing Stones (SM) +
[set ends 9:28 PM]

Set Two

[10:17 PM lights down, band out, KD on tenor saxophone except as noted, noodling]

[10:20 PM] Help on the Way (CG) » [10:24 PM] Slipknot! »
[10:36 PM] Franklin's Tower (CG)
[Looney tunes tease; KD on flute for the next tune]
[10:49 PM] Greatest Story Ever Told (SM) £
[10:59 PM] Can't You Hear Me Knockin' (KD) » [11:09 PM] space jam (cg swaps to keys for awhile) »
[KD on percussion next few tunes]
[11:11 PM] the Other One (PL)
[11:21 PM] Scarlet Begonias (CG) »
[11:32 PM] Fire on the Mountain (CG)
[KD switches from percussion to alto saxophone]
[11:43 PM] Going Down the Road, Feelin' Bad (SM) @
[set ends 11:51 PM]

Encore [11:54 PM] Phil does his Inspector Clouseau impression; donor rap
[11:57 PM] (Turn On Your) Lovelight (CG)
[show ends 12:07 AM]

Performers

Karl Denson: @ alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, £ flute, + percussion, lead and harmony vox;
Chris Gelbuda: guitar, keyboards, lead and harmony vox;
Phil Lesh: bass, lead and harmony vox;
Scott Metzger: guitar, lead and harmony vox;
John Molo: drums;
Robert Randolph: pedal steel guitar;
Barry Sless: guitar.

Notes

Phil's first night with a new smaller, lighter bass from alembic, “green fire”. Hard to tell that it's different without having the earlier versions to compare side by side. Doesn't sound appreciably different to me!

It's strange hearing a band with so many guitarists. They do a pretty good job not stepping on each other's toes, but that could also be interpreted as “they were too polite, and no one really stepped up to blow the doors off.” There also wasn't as much dual-lead or call-and-response interplay as I expected, but maybe it boils down to a lack of rehearsal time: if you haven't really played together (ever!), then you might not want to be the jerk that induces a train wreck!

Chris Gelbuda is a pretty strong vocalist – he reminds me a bit of Greg Allman, what with the blond hair and the cigarette-scratchy voice. I'd be interested in hearing how he got connected with Phil!