Terrapin Crossroads presents Phil Lesh & The Terrapin Allstars featuring Stu Allen, Holly Bowling, Nathan Graham, Grahame Lesh, & Elliott Peck
the Backyard Stage in Beach Park at Terrapin Crossroads
100 Yacht Club Drive, San Rafael, CA 94901 USA
5:00 PM, Tuesday, April 20, 2021
Back to the previous event! ☸ Up to the 2021 yearbox! ☸ Up to the 2021 event list! ☸ On to the next event!
[4:53 PM] {Phil onstage to noodle with his gear for a few minutes, then off}
[5:07 PM] {band onstage, getting ready to roll}
Originally scheduled for the 4/20 Hippie High Holiday, this show was postponed at the last minute yesterday on account of gusty winds in San Rafael. With the date swap, there's necessarily a bit of jostling and jumbling in order to make things work, and sadly, that meant our show pals Paul & Lori couldn't join us as originally planned. Happily, Jess & Luke were waiting in the wings, so to speak, so our worry (empty seats, ack!) got resolved without any stress at all. On the band side, we heard this morning that Holly Bowling would be taking the place of Jason Crosby. Interesting!
…Showtime, and it's much chillier today than Monday. Lots of folks are bundled up as if it's still winter. I don't think it's that bad (temp is low 60's in the sunshine), but it's definitely not shorts weather right now.
Cold, Rain & Snow was a strong opener (Phil obviously likes the tune!), and likely a sly nod to the weather-related changes of the past two days. The transition at the end was rather unusual for Phil – a hard left turn more like what Weir is wont to do – and it took at least a minute or two for Eyes of the World to coalesce out of that change. Passing the vocal lead around was an interesting twist, and Elliott did a really nice job with her verse – makes me wish that she'd sing more lead with this band. The tune ended by dissembling into a vaporous space, like smoke drifting up and away into the heavens, leaving resolution of the next tune in the jam unsettled for at least a minute. Seeing Elliott step up to the mic during this period, I guessed that they were going to head into Mr. Charlie, but instead we got Viola Lee Blues without the usual opening crash-bang chords. Nice! Seems like it had been awhile since I heard that one.
Looks Like Rain late in the set was another surprise. Given that we got notification during the show that Midnight North's Sunday show was being rescheduled to Saturday brunch to avoid the tropical storm currently barreling our direction across the Pacific, this probably was another weather-related choice. Whaddaya think?
I think GDTRFB was an excellent way to wrap things up – that one takes me back to my early GD experience, listening to the four sides of the Skull & Roses LP after school when I was but a wee laddie learning about the wonders of nature (picking through seeds and stems and worrying about paraquat!). A great way to put me in mind of the holiday celebration originally planned for this performance, and a rocking way to wrap up the show with some energetic dance grooves. Thanks folks!
Big thanks to Ting for the photo gallery!
Whoa! This section is incomplete for now, sorry!
Back to the previous event! ☸ Up to the 2021 yearbox! ☸ Up to the 2021 event list! ☸ On to the next event!