Telstar! featuring Phil Lesh with Cody Dickinson, Scott Law, Lebo and Steve Molitz
2015-02-08
the Grate Room at Terrapin Crossroads
100 Yacht Club Drive, San Rafael, CA
7:00 PM, Sunday, February 8, 2015

Back to the previous event! ☸ Up to the 2015 yearbox! ☸ Up to the 2015 event list! ☸ On to the next event!

[7:21 PM lights down, band out]

1. [7:23 PM] Space » ? China Cat Sunflower jam # »
2. [7:33 PM] Televator (AKA the Elevator) »
3. [7:40 PM] segue jam » reggae jam (PL sings an unintelligible line or two) »
4. [7:50 PM] Run Like Hell jam » out jam »
5. [7:58 PM] Slipknot! jam » rockin' jam »
6. [8:06 PM] ? Another jam »
7. [8:15 PM] ? Wheel jam $ » [8:19 PM] Here Comes Sunshine (PL) $ » [8:20 PM] Dark Star/China Cat Sunflower space $ »
8. [8:23 PM] Other One jam »
9. [8:27 PM] ? Wharf Rat jam »
10. [8:34 PM] Cosmic Charlie jam
    [set ends 8:37 PM; lights up 8:39, many folks head out into the night; band back ~8:45 PM]
     
    Encore
11. [8:48 PM] Scarlet Begonias (SL) » [8:58 PM] not the usual segue jam » [9:03 PM] Fire on the Mountain (PL)
    [pregnant pause for a minute or so]
12. [9:15 PM] Viola Lee Blues (all)
    [show ends 9:29 PM after group bow, band introduction from Phil, and an abbreviated donor rap; all off by 9:31 PM]

• Cody Dickinson: drums, # electric washboard;
• Scott Law: guitar, acoustic guitar, lead and harmony vox;
• Dan "Lebo" Lebowitz: acoustic guitar, lap steel guitar, harmony vox;
• Phil Lesh: bass, lead and harmony vox;
• Steve Molitz: keyboards, harmony vox.

Another fine evening at Terrapin Crossroads! The weather was more than a little stormy outside, but that did little to dampen the spirits of the crowd assembled for a night of deep exploration by Phil and his merry men. Taking setlist notes for a show like this is a somewhat frustrating task; my modus was to try and note only the most obvious, major breaks in key or tempo. If I heard a repeated riff or set of chord changes that reminded me of a particular tune, then that became the “name” of the segment, preceded by a question mark. If another player picked up on that riff and echoed it back, or echoed back a following part of the same tune, then the question mark got removed. In the case of t07, I was expected a Wheel jam (based on the slippery sounds from Lebo), but then Phil stepped up to the mic and sang a few lines from Here Comes Sunshine, and as the jam dissolved, it sounded to me as if Scott was playing the Dark Star changes while Steve was playing riffs from China Cat. Thus the clumsy label.

After coming to a full stop to close the Cosmic Charlie jam, Phil and the boys set down their instruments and headed offstage without a word. When the lights came up a minute or so later, a lot of folks began to pack up and leave. Being gregarious people, Ting and I began making our rounds for hugs and hello/goodbyes with folks who were still hanging out. A couple minutes later, Steve, Scott and Lebo came back onstage, and shortly thereafter, the house lights dimmed, setting off a mighty roar from the remaining audience. Phil and Cody kept us waiting for another minute or two, but the reward for our patience was well worth it: an extended encore for another 40 minutes! These last tunes were slightly more song-oriented than anything from the first set, and were delivered more in accordance with a second set norm than a regular Telstar-style mutation. Fun stuff!

And as special bonus for waiting around, free posters to commemorate the evening, thanks to Jacob Souik. Sweet! An unexpected lagniappe!! Special thanks go to Pete Gilmore for fetching a second pile from the stash backstage so that we didn't end up heading home empty-handed. And being laggards, we got to talk a bit with the musicians when they came out to socialize a little after the crowd had thinned. Answering my question about the sheet music that Lebo had at his feet, Steve told to me that he'd renamed the Elevator just for tonight's show as Televator. Okey dokey! Steve explained a little more to me about how the tune got reworked for tonight, but my little brain failed to register those details, so I can't relay them in this note; sorry! I was glad they whipped that one out on us, it was fun to dance to, and Phil seemed pretty jazzed up for it too!

Back to the previous event! ☸ Up to the 2015 yearbox! ☸ Up to the 2015 event list! ☸ On to the next event!