Terrapin Crossroads presents 4th Annual Terrapin Nation Thanksgiving Party featuring Scott Guberman, Ross James, Scott Law, Dan Lebowitz, Phil Lesh, and Danny Luehring
2016-11-21
the Grate Room at Terrapin Crossroads
100 Yacht Club Drive, San Rafael, CA 94901 USA
6:30 PM, Monday, November 21, 2016

Back to the previous event! ☸ Up to the 2016 yearbox! ☸ Up to the 2016 event list! ☸ On to the next event!

[8:18 PM lights down, band out]

1. [8:20 PM] Let the Good Times Roll (RJ)
2. [8:27 PM] Dire Wolf (SL) $
3. [8:33 PM] Prince of Peace (SL) $
4. [8:40 PM] the Wheel (PL; SL+SG h vox) $ »
5. [8:51 PM] Come Together (L) #
6. [9:03 PM] Thanksgiving Prayer (L)
7. [9:10 PM] Eyes of the World (PL; SL+SG h vox) »
8. [9:21 PM] Cold, Rain and Snow (SL) # »
9. [9:30 PM] Uncle John's Band (PL; SL+SG h vox)
10. [9:41 PM] Candyman (SL) $
11. [9:47 PM] Lazy River Road (SL) $
12. [9:56 PM] Truckin' (SL; PL+SG h vox) #
    [set ends 10:13 PM]
     
    Encore
    [10:15 PM; donor rap]
13. [10:17 PM] Ripple (PL; SL+SG h vox) $
    [show ends 10:22 PM]

• Scott Guberman: keyboards, # Hammond B3 organ, harmony vox (t04, 07, 09, 12-13);
• Ross James: guitar, lead vox (t01);
• Scott Law: guitar, lead (t02-03, 08, 10-12) and harmony vox (t04, 07, 09, 13);
• Dan "Lebo" Lebowitz: acoustic guitar, $ lap steel guitar, lead vox (t05-06);
• Phil Lesh: bass, lead (t04, 07, 09) and harmony (t12) vox;
• Danny Luehring: drums.

We had a grand time hanging with the Terrapin Nation tonight! Dinner was fun … with just enough slack time to allow for more socializing than a typical show, and the segue to show-time happened relatively smoothly too – you'd think that rolling giant wooden tables off the floor would be disruptive, but somehow the crew managed to accomplish it without a fuss. With only a 100-odd folks inside for the dinner, there was plenty of room for dancing, even with the addition of an unknown number (another 100?) of show-only patrons.

Things started off with a blast as Ross led the band through the Grateful Dead's update of Sam Cooke's Good Times AKA Let the Good Times Roll. Scott Law took over next, rocking us first through Dire Wolf, then a nice rendition of Leon Russell's Prince of Peace – possibly a first for Lesh? I certainly don't recall hearing them do it before…

The party continued with a groovy version of the Wheel, which somehow slinked it's way directly into the Lennon/Beatles classic, Come Together. Loads of fun there! The following tune, Lebo's Thanksgiving Prayer was certainly both topical and heartfelt; most likely it was the mellowest tune of the night too.

Phil was all fired up for Eyes of the World, launching decisively into it with barely a moment's pause after the conclusion of Lebo's Prayer. Upbeat and rocking, this version of Eyes then segued into a really unique take on Cold, Rain and Snow: sort of a mashup of Scott singing the original lyrics played on top of the tune and changes to Neil Young's Down by the River. Interesting and strange. I probably should have cornered one of the guys to ask for more info about how that derangement came about! Anyways, somehow they got down to the ending jam and then bang, now it was Uncle John's Band. Yowza! Delivered relatively straight, in a high energy, rocking' style like Eyes, this had the crowd bopping and singing along merrily.

After stopping briefly to let everyone catch breath, Phil then had Scott count things off for a very fast, electric bluegrass take on Candyman. Whoa! Me likey surprises like that! Thankfully, Lazy River Road was played straight, which is to say, as a slow, rolling shuffle that let us all calm down a little, and then the set wrapped up with a high energy take on Truckin'. Scott did a good take on the lead role, and while he failed to include any of the characteristic Bob Weir “hah!” exclamations, numerous folks singing along in the crowd helped out at those parts. It seemed to me as if things unraveled a bit at the end … not at all like the massive, cosmic 1972-era deconstructions, but interesting and strange and worthy of a future listen if the opportunity arises. Lebo was playing all sorts of crazy licks on his acoustic, and just when I'd decided the band was going to derail and crash, they somehow wrapped it up and tied it off in a nice neat bow. Wow. That's how the pro's do it, kids!

After a very brief encore break, Phil came back and gave his donor rap, then the band filed in and they launched in to the fastest, most rocking version of Ripple that I've ever heard. Another very different take on a sacred classic! Good to know that when you least expect it, the boys in the band are ready to yank the rug out from under your dancing feet!

Back to the previous event! ☸ Up to the 2016 yearbox! ☸ Up to the 2016 event list! ☸ On to the next event!