Goldenvoice/AEG Live presents Phil Lesh & Friends - Celebrating the Warfield's 100th Birthday
the Warfield
982 Market Street, San Francisco, CA 94102-4012 USA
8:00 PM, Wednesday, December 28, 2022

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promo art

[8:33 PM] {huddle over, lights down, performers out noodling}

1. [8:35 PM] Jack Straw (GL-PL)
   [8:47 PM] {pause to regroup for the next tune}
2. [8:49 PM] He's Gone (NC) » [8:58 PM] transition jam »
3. [9:00 PM] Cold, Rain & Snow (RM)
   [9:10 PM] {stop, rest}
4. [9:12 PM] Here Comes Sunshine (GL)
   [9:21 PM] {pause and noodling}
5. [9:24 PM] Bird Song (PL) » [9:29 PM] {JC swap to 6-string violin} » [9:33 PM] {JC back to keys}
   [9:36 PM] {Fine. JH getting ready to sing; BR out to help Phil tweak his rig}
6. [9:38 PM] Scarlet Begonias (JH) »
7. [9:47 PM] King Solomon's Marbles
   [9:54 PM] {set ends}

[10:31 PM] {huddle}
[10:32 PM] {performers out, lights down}

1. [10:34 PM] China Cat Sunflower (RM) »
2. [10:39 PM] St. Stephen (GL-PL-h3)
   [10:50 PM] {noodle}
3. [10:51 PM] Dear Prudence (JCa)
   [11:00 PM] {acclaim for James; trio off}
4. [11:01 PM] Unbroken Chain
   [11:14 PM] {NC back onstage}
5. [11:16 PM] Lady with a Fan (RM-NC) » (JH JCa back) [11:24 PM] Terrapin Station (GL pl h3) »
6. [11:30 PM] (Walk Me Out in the) Morning Dew (JH-GL)
   [11:40 PM] {pause for a minute}
7. [11:41 PM] Uncle John's Band
   [11:51 PM] {set ends; all off after a minute or so}
   
   Encore
   [11:58 PM] {Phil out to talk: sad recollection of TXR; band introduction}
8. [12:01 AM] Trucking (GL)
   [12:11 AM] {show ends; bows and waves; all off}
   [12:13 AM] {time to skedaddle!}

• James Casey: tenor saxophone, lead and harmony vox;
• Natalie Cressman: trombone, lead and harmony vox;
• Jason Crosby: Hammond B-3 organ, Roland keyboard, 6-string violin;
• Jennifer Hartswick: trumpet, lead and harmony vox;
• Grahame Lesh: guitar, lead and harmony vox;
• Phil Lesh: bass, lead and harmony vox;
• Rick Mitarotonda: guitar, lead and harmony vox;
• John Molo: drums. ## Notes

[5 PM]: time to wrap up work! Gotta shower, dress, eat, and then scramble to West Oakland BART for the ride into SF. I hustle and eventually find myself on the [6:38 PM] train west: Warfield, here I come! Ting operated of a different plan today: not having the inconvenience of work, she had me drop her off at BART late in the afternoon so she could secure a spot in line. “Fifth”, she texted. Should be good enough!

[6:58 PM] and I'm in GA line about a block away from the door, soon joined by Stanley & Erika. Not that great, but everyone's gotta wait somewhere, and much better when you can hang out together with friends. Hopefully we'll get in before it starts raining again. [7:06 PM] and we're moving! [7:17 PM] and I'm just outside the security gate. Excellent! A few minutes later and I've been banded for floor entry. Now to find Ting! Turns out that she's gotten a great spot on the 1st Tier drink rail. Excellent!! We'll get variety: new looks and new sounds compared to last night. Life is very very good for us right now!

[8 PM] and the place is packed. Possibly the same as last night overall, but locally, the 1st Tier is more crowded than the front of the pit was. Oh well, we grin and bear it! [8:17 PM] Phil makes an appearance at side stage: maybe we'll get started a little earlier than yesterday? And hear one more song? One can hope! That turns out to be a “nope!” … tonight's show starts at more or less exactly the same time as last night.

I find tonight's first set to be a considerably more compelling listen than last night. The crowding on the 1st Tier makes it slightly harder to dance with abandon, but surrounded by friends, it's not such a problem to be pinballing together now and then, rapt in the sway of the music. My favorite for the set is a tossup: Here Comes Sunshine and Bird Song tying for that honor: it's a really fun stretch of time. Honorable mention goes to Jen Hartswick for her passionate reimagination of the vocal lines of Scarlet Begonias – it's always a delight to hear something fresh brought to a classic! King Solomon's Marbles was also pretty snazzy, but it seemed to me that they could have rehearsed that one quite a bit more: it wasn't nearly as crisp as I'd like. If I was in a more pissy mood, I'd even go so far as to say it was only half-baked, but it's rare to get that one, and it's certainly a lot more difficult than the typical blues shuffle!

I wasn't especially happy with the Weir-like left-turn from China Cat Sunflower into St. Stephen at the start of the second set, but the folks around me seemed pretty bonkers about getting Stephen. For me, Dear Prudence was far and away the highlight of the two nights, and crowd lauded James Casey with a lot of love when the tune finally ended. Walking to BART after the show, our friend Stella was gushing about how good that one was; she might be a little bit biased, having named her daughter Prudence, but I agreed with all of her commendations: it was a damn fine performance!

I should probably say something about how much I enjoyed Morning Dew – another tune that really highlighted Jen's vocals – but right this second, the primary recollection I have is that the guitar portion of the song wasn't nearly good enough to match Jen's singing. Warning guys: you gotta bring the A game when Jen's got a mic in her hand!

And finally, you might be wondering: did they really take a seven-minute Encore break?

Yep! Kinda odd. I think most everyone in the aud was pretty blissed out and perfectly happy to relax for a bit after that second set – it didn't seem to me as if there was much of any movement to depart: we all knew the band was coming back for more, so why worry? Truckin' was a bit of a surprise to me – I was expecting Ripple instead – and as with some of the other tunes, I was really happy that tonight's performance didn't follow the standard template. After all, if you're gonna stay out of the wagon ruts ya gotta keep truckin' on!

Thanks to TJ, you can hear the show via the live music archive. Nice!

Big thanks to Ting for the photo gallery!

Whoa! This section is incomplete for now, sorry!

Back to the previous event! ☸ Up to the 2022 yearbox! ☸ Up to the 2022 event list! ☸ On to the next event!