On Friday, March 20, Grahame Lesh & Friends commenced the West Coast iteration of Unbroken Chain: A Celebration of the Life and Music of Phil Lesh at The Fillmore in San Francisco. The concert series, which rolled out nightly through Sunday, March 22, featured reflective song choices that nodded to the subject and to the best of the original band’s impactful catalog. 

Night one at The Fillmore featured Dawes’ Taylor and Griffin Goldsmith, Eric Krasno, Berry Sless, Benmont Tench, Don Was, Jason Crosby, John Molo, Elliott Peck, Natalie Cressman, and Jennifer Hartswick following the direction of bandleader, Grahame Lesh. Notably, the series kickoff party had previously featured Eric Johnson (Fruit Bats), who returned as a special guest at select moments. 

Friday’s frames reflected fan favorites during the first half, before pairs and segues dominated the latter portion of the night. Fittingly, the band honored the late Phil Lesh by starting the show with a piece from the bassist’s Dead archive, “Box of Rain.” Next, they reminded the audience, “The Music Never Stopped,” before coursing through “Row Jimmy,” “Deep Elem Blues,” “Crazy Fingers,” “Bertha,” “Stella Blue,” and a set ending “Deal.” 

The second set led with Garcia’s “Mission in the Rain,” before “China Cat Sunflower” converged with its sister song, “I Know You Rider.” Parsing their next pairing, Grahame Lesh & Friends opened “Help On the Way” before tacking on “The Wheel” and eventually picking up “Slipknot!” and “Franklin’s Tower” for a piece-y delivery of the Blues for Allah suite. 

Dialing back the tempo, the group went with another nod to the city on “Wharf Rat” before resolving into “New Speedway Boogie.” Ultimately, the concert’s encore consisted of a fitting piece of Dead nostalgia on “Touch of Grey.”

Night two featured lineup shifts with represented players like Nels Cline, Tom Hamilton, Jackie Greene, Oteil Burbridge, Jay Lane, and Nicki Bluhm serving as new arrivals. The concerts maintained a similar momentum to night one by unearthing familiar batches of material, beginning with “Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodleloo,” “Cold Rain and Snow,” “He’s Gone and “Loser.” 

A rarity, “Foolish Heart” emerged next as an ode to the band’s late ’80s output, Built to Last, before an intimate “Brokedown Palace.” “Friend of the Devil” was infused with Nirvana’s “Lithium” ahead of “Casey Jones,” which took the group into the designated set break. 

Saturday’s return to the stage for part two kicked off with “Shakedown Street” before dropping into “All Along the Watchtower.” “So Many Roads” trailed into “St. Stephen,” which was a treasure trove of nods, touching on “Whole Lotta Love,” “Dark Star,” “I Know Your Rider,” and “Turn on Your Love Light.” 

“Sugar Magnolia” and “Scarlet Begonias” felt like proper celebrations of spring’s arrival. The latter was paired with “Fire on the Mountain” before the heightened celebration of the season via “Sunshine Daydream.” For Saturday’s encore, the group went with “Truckin’” complete with teases of “The Other One.” 

The ensemble’s third and final Unbroken Chain: A Celebration of the Life and Music of Phil Lesh included support from Krasno, Stu Allen, Burbridge, Lane, Alex Koford, Rob Barraco, Holly Bowling, Karl Denson, Bluhm and Peck. 

The last concert in this series featured scattered verses from the opener, “Viola Lee Blues,” which surfaced at different times in both sets. After delivering a partial iteration of the Cannon’s Jug Stompers original, the band pulled in “Cumberland Blues” and JGB associated “That’s What Love Will Make You Do.”

The Phil Lesh co-penned “New Potato Caboose,” arrived next, along with another snippet of “Viola Lee Blues” tucked into the Anthem of the Sun cut. “Comes a Time,” “Dire Wolf,” “Easy Wind,” and “Candyman” filled slots before “They Love Each Other,” which pulsed another verse of “Viola Lee Blues.”

The final set of the weekend commenced on “Here Comes Sunshine.” “That’s It for the Other One” trailed into “Space,” which hinted at “The Other One” and “Cryptical Envelopment.” On the other side of the instrumental interlude, they picked up “Dark Star,” “Uncle John’s Band,” “Terrapin Station,” and a first-time Robert Hunter cut, “Jack O’Roses.” 

“Not Fade Away” was the final song of the group’s main delivery. Ultimately, the final San Francisco encore for this concert series brought out “Unbroken Chain” and “Ripple.”

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Grahame Lesh & Friends 

Unbroken Chain – Night One 

The Fillmore – San Francisco 

March 20, 2026

Set I: Box of Rain, The Music Never Stopped, Row Jimmy, Deep Elem Blues, Crazy Fingers, Bertha, Stella Blue, Deal

Set II: Mission in the Rain, China Cat Sunflower > I Know You Rider, Help on the Way > The Wheel > Slipknot!, Franklin’s Tower > Wharf Rat > New Speedway Boogie

Enc.: Touch of Grey 

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Grahame Lesh & Friends 

Unbroken Chain – Night Two  

The Fillmore – San Francisco 

March 21, 2026

Set I: Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo, Cold Rain and Snow, He’s Gone, Loser, Foolish Heart, Brokedown Palace, Friend of the Devil, Casey Jones

Set II: Shakedown Street, All Along the Watchtower, So Many Roads, St. Stephen, Sugar Magnolia, Scarlet Begonias, Fire on the Mountain, Sunshine Daydream

Enc.: Truckin’

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Grahame Lesh & Friends 

Unbroken Chain – Night Three 

The Fillmore – San Francisco 

March 22, 2026

Set I: Viola Lee Blues, Cumberland Blues, That’s What Love Will Make You Do, New Potato Caboose, Comes a Time, Dire Wolf, Easy Wind, Candyman, They Love Each Other

Set II: Here Comes Sunshine, That’s It for the Other One, Space, Dark Star, Uncle John’s Band, Terrapin Station, Jack O’Roses, Not Fade Away

Enc.: Unbroken Chain, Ripple