Mike Gordon, photo by Dave Vann

Last night, an all-star ensemble of Jerry Garcia’s collaborators and devotees assembled at Morrison, Colo.’s hallowed Red Rocks Amphitheatre to celebrate the late icon’s music and memory. After months of anticipation, the Jerry Garcia Symphonic Celebration finally arrived as a fittingly titanic tribute to the late Grateful Dead bandleader, featuring a litany of classics from the band’s catalog and his solo work backed by the esteemed Colorado Symphony. Near the end of an evening loaded with powerful testaments to Garcia’s towering legacy, the band added one last statement of his influence with a sit-in from Mike Gordon.

The Jerry Garcia Symphonic Celebration centered on the contributions of six key performers well-known to the jam community. At the forefront of the ensemble were Hammond B3 organist and keyboard master Melvin Seals and vocalist Jacklyn LaBranch, both of whom cut their teeth as longtime members of the Jerry Garcia Band.

At Red Rocks and prior performances in Boston, the outfit also featured Joe Russo’s Almost Dead guitarist Tom Hamilton, Bay Area-based vocalist Lady Chi and storied Dead & Company bassist Oteil Burbridge, who performed on his new “Dire Wolf” bass, inspired by Garcia’s iconic Wolf guitar, as detailed in a new interview with Relix. The ensemble was rounded out by the new addition of Widespread Panic percussionist Duane Trucks, who took the same stage just last week for his band’s 75th straight sold-out Red Rocks staging.

Together, the all-star assembly presented two sets of standards from Garcia’s expansive repertoire, including Dead essentials like “West L.A. Fadeaway,” “China Cat Sunflower,” “Terrapin Station,” “Shakedown Street,” “Scarlet Begonias” and “Ripple.” These landmark tracks from his longtime band were paired with JGB cuts like “Bird Song,” “Reuben and Cherise,” “Run for the Roses” and “Cats Under the Stars.” All of these songs were backed by the full orchestra, lending a soaring cinematic feeling that renewed the enduring favorites.

For the five-track encore, the ensemble, sans symphony, primarily emphasized the borrowed songs that Garcia made his own, returning to the stage with Little Milton’s “That’s What Love Will Make You Do.” After a radiant rendition of Bruce Cockburn’s “Waiting for a Miracle,” Gordon emerged to a roar of applause from the sold-out crowd. The Phish bassist, hot off his band’s immense Independence Day series at Boulder, Colo.’s Folsom Field, lent his talents to a rollicking, funky treatment of Eric Clapton’s “Lay Down Sally,” then moved into the more soulful tones of Bob Dylan’s “Tangled Up in Blue,” one of the covers most closely associated Garcia. After Gordon departed from the spotlight, the band closed out the show with a final heartwarming performance of “Deal.”

Watch a fan-recorded video of “Lay Down Sally” below, and read on for the show’s full setlist.

Jerry Garcia Symphonic Celebration
Red Rocks Amphitheatre – Morrison, Colo.
7/6/25
Set I: Dark Star Tease, Bird Song, Here Comes Sunshine, Reuben and Cherise, West L.A. Fadeaway, China Cat Sunflower, China Doll, Terrapin Station
Set II: Scarlet Begonias, Morning Dew (Bonnie Dobson cover), Shakedown Street, Run for the Roses, Crazy Fingers, Standing on the Moon, Cats Under the Stars, Ripple
Encore: That’s What Love Will Make You Do (Little Milton cover), Waiting for a Miracle (Bruce Cockburn cover), Lay Down Sally+ (Eric Clapton cover), Tangled Up in Blue+ (Bob Dylan cover), Deal
Notes:
+ w/ Mike Gordon