Phil Lesh brought his TerrapinFamily Band ensemble to Seattle for the first time for a cover-heavy Sundayshow. The show opened with the traditional “Me and My Uncle” before leading upto the highlight of the first set, a Phil-sung classic, “Pride of Cucamonga.”The ensuing jam attached to PoC was highly reminiscent of “The Other One.” Nextit was Ross James’ turn to show off his skills on Jimi Hendrix’s classic, “TheWind Cries Mary.” This was the first nod of the evening to the music of thePacific Northwest. The set continued with a stunning cover of the Crosby,Stills, Nash and Young tune, “Teach Your Children,” before transitioning intoSamson and Delilah. The set was wrapped up with the one-two punch of ElliottPeck absolutely crushing Lucinda Williams’ “I Lost it,” leaving “Uncle John’sBand” to close the set.
Set II picked up wherethe first left off with a nod to JGB standard, Marvin Gaye’s “How Sweet it is.”To keep the cover train rolling, Phil called for The Velvet Underground’s“Sweet Jane.” After a quick romp through “Mason’s Children,” the group fit asegment of the Chantay’s hit “Pipeline” within before returning. Up next wasthe entirety of the Terrapin Station Suite, which came to the delight of thesold out crowd. As if the full Terrapin wasn’t enough, the addition of “Jack O’Roses” was the icing on the cake. Phil found opportunities to drop bombsaplenty in the following “Scarlet Begonias” before giving his son Grahame Leshthe spotlight to pay tribute to The Band in the form of “Up on Cripple Creek.”After Alex Koford lead a gorgeous “Comes a Time,” it was Jason Crosby’s turnfor a doubleheader of dance parties. The first came in the form of a highlyupbeat and rowdy “Love Light,” but was followed by the real surprise of theevening.
Set II was wrapped withsome of the most inventive material being put out by this group. Crosby beganleading the group to the all-to-well-known melody of Nirvana’s “Lithium.” Afterthe parade of covers going on throughout the show, few thought it more thananother nod to the music of the PNW, but when he began singing the versesof “Friend of the Devil” over theNirvana melody, the room erupted. No one was more elated than Phil, though whohad a massive grin plastered on his face for the entirety of the mashup.
After a quick breather, Phil was back to address the crowd in his customary fashion on the topic of organ donation. As Phil approaches his 80th birthday, it was abundantly clear that this cause means everything to him, now more than ever. As the rest of the group donned their instruments it was decided to cap the evening with yet one more cover, Buddy Holly’s “Not Fade Away.”
