Sad news yesterday. Phil Lesh, founding member and bassist for the Grateful Dead, has died at the age of 84. I saw the Dead eight times but never managed to catch Lesh in any of his post-Dead bands, generally known as Phil and Friends.
So this week's musical treat consists of three Phil and Friends shows from April 1999 at the Warfield in San Francisco. This version consists of Lesh on bass, Steve Kimock and Trey Anastasio on guitars, Page McConnell on keyboards, and John Molo on drums. Donna Jean Godchaux also sings on some of the songs..
Phil and Friends had many versions, but this is one of the earlier ones and my favourite of all of them. The setlists include Grateful Dead standards, songs by Phish, and a few judiciously chosen convers. The shows were professionally recorded on multitrack tape with the intention of releasing a live album, but that never happened. The recordings soon made their way into the wild and have been widely circulated. The sound is perfect, the video less so (at least by modern standards), but still watchable.
So sit back, light a fat one in Phil's memory, and enjoy.
Phil and Friends - The Warfield - April 15, 1999
Phil and Friends - The Warfield - April 16, 1999
Phil and Friends - The Warfield - April 17, 1999
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