Part of the Terrapin Roadshow series, a fine ensemble of talented musicians with shared music pedigrees gathered on July 19 at a 500‑capacity amphitheater in San Rafael, California, for a two‑set, kaleidoscopic performance of (mostly) Grateful Dead music. This was the second of three weekend shows at the venue, typically utilized by the Marin Shakespeare Company, within the Dominican University of California campus, each of which had a different ensemble cast. The Terrapin Roadshow also touched down in Monte Rio, Sonoma County, for two shows in June and will wrap up in Truckee, Nevada County, on August 17 (tickets available at https://www.terrapincrossroads.net).
At this day‑turns‑to‑night event, the collective of musicians (and friends) included Stu Allen, Grahame Lesh (guitar), Jason Crosby (keys and violin), Tim Bluhm (guitar), Scott Law (guitar), Elliott Peck (guitar), Brian Rashap (bass), and Alex Koford (drums). Each of the musicians was frequent performers at the Terrapin Crossroads nightclub and restaurant presided over by Grateful Dead co‑founder Phil Lesh from 2012 to 2021. Midnight North, led by Grahame Lesh and Peck, opened the proceedings with their own set.
“This series is a beautiful way to honor the incredible community that grew around the music of the Grateful Dead,” Grahame Lesh, event co‑producer and son of Grateful Dead bassist Phil Lesh, said in a statement. “It’s so special to see the spirit of their music passed down, bringing people together in the same way Terrapin Crossroads did for so many years.”
“We’re Midnight North,” Grahame Lesh said as the band took the stage. “We used to play over there <pointing> at Terrapin Crossroads every Sunday night.” The band opened with “Green Country,” one of their most well‑known tunes. The set also included “Jupiter,” with lyrics by Robert Hunter, as well as Elliott Peck’s praiseworthy vocal adaptation of “The Stranger (Two Souls in Communion),” a song written by Ron “Pigpen” McKernan and performed by the Grateful Dead several times in 1972. With core personnel Lesh and Peck frequently in demand for other projects, Midnight North does not play as often as they once did, but the bandmates, including Connor O’Sullivan (bass), T.J. Kanczuzewski (keyboards), and Nathan Graham (drumkit), were spot on, whether it was a rocking, jamming number or a low‑tempo piece. The 45‑minute set, in which Jason Crosby guested, also featured several songs from the band’s 2023 release, “Diamonds in the Zodiac.”
The main‑event band, a version of the Terrapin All‑Stars, took the stage at about 6:30 p.m., amid blue skies and a temperature in the low 70s. Lesh could casually be called the bandleader, though with the musical material and personnel so near‑and‑dear to all, essentially “the music played the band,” to coin a phrase. With three lead guitar players, Lesh, Allen, and Law, each providing their own unique six‑string flourishes and layers, the opening pieces of music, “Uncle John’s Band” and “Jack Straw,” were precise, dialed in, and sublime. Peck sang lead on an explosive “Hard to Handle,” an Otis Redding song recorded by The Black Crowes, Tom Jones, and others, and performed fairly often by the Grateful Dead in their early years. During the commanding version of “Hard to Handle,” Rashap, who was Phil Lesh’s bass‑guitar tech for several years, blood‑pumped powerful bass passages reminiscent of those dished out by Phil Lesh.
Then, after a passionate version of Bob Dylan’s anthemic “Like a Rolling Stone,” sung by Allen, Koford came to the front of the stage to sing a compelling version of “Ramble On Rose” while Midnight North’s Nathan Graham assumed drumkit duties. Tim Bluhm, known most as frontman for the seminal Mother Hips but who performed with various musicians at the old Terrapin Crossroads, then joined the band, also on guitar, first to sing on a splendid version of “Here Comes Sunshine,” and again on the enduring Grateful Dead ballad, “Brokedown Palace,” which ended the first set.
When the band returned to the stage at about 8:30, Bluhm brought Merle Haggard to the mix (in 2016, a month after The Hag passed away, Bluhm led a Haggard tribute concert at the Sweetwater Music Hall, also in Marin County). Here, his rendering of “Workin’ Man Blues,” one of Haggard’s signature songs, went far past the original 45’s two‑minute, 33‑second limit and, with Law, Lesh, and Allen all taking part in solo and/or duet jams, the song stretched to probably three times that length. Then, after singing vocals on “Brown Eyed Women,” Bluhm waved good‑bye to an appreciative audience and left the remaining bandmembers to carry on.
From that point, the music proceeded with a great big, satisfying version of “Help on the Way” / “Slipknot!” that instead of morphing into an expected “Franklin’s Tower,” birthed a fine “Let It Grow,” with Peck rejoining the group. Next, Koford came back to the front line to sing The Band’s “Twilight,” with Lesh and then Allen playing the song’s poignant lead guitar licks. A short, soothing spacey jam followed, which led into a small portion of “Terrapin Station,” spotlighted by the single verse: “Since the end is never told / we pay the teller off in gold / In hopes he will come back / but he cannot be bought or sold,” continuing the song’s verses that were initiated the night before.
The band then segued into a beautifully emotive execution of Jerry Garcia’s “Bird Song,” vocally led by Allen, followed by a robust “Eyes of the World,” with Peck providing dynamic lead vocals. The set ended with an ingenious arrangement of “Casey Jones,” with its lyrics sung to the melody of “Eclipse,” which is the final track on Pink Floyd’s legendary “The Dark Side of the Moon.” The song, and the set, did conclude with the final “Eclipse” lyrics: “And all that is now / And all that is gone / And all that's to come / And everything under the sun is in tune / But the sun is eclipsed by the moon.” That arrangement, called “Casey’s Eclipse,” originated from a series of mashups Jason Crosby has been performing with his group, the Crosby Collective.
After a shout‑out to the Marin Shakespeare Company, Lesh followed his father’s efforts to encourage members of the audience to become organ donors. “I got an extra 25 years with my dad,” Grahame Lesh said, “because a young man named Cody turned to the people that loved him and said, ‘If anything ever happens to me, I want to be an organ donor’.” A double encore of a hymnal take on “Attics of My Life” followed by a triumphant “Music Never Stopped” helped escort folks into the clear, cool night.
NOTES: This show took place one year, minus two days, after Phil Lesh’s final performance, also in San Rafael, on July 21, 2024.
HEART OF TOWN concerts: Hosted by Grahame Lesh & Friends, the San Francisco Giants and Relix have teamed up to present the Heart of Town, a three-night concert series celebrating the Grateful Dead and the city that shaped the band. Nightly performances will take place from July 31 to August 2 at Pier 48 in Mission Rock, near Oracle Park. Tickets available at https://www.mlb.com/giants/tickets/events/concerts/heartoftown.
The set behind the performers was leftover from the Marin Shakespeare Company’s production of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” which closed on July 13. The venue, surrounded by tall trees, was originally built in 1967.
For the record, five of the main band’s fellows sported beards, each with its own unique mix of gray and brown – only Bluhm and Koford (who had a moustache) did not.
Terrapin All‑Stars band credentials, abbreviated: Stu Allen (Stu Allen & Mars Hotel, Phil & Friends, Dark Star Orchestra, Melvin Seals & JGB – guitar/vocals); Grahame Lesh (Phil & Friends, Midnight North – guitar/vocals); Jason Crosby (Crosby Collective, Jackson Browne, Susan Tedeschi, Robert Randolph, Shana Morrison, others – keys and violin); Tim Bluhm (The Mother Hips, Brokedown in Bakersfield, Nicki Bluhm & the Gramblers – guitar/vocals); Scott Law (Phil & Friends, Darol Anger, Brokedown in Bakersfield, Cosmic Twang, Tony Furtado – guitar/vocals); Elliott Peck (Midnight North, Phil & Friends, solo artist – guitar/vocals); Brian Rashap (The Mother Hips, San Geronimo, production manager/bass tech for Phil & Friends – bass); and Alex Koford (Phil & Friends, Colonel & the Mermaids – drums/vocals).
Midnight North: Greene County, Jupiter, In the Sunrise, Round & Round, The Stranger (Two Souls in Communion), Old Country, A Great Farewell.
Terrapin All‑Stars:
Set 1: Uncle John’s Band, Jack Straw, Hard to Handle, Like a Rolling Stone, Ramble on Rose, Here Comes Sunshine, Brokedown Palace.
Set 2: Workin’ Man Blues, Brown Eyed Women, Help on the Way, Slipknot!, Let It Grow, Twilight, Lady with a Fan (one verse), Bird Song, Eyes of the World, Casey’s Eclipse.
Encore: Attics of My Life, The Music Never Stopped
