For about 25 years now, “Phil & Friends” has constituted several combinations of like-minded players with extensive Grateful Dead music pedigrees and acumen. On New Year’s Day, 2020, Phil Lesh performed and led a high-spirited, two-set show in the Beach Park, the outdoor performance venue at his Terrapin Crossroads club and restaurant in San Rafael,… Continue reading Phil Lesh & Friends | Terrapin Crossroads | 1/1/2020
“This is for you, Dad.” Devon Allman said this around 8:30 PM last Saturday night, with his face and first finger pointed up toward the sky. It’s hard to imagine what he, as well as the other two Allman Brothers relatives in The Allman Betts Band, must have felt like getting to perform to a… Continue reading Allman Family Revival | Beacon Theatre | 12/28/19
Hot Tuna brought the final show of their 50th Anniversary Tour to the Parker Playhouse in Ft Lauderdale, Florida for a special New Year’s Eve concert. The power-trio featured founding members Jorma Kaukonen on guitar and vocals, Jack Casady on bass as well as Justin Guip on drums. The veteran rockers delivered a two-set show of blues, traditional and psychedelic music.… Continue reading Hot Tuna | Parker Playhouse | 12/31/19
A new, cavernous San Francisco concert venue was put to use by Dead & Company on Dec. 30, and while it is the biggest indoor venue in Grateful Dead-hometown history, the party was no less enthusiastic. On New Year’s Eve, balloons would drop and a vintage plane would fly through the arena at midnight, but… Continue reading Dead & Company | Chase Center | 12/30/19
It takes a hell of a lot to get me to brave the absolute sardine-pack that is a sold-out Ogden Theatre in Denver for 3 consecutive nights. There are very few bands that would warrant something like that but Billy Strings is up there at the top of the shortlist. Over the course of a… Continue reading Billy Strings | Ogden Theatre | December 2019
The annual late fall Hot Tuna run through the Northeastern US is in full swing when I cross paths with the band’s tour itinerary in Poughkeepsie, NY. This night is different than the previous electric Hot Tuna 50th anniversary show we attended earlier in the year. This show will be an all-acoustic evening with intricate… Continue reading Hot Tuna w/ Larry & Teresa | Bardavon Theatre | 12/5/19
Born and raised in Lansing, Michigan, William Apostol, better known to his fans as Billy Strings, was constantly surrounded by a wide array of music. His stepfather was a picker in the Michigan bluegrass scene and surrounded Billy with an array of traditional bluegrass music including Earl Scruggs, David Grisman, Larry Sparks, and Del McCoury.… Continue reading Billy Strings | Ogden Theatre | 12/13/19
“Guitarmeggedon!” That is one of the words used by Devon Allman to describe the sheer volume of talent and amplitude displayed at Denver’s Mission Ballroom on December 8th. The metropolitan’s newest venue played host to the Allman Family Revival, a conglomerate of the Allman Betts Band and a rotating stage of support that included 17… Continue reading Allman Family Revival | Mission Ballroom | 12/8/19
Thanksgiving weekend is a time for family and friends to get together. One of the experiences people can be thankful for is live music. The power of live music to bring out the best in people is well known. On Saturday evening, in The City Of Brotherly Love, hometown heroes, Lotus, brought their progressive jammed… Continue reading Lotus | Fillmore Philly | 11/30/19
One could almost feel kaleidoscopic dust particles shake from the hallowed halls and chandeliers of the gritty old Fillmore in San Francisco on December 6. The occasion, a Rex Foundation benefit called “American Beauty,” was a two-set, four-hour supergroup spectacular in which Set 1 consisted of a live-and-complete rendering of the classic Grateful Dead LP,… Continue reading Rex Benefit: Lebo, Bob Weir and the Arrows of Neon
