Photo Credit: Brad Tucker

Last night, March 8, Phil Lesh joined Grahame Lesh & Friends for a special performance at Brooklyn Bowl in Williamsburg, N.Y. Leading a co-headline show with The Mother Hips, the ensemble presented a stirring treatment of “Jupiter,” a Midnight North original sound featuring recovered lyrics from Robert Hunter.

Friday’s Friends performance was originally booked for Grahame’s band Midnight North, which was moved to cancel and similarly alter a series of its spring tour dates as the group’s lead vocalist Elliot Peck, undergoes medical treatment. After an introductory jam, Grahame Lesh, now providing solo vocals, broached this subject, stating, “Hey, when you decided to come to this show, we may have been called Midnight North, but we are missing our dear friend Elliot Peck, who is recovering from a health issue. So the show goes on, and we are sending our healing energy to Elliot, so everyone, thank you for coming here and helping to contribute to that healing.” With Peck’s “blessing – and insistence,” per a post to Grahame’s Facebook, the rest of the band, including bassist Connor O’Sullivan, keyboardist TJ Kanczuzewski and drummer Nathan Grahame, will make two more stops alongside The Mother Hips in upstate New York tonight, March 9, and tomorrow.

Phil Lesh strutted onto the stage roughly halfway into the band’s performance to contribute bass to “Jupiter,” the centerpiece from Midnight North’s 2023 album Diamonds in the Zodiac; the album recording featured not only the elder Lesh but also Grahame’s brother Brian Lesh, making the track a proper family affair. Friday’s staging of the band’s original melody, which is fitted with uncovered lyrics from Hunter, the late Grateful Dead songwriter, featured an extended jam that ran the range of the song’s longing, faraway yet resolute sound from a subtle, quiet hum to a roaring, adventurous peak. Phil Lesh stopped by on one of the nights off in his five-night, two-week run at Port Chester, N.Y.’s The Capitol Theatre, which celebrates the legendary artist’s birthday on March 15. As his father departed from the stage, Grahame made a note of his scheduled presence at one of next week’s Friends, coyly alluding, “Maybe we’ll see you at The Cap next week.”

Grahame Lesh will join Phil Lesh & Friends at The Capitol Theatre on March 13, 15 and 16, alongside Eric Krasno, Jason Crosby, Karl Denson, John Molo and Amy Helm. For tickets and more information, visit thecapitoltheatre.com.

Stream Grahame Lesh & Friends’ Brooklyn Bowl performance from Friday via the Relix YouTube channel.