Photo: Cassidy Rose Friedman
On Saturday, March 14, select musicians reassembled at the Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, N.Y., for the third concert in a string of four live installments built around the late Phil Lesh’s birthday and the tradition of celebrating each passing year at the hallowed venue. Last night’s performance continued Grahame Lesh & Friends’ sampling of the Grateful Dead songbook. During the two-set concert, the rotating lineup presented a wide range of fan favorites while also carving out space for softer, more heartfelt moments, elicited by their song choices.
Saturday’s sold-out concert featured a roster of artists, Rick Mitarotonda, Oteil Burbridge, Holly Bowling, Jason Crosby, John Molo, Nathan Graham, Amy Helm, Kanika Moore, Maggie Rose, and John Kadleck, under the leadership of second-generation torchbearer of the Grateful Dead’s tunes, Grahame Lesh. As the shows that preceded last night’s arrival exhibited, guests came and went, embracing a near-variety-show format by taking turns on stage.
The second-to-last concert during the East Coast iteration of Unbroken Chain: A Celebration of the Life and Music of Phil Lesh got the crowd moving from the jump with the Dead’s late 1970s standard, “Shakedown Street.” Next, the group of musicians embraced the original band’s Workingman’s Dead feature, the beloved “New Speedway Boogie,” before adjusting the tempo to fit the pace of “Row Jimmy,” which spotlighted Maggie Rose’s vocal contribution.
The group continued to conjure a sort of balance between the Dead’s lively beats, followed by something sweeter and softer. After submitting their take on “Row Jimmy,” the ensemble picked up “Jack Straw,” followed by “They Love Each Other.” In time, the group delivered a welcome take on “Tangled Up in Blue,” the Further-associated “The Mountain Song,” and set-ending catharsis brought on by “Brokedown Palace.”
The latter half of the concert found select artists back on stage, noodling their way into their comfort zones. In recognition of the event and the man who inspired it, the group performed a heartfelt rendition of Phil Lesh’s “Unbroken Chain.” Continuing the first set’s momentum, they came out of the heartfelt delivery and into the ethereal barn burner “Estimated Prophet,” which featured a hint of Pink Floyd’s “Money.”
“Eyes of the World” was a welcome addition ahead of “Terrapin Station,” complete with its “Lady with a Fan” precursor. With spirited peaking, the group of players went with second-set sister songs, a beloved pairing of “Scarlet Begonias” > “Fire on the Mountain,” before carrying out their sonic trend one last time, through a tempo drop elicited by a haunting take on the original band’s 1990s arrival, “Days Between.”
For their final offering of music, the group fired up an ode to Bobby Weir via “One More Saturday Night,” and ultimately picked up “The Weight” by The Band as their final piece of Saturday night’s setlist puzzle.
The final night of The Capitol Theatre’s presentation of Unbroken Chain: A Celebration of the Life and Music of Phil Lesh happens tonight.
Tickets remain on sale.
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