Gillian Welch & David Rawlings brought their Acoustic Reckoning Tour to the West Coast over the weekend. The pair, who are currently on the road with standup bassist Paul Kowert, performing as a trio, pulled into the Fox Theater in Oakland, Calif., for the onset of a two-night romp at the seated Buddha-adorned live entertainment facility. During Friday’s encore, the ensemble was joined by special guest and son of a founding member of the Grateful Dead, Grahame Lesh, who sat in and helped out his host on the delivery of six choice songs, including his father’s own “Box of Rain.”

Like the shows that came before Friday’s arrival out West, the acoustic musicians pulled heavily from the Dead’s double live album, Reckoning, in addition to other sparklers from the original group’s deep bank of material. Considering the concert’s proximity to San Francisco, local musician and torchbearer of the tie-tye clad music, Lesh stopped by for the entirety of Friday’s encore, which was a harmony-rich layering of voices and strings. After paying respect to the band’s original bassist on “Box of Rain,” the four-piece moved into a debut, “Sugar Magnolia,” a first-time cover for Welch and Rawlings. 

For their next move, Welch, Rawlings, Kowert, and Lesh went with “St. Stephen,” which was played without pause, and into “Not Fade Away.” “St. Stephen” was referenced on the other side of The Crickets’ original-turned-Dead standard, functioning as sort of a concert sandwich. With steam left in the engine, the ensemble proceeded into a stunning take on “Morning Dew” before leaving their Oakland audience with a proper send-off: “We Bid You Good Night.” 

Scroll down to watch a fan-shot clip from the sit-in and view Friday’s setlist.

And, read: It Must Have Been The Roses: Gillian Welch and David Rawlings on Their Grateful Dead Devotion and Acoustic Reckoning Tour.

Gillian Welch & David Rawlings 

Fox Theater – Oakland, Calif.

April 17, 2026 

Set I: Bertha, Black Peter, Dire Wolf, Oh Babe It Ain’t No Lie, It Must Have Been the Roses, Dark Hollow, Loser, Cassidy, Cumberland Blues

Set II: Brown-Eyed Women, I’ve Been All Around This World, Cold Rain and Snow, Deep Elem Blues, Brokedown Palace, Jack-a-Roe, Bird Song, Stella Blue, Ripple

Enc.: Box of Rain, Sugar Magnolia, St. Stephen, Not Fade Away, Morning Dew, And We Bid You Goodnight

Notes: 

Grahame Lesh played during the encore