Photo: Marc Millman

On Thursday evening, Grahame Lesh & Friends kicked off a multi-night run slated for four separate East Coast markets. The initial performance took the group to a familiar location, the Brooklyn Bowl in New York, where they delivered a two-set concert that floated references and nods to the namesake’s famous father. This show leaned into rarities via Phil Lesh & Friends’ 2002 LP There and Back Again on “No More Do I,” the Further-cited “The Mountain Song,” a piece of Robert Hunter’s crafted planetary lyrics on “Jupiter,” in addition to a debut of “Shaman’s Song.” 

The Friday precursor officially lifted off during “No More Do I,” played for the sixth time by Grahame Lesh & Friends following its 2024 concert debut. As a follow-up, the group tacked on “Cumberland Blues” ahead of David Crosby and Graham Nash’s “The Wall Song.” “Jack Straw” brought the Dead’s catalog back into focus before branching off into Further material on “The Mountain Song.” In time, they honed in on “New Speedway Boogie” before a performance first for the ensemble. 

In set one’s final slot, “Shaman’s Song” emerged for the first time and represented a debut. During the initial concert announcement, Lesh teased the concept on social media, with the intent of “highlighting my dad’s more forgotten Dead compositions, playing the PLQ music and my brother Brian’s songs, debuting music that my dad, brother, & I wrote together (much of which has still not seen the light of day…stay tuned…” To that end, “Shaman’s Song” represented the key that unlocked a first-time play. 

The latter half of the concert saw a resurgence of Dead material, including “St. Stephen,” “The Music Never Stopped,” as well as a classic pairing of “Help on the Way” > “Slipknot!” Also, flooding the set was Jerry Garcia’s heartbreaker, a lovers’ last stand on “To Lay Me Down.” Along the way, they also included “Jupiter,” a piece of Robert Hunter’s planetary lyrics, which was discussed this week in our Relix-released conversation with a family friend and collaborator of the Leshs, Alex Koford. 

The group also delivered a treatment of the Allman Brothers Band’s instrumental “Jessica.” The second set came to an official close after a prominent gesture toward Phil Lesh’s Grateful Dead contribution on “Unbroken Chain,” and once more during the finale’s stand-alone, “Box of Rain.” 

Following last night’s concert in the Big Apple, Grahame Lesh & Friends will play Unlimited Devotion in Ardmore, Pa., this evening, Friday, May 8. Tickets remain on sale.