Phil Lesh and his ever present “Friends” set up shop at the Mission Ballroom last weekend and this time around he invited Grahame Lesh on guitar and John Molo on drums, Rick Mitarotonda of Goose, Jason Crosby on keyboards and violin, and the Trey Anastasio Band horns, Natalie Cressman, Jennifer Hartswick, and James Casey.
There’s no doubt that fall was in the air at Red Rocks on Tuesday night as the outdoor concert season drew to a close in Colorado. Fans from 18-70 dug fleece and down out of their closets made the trek out to Morrison to spend one last evening under the stars, singing along with two of the best in the business: Tom Petty and Steve Winwood.
It’s been decades since the Southern California sun first breathed life into the Americana-laced rock of acts like The Byrds, The Eagles, Poco, and Jackson Brown in the late ’60s and ’70s. While there has been resurgence of that sound in recent years, one L.A. band has emerged head and shoulders above the rest to carry on the legacy that McGuinn, Henley, Frey, Brown and others helped to define. That band is Dawes.