Leftover Salmon & Phil Lesh – May 5th – Red Rocks Amphitheatre

Photos by Tim Dwenger

Saturday night marked not only my first Red Rocks show of the season, but the return of the mighty Phil Lesh to the stage of the majestic amphitheater.  The lots were full early, and with the near perfect weather and the Cinco De Mayo holiday, it felt a bit like a FESTIVAL!  It almost goes without saying that a huge contingent in the crowd were Deadheads, both grey-haired and baby-faced, some of whom may have been in attendance 40 years ago when Phil first played The Rocks with The Grateful Dead.  There was history in the air and while this wasn’t an instant classic of a show, it had it’s moments and I’m thrilled I was there.

Leftover Salmon: Leftover Salmon took the stage first led by the master of ceremonies himself, Mr. Vince Herman.  Herman and the rest of the band were all smiles as they dove into the appropriate “Let’s Give A Party” and then ran through “High Country,” “All Night Ride,” and a “Boo Boo” sandwich before announcing they were about to play us their new album, Something Higher, in it’s entirety.  While the new album is really quite good, it’s always tough to hear 12 new songs in a row, whether you are a hardcore fan of the band or not.  Sadly some of the energy on the rocks dissipated for a while as fans struggled a bit with the new material.  Fortunately a trio of songs near the end of the record, “Game of Thorns,” “Let In a Little Light,” and “Winter’s Gone” flirted with the Poly-ethnic Cajun Slamgrass the band burst onto the scene with nearly 30 years ago.

The highlight of the set came after Salmon had run through the entire album when they invited Mr. Phil Lesh himself to the stage and dropped into one of my favorite tunes from the storied Dead catalog, “Catfish John.”  Phil’s bass was a welcome presence on the rocks as the last bits of daylight faded away.  Lesh stuck around for “Big Boss Man” and then Herman led the re-energized crowd through John Hartford’s “Way Up On The Hill Where They Do The Boogie” to the delight of the crowd that boogied away on the hill that is Red Rocks.

Phil Lesh & The Terrapin Family Band:  When Lesh and The Terrapin Family Band emerged at 9:30, they had most of Leftover Salmon in tow as Vince Herman, Drew Emmitt, Andy Thorn and Erik Deutsch all joined the action for a rousing “Cumberland Blues” that gave way to “Viola Lee Blues” in what was a glorious start to the set.  From there Phil, his son Grahame, Ross James, Alex Koford, and Jason Crosby took us deep with a spacey “Mountains of the Moon.”  This was our first chance to see what the band could do with the more psychedelic aspects of the Dead catalog and they handled themselves pretty well before slipping into the beloved sing-a-long of “Jack Straw.”  Ross James took a turn at the mic next and I’ve got to say that his phrasing on Dylan’s “Like A Rolling Stone” just didn’t do it for me and I took the chance to hit the head and chat with some friends until I realized the band was segueing into “Terrapin Station.”  “Terrapin” is always welcome in my book and it signaled the start of a stellar four song run to end the set.  Next up the boys gave Alex Koford a turn at the mic and the drummer dazzled with his jaw-dropping interpretation of Bonnie Dobson’s “Morning Dew” before the band took a shot at “Uncle John’s Band” and then another favorite of mine “New Speedway Boogie.”  At this point I had to wonder if Phil and Vince got together back stage and said “both of our bands have to reference boogieing on the hill.”  One way or another, I didn’t mind and when the band left the stage I was a happy man. 

Phil returned with the ever-present “Donor Rap” before the crew set up another amp and the band welcomed Mahali Savoulidis of Twiddle to sing lead on “Fire On The Mountain.”  Mahali stayed out for “The Music Never Stopped” and then the song we all knew was coming, “Box Of Rain,” made it’s appearance and set us off into the night with smiles on our faces and a spring in our step knowing that Phil’s still playing as well as anyone could hope for a 78 year old veteran of The Grateful Dead.  Here’s to you Phil!