From fans to Friends
Robinson and others join Phil Lesh at House of Blues

By Michael Lello
Philly EDGE Correspondent

While most folks his age were peacefully asleep with visions of “Matlock” reruns and early bird specials dancing in their heads, 65-year-old Phil Lesh and his band recently rocked a sold-out Las Vegas nightclub to the rafters.
“We actually played ’til 5:15,” says Lesh, the legendary Grateful Dead bassist and Phil Lesh and Friends bandleader. “We started at midnight and played ’til 5:15. (Afterwards), I was a little tired, even though I had a nap beforehand.”
After experiencing the death of the Dead’s patriarch Jerry Garcia in 1995 and his own health problems, a nearly fatal hepatitis C infection which led to a successful liver transplant in 1998, Lesh has certainly not retreated into the quiet solitude of old age. He’s taken the opportunity to play with countless musicians in Phil and Friends, released his first studio album without the Dead a few years ago and penned his New York Times - bestselling memoirs, “Searching For The Sound: My Life With The Grateful Dead,” a remarkably vivid, poignant and even humorous inside look at the band whose musical and cultural impact spurred today’s thriving jam band scene.
Beginning Thursday, Lesh, on bass and vocals, will lead his current gaggle of Friends to the House of Blues in Atlantic City for three shows. Joining him are Chris Robinson of the Black Crowes on vocals, former Bob Dylan guitarist Larry Campbell, Friends veteran and former Bruce Hornsby and The Range and The Other Ones drummer John Molo and guitarist and pedal steel player Barry Sless and keyboardist Mookie Siegel, both of the David Nelson Band.
Lesh first met Robinson when the Crowes played on the post-Dead Furthur Festival tour in the mid 90s. Now Robinson is adding his trademark vocals to Lesh’s rotating setlist, which has its foundation in Dead classics and obscurities but during this tour has also included some rock chestnuts like The Beatles’ “Don’t Let Me Down,” The Rolling Stones’ “Brown Sugar” and The Byrds’ “Eight Miles High.”
“You know, I’ve always admired (Robinson’s) singing and stage presence, and last year I thought I’d give him a call, ’cause I like to mix it up and have different players come in and bring different perspectives to the repertoire,” Lesh says. “So I just gave him a call, and he was up for it. I guess he’s been a big Deadhead for a long time.”
It’s not the first singer with star power Lesh has worked with this year; Joan Osborne was a band member for the Vegas run, Ryan Adams performed with the group earlier this year and John Mayer will collaborate with Lesh and company during a New Year’s run in San Francisco, during which Mayer and his trio on New Year’s Eve will interpret Jimi Hendrix’s “Band of Gypsies” album before Mayer performs with Lesh at midnight, Lesh says.
The Grateful Dead celebrated its 40th anniversary this year, but the closest thing to a reunion performance was a Bob Weir-led Jerry Garcia tribute in Berkeley, Calif. Lesh was unable to attend because he was helping move his oldest son, Grahame, to Stanford University, where he began his studies in the fall.
Lesh will turn 66 in March, but it’s still too soon for him to settle into any semblance of predictability, it seems. In fact, Lesh says he’s rarely conscious of his senior-citizen status.
“Only when I wake up in the morning with aches and pains, or only when my knee tells me that rain’s coming,” he says with a laugh. “But most of the time it’s like, I’m still alive, I’m walking around. Everyday that you’re vertical is a good day.”

WHAT: Phil Lesh and Friends
WHERE: House of Blues Atlantic City, 801 Boardwalk, Atlantic City, N.J.
WHEN: Thursday, Friday and Saturday, 8 p.m.
TICKETS: $42-$57, all ages
CALL: 609.236.BLUE