When members of the Grateful Dead go on tour with “friends,” they don’t mean buddies from around the neighborhood. The members of the pioneering jam band have performed with some of the biggest names in music history, and Dead bassist Phil Lesh’s band Phil Lesh and Friends has featured the likes of The Black Crowes’ Chris Robinson, Phish’s Trey Anastasio and singer-songwriter Ryan Adams in its rotating lineup over the years. The latest incarnation of Phil Lesh and Friends is playing three nights at Brooklyn Bowl, and in the jam-band tradition they’ll be performing an ever-changing set list including Dead songs, rock covers and lots of improvisation.
Lesh’s Friends on this tour include longtime Dead collaborator John Kadlecik, jazz guitarist Stanley Jordan, multi-instrumentalist Jason Crosby, veteran session drummer John Molo and Boyd Tinsley of the Dave Matthews Band. In addition to his three Friends shows, Lesh will also be performing a brunch show at Brooklyn Bowl as the frontman of the Terrapin Family Band, which is the house band at his Terrapin Crossroads venue in California and features Lesh’s son Grahame on guitar. With friends like these, Lesh is always in the best musical company.
