Grahame Lesh and Friends - Stage One at FTC 11/9/24

After a dramatic and stressful few weeks in many regards, those in the audience and onstage may have been looking for (and found!) catharsis within the walls of Stage One.

Packed house at one of CT's best smaller rooms - the 225-capacity Stage One at Ftcpresents. I knew nothing of the band billed at Grahame Lesh & Friends (GLAF), other than its lineage. By his own admission, the band had only played 10 shows together onstage. This run only had two dates - the other the weekend before at Levon's Barn. This sold-out SRO show provided a great venue for this band to stretch out. And for the obvious Deadhead crowd, a chance to feel connected.

The band played material from the Dead catalog like "Cumberland Blues" early in the first set and a superb "St. Stephen" to open the second set that had the crowd elated and on their feet. Another show highlight was a cover of The Who's "Eminince Front", a song finding renewed popularity in the jam band scene. "Galilee" was another standout track.

The band also mixed in tunes from Grahame's other band Midnight North as well as more obscure Dead rarities - one of these was a highlight of the show. "Equinox" was a song written by Phil Lesh during the recording of Terrapin Station, but it didn't make the final cut and was never played live. It's a complicated song, with Phil's signature all over it, even though he wrote it for Jerry to sing.

It's easy watchin' seasons go

As sunshine turns to new born snow

And children learn, the numbers of tomorrow

The great globe spins, the music's heart

Every being knows its part

To keep it spinning in the circle

Every moment is perfect

Every eye's a jewel

Every man is a prophet

With the mercy of a fool

Within this family of music, it's exciting to hear new players bring their own styles and ideas while musing on new derivations of the classics, select covers, genre-defying originals, and rarities outtakes. Somehow making it all feel new and fresh as well as comforting and familiar.