Gillian Welch & David Rawlings brought their Acoustic Reckoning Tour to the West Coast over the weekend. The pair, who are currently on the road with standup bassist Paul Kowert, performing as a trio, pulled into the Fox Theater in Oakland, Calif., for the onset of a two-night romp at the seated Buddha-adorned live entertainment facility. During Friday\u2019s encore, the ensemble was joined by special guest and son of a founding member of the Grateful Dead, Grahame Lesh, who sat in and helped out his host on the delivery of six choice songs, including his father\u2019s own \u201cBox of Rain.\u201d<\/p>\n
Like the shows that came before Friday\u2019s arrival out West, the acoustic musicians pulled heavily from the Dead\u2019s double live album, Reckoning, in addition to other sparklers from the original group\u2019s deep bank of material. Considering the concert\u2019s proximity to San Francisco, local musician and torchbearer of the tie-tye clad music, Lesh stopped by for the entirety of Friday\u2019s encore, which was a harmony-rich layering of voices and strings. After paying respect to the band\u2019s original bassist on \u201cBox of Rain,\u201d the four-piece moved into a debut, \u201cSugar Magnolia,\u201d a first-time cover for Welch and Rawlings.\u00a0<\/p>\n
For their next move, Welch, Rawlings, Kowert, and Lesh went with \u201cSt. Stephen,\u201d which was played without pause, and into \u201cNot Fade Away.\u201d \u201cSt. Stephen\u201d was referenced on the other side of The Crickets\u2019 original-turned-Dead standard, functioning as sort of a concert sandwich. With steam left in the engine, the ensemble proceeded into a stunning take on \u201cMorning Dew\u201d before leaving their Oakland audience with a proper send-off: \u201cWe Bid You Good Night.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Scroll down to watch a fan-shot clip from the sit-in and view Friday\u2019s setlist.<\/p>\n