\t\t\t\t\tHowling Wolves: Grahame Lesh & Friends Welcome Oteil Burbridge, Ramblin\u2019 Jack Elliott, Jackie Greene, Members of RatDog and Wolf Brothers and Many More for Bob Weir Tribute at The Warfield\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Photo by James Joiner<\/p>\n
Following the public Homecoming memorial for Bob Weir, a festival-sized mix of musicians came together to honor the Grateful Dead co-founder at San Francisco\u2019s The Warfield last night. Billed Howling Wolves: A Tribute To Bobby Weir, the last-minute show\u2013organized by Dayglo, 100x and The Warfield to benefit the Furthur Foundation\u2013was promoted as Grahame Lesh & Friends with \u201cvery special guests,\u201d which ended up nodding to several different eras of Weir\u2019s signature career. The Hawaii-based Bill Kreutzmann, the sole surviving member of the Dead\u2019s original lineup, was unable to attend any of the San Francisco events but posted a lengthy note on his social before the Warfield gig where he explained:<\/p>\n
I wish I could join all of you for Bobby\u2019s Homecoming\u201d today but I\u2019m having my own Hawaiian send off for his spirit, while I simultaneously grieve for the loss of my friend. I think it\u2019s great that the community is going to gather afterwards at the Warfield\u2014that makes sense to me, as we all know about the healing power of live music and togetherness. One last howl at the moon. You know, the Grateful Dead recorded portions of Reckoning and Dead Set during our 15-show run at The Warfield in 1980 and Jerry still has his name on the dressing room, so I\u2019m sure the ghosts will be rocking in the rafters tonight. When we used to play there, in place of a band name, Bill Graham just wrote on the marquee: \u2018They aren\u2019t the best at what they do. They\u2019re the only ones that do what they do.\u2019 \u00a0He wouldn\u2019t even put the band name up there. Everyone knew. I\u2019ll have all of you in my heart today as I look out over the waves to the horizon, while I converse with so many of the memories that have proven to last a lifetime. (I\u2019ll also be tuning into the livestream, I\u2019m sure). Okay, Bobby. You never were one for eulogies. But if I knew the way, I would take you home\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Howling Wolves, Lesh put together an expansive cast of musicians who filled the stage and served as an elastic house band for several carefully chosen guests. In addition to Lesh on acoustic guitar, that core ensemble included former RatDog saxophonist Dave Ellis, Dead & Company bassist Oteil Burbridge, Wolf Brothers\u2019 pedal steel contributor Greg Leisz, Phil & Friends\/The Other Ones drummer John Molo, Furthur singer Sunshine Becker, Midnight North singer Elliot Peck, Terrapin Family Band drummer Alex Koford, keyboardist Holly Bowling, Dead-family guitarist Stu Allen, onetime Jefferson Starship bassist and regular Weir collaborator Pete Sears, Mike Gordon drummer John Kimock, longtime Weir and Terrapin Family Band keyboardist Jason Crosby and RatDog guitar Mark Karan. The all-star group was fleshed out by Weir and Wolf Brothers\u2019 Wolf Pack\u2014Brian Switzer, Adam Theis, Sheldon Brown, Alex Kelly and Barry Sless, the latter of whom, like Weir himself, also clocked in time in Kingfish. Veteran Dead crew members Betty Cantor-Jackson and Steve Parish took in the show while sitting onstage.<\/p>\n
The concert, which was announced just the night before and sold out within minutes, kicked off with an instrumental version of Weir\u2019s classic \u201cCassidy,\u201d with the crowd providing the lyrics. From there, Lesh and his company launched into Weir\u2019s classic \u201cPlaying In The Band,\u201d which included a bit of Wayne Shorter\u2019s \u201cFootprints\u201d and segued into \u201cUncle John\u2019s Band.\u201d The musicians then moved on to the \u201870s Weir favorite \u201cEstimated Prophet,\u201d which led into the first verse of the guitarist\u2019s exploratory \u201cThe Other One.\u201d \u00a0The 94-year-old Ramblin\u2019 Jack Elliott, who first met Weir when the future rock star was still a teenager and snuck into his dressing him to meet him, and his bassist Paul Knight then emerged for a tune outside the Dead songbook, \u201cWaiting For A Train.\u201d (Elliott and Weir maintained a close friendship over the years and often shared the stage at various Marin County events.\u201d)<\/p>\n
Next, Becker provided lead vocals on a moving rendition of \u201cBird Song,\u201d and Reed Mathis, the San Francisco staple known for his work with Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey, Tea Leaf Green and Billy & The Kids, emerged to play guitar and lead the band on \u201cBlack Throated Wind\u201d\u2014before Karan sang lead on twist on \u201cNew Minglewood Blues\u201d that highlighted ALO\u2019s Dan Lebowitz on pedal steel. To close the set, Lesh and Peck shared vocals on \u201cThe Music Never Stopped.\u201d<\/p>\n
The second set commenced shortly after midnight, with Lesh and his friends bringing fans back in with the Weir classic \u201cJack Star,\u201d featuring special guest Jackie Greene on lead vocals. \u00a0As expected for a second set, things moved into psychedelic territory after that thanks to an extended \u201cDark Star\u201d that bled into the second part of \u201cThe Other One\u201d and a touching \u201cTerrapin Station\u201d that showcased Allen, Burbridge and Lesh on vocals. That extended sequence tied up some threads from earlier in the night, shifting into a reprise of \u201cPlaying In The Band,\u201d Weir\u2019s best-known lead-vocal tune, \u201cTruckin\u2019\u201d and a set-closing \u201cCassidy.\u201d<\/p>\n
For their encore, Greene, who often performed with Weir in his later days, returned for an upbeat \u201cSugar Magnolia\u201d that moved into the \u201cSunshine Daydream\u201d refrain and, finally, a sing-along version of \u201cNot Fade Away\u201d that kept the crowd going as they left the venue. \u00a0<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s a look at last night\u2019s setlist<\/p>\n
Saturday, January 17, The Warfield, San Francisco, CA<\/p>\n
Set I:<\/p>\n
Cassidy<\/p>\n
Playing In The Band><\/p>\n
Uncle John\u2019s Band<\/p>\n
Estimated Prophet-><\/p>\n
The Other One \u00a0<\/p>\n
Waiting For A Train (with Rambling Jack Elliott and Paul Knight)<\/p>\n
Bird Song<\/p>\n
Black Throated Wind (with Reed Mathis)<\/p>\n
New Minglewood Blues<\/p>\n
The Music Never Stopped<\/p>\n
Set II:<\/p>\n
Jack Straw<\/p>\n
Dark Star-><\/p>\n
The Other One-><\/p>\n
Terrapin Station><\/p>\n
\u00a0Playing In The Band (Reprise)<\/p>\n
Truckin\u2019-><\/p>\n
Cassidy<\/p>\n
E:<\/p>\n
Sugar Magnolia><\/p>\n
Sunshine Daydream><\/p>\n
Not Fade Away<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Howling Wolves: Grahame Lesh & Friends Welcome Oteil Burbridge, Ramblin\u2019 Jack Elliott, Jackie Greene, Members of RatDog and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":416703,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[53],"tags":[88,216],"class_list":["post-416702","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-entertainment","tag-music"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/416702","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=416702"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/416702\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/416703"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=416702"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=416702"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=416702"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}