22 July 2024

Sunday Daydream: Phil Lesh & Friends | McNears Beach Park, San Rafael | 07.21.24

ARTICLE CONTRIBUTED BY GABRIEL DAVID BARKIN | PUBLISHED ON July 22, 2024

Phil Lesh

Phil Lesh, his many friends, and all the music lovers attending Sunday Daydream Vol. 3 could not have asked for better weather this weekend. The sun was shining, a soft breeze was blowing, and the thermometer stayed in the mid-70s. Even better, McNears Beach Park in San Rafael was alive with the music of the Grateful Dead and Terrapin Crossroads Nation.

(L to R) Jason Crosby, Elliott Peck, Grahame Lesh, Phil Lesh, Stanley Jordan, Lebo

Phil Lesh, Stanley Jordan, Lebo

Lesh headlined the event and played a two-hour set accompanied by his son Grahame (one of the event organizers, along with his brother Brian), Stanley Jordan, Stu Allen, Dan “Lebo“ Lebowitz, John Molo, Jason Crosby, and Elliot Peck. (Harpist/vocalist Mikaela Davis was unable to join the lineup as advertised due to airline SNAFUs.)

Sunday Daydreamers

Sunday Daydreamer

The performance was a rough approximation of a Grateful Dead show at the Holly wood Bowl exactly fifty years(!) earlier. Time constraints required a bit of truncation to the song list.

Grahame Lesh, Phil Lesh, and Stanley Jordan

Phil Lesh

Not that anyone noticed. The Richardson Bay sparkled in the background, and a few boaters — and at least one enthusiastic kayaker — enjoyed the show from the water. Inside the gates, some people danced on the small sandy shore that runs between the park area and the public swimming pool nearby. Children and adults cavorted in the ample sunshine.

Stanley Jordan

Lebo

“This is just as good as what we used to have back there at the Crossroads,” Lesh told the adoring crowd. Now 84 years old, it’s ironic that the Grateful Dead bass player is nostalgic for the years gone by relatively recently at his now-closed restaurant and music club. Time sure does fly!

Sunday Daydreamer

Sunday Daydreamers

And indeed, the crowd of all ages in attendance certainly has different yardsticks to measure what qualifies as “back there.” Some of the people dancing their hearts out were in elementary school when Terrapin Crossroads opened. Others remember seeing the Grateful Dead play at the Fillmore.

Stu Allen and Holly Bowling

Scott Law, Elliott Peck, and Alex Jordan

The good news is that Lesh still rips on bass. At times during Sunday’s show, he had to sit on a stool for a song or two — but what do you expect for a guy who’s lived through a liver transplant and is one of the very few people who can claim to have been at every single Grateful Dead show? (Someone will correct me if he ever missed a show due to illness or something.)

Greg Loiacono & Stingray

Stu Allen

Keep on truckin’, Phil!

John Molo

Jerry Saracini with Mars Hotel

Michael Urbano with Stingray

And on that note, “Truckin’” was a highlight of the set, particularly when all the vocalists on stage stepped up to their respective mics to sing the iconic line “Sometimes the lights all shining on me.” The outro jam extended into an instrumental version of “Nobody’s Fault but Mine” before a segue into Stanley Jordan’s jazz guitar cover of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.” “Sugar Magnolia” and “Sunshine Daydream” were fitting songs to end the show. (The planned setlist is show in the pictures here, but there were additional tweaks made on the fly.)

Setlist (Not all songs were played.)

Sunday Daydreamer

Sunday Daydreamers

Earlier, sets by Stu Allen & Mars Hotel and Greg Loiacono & Stingray had dancers dancing and music lovers loving. Between main stage sets, Scott Law and Elliott Peck played for a small crowd under shady trees on the “Keep It Weird Terrapin Bar Stage.” Grahame Lesh and Alex Jordan each sat in for a few songs.

Scott Law and Elliott Peck

Holly Bowling with Mars Hotel

Peck laid out the mission for the smaller stage: “In true Terrapin Crossroads fashion, we don’t have a set list. We’re just making it up and keeping things weird.”

More pics below.