 |
| Phil Lesh @ McNears Beach (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
‘Welcome Home Terrapin Nation!” a triumphant Phil Lesh shouted as he strapped on his bass and took to the microphone to join his son Grahame and the rest of “The Terrapin All-Stars” for the last hour of Sunday Daydream - a daylong festival and reimagining of the Terrapin Crossroads back in Marin County – this time at San Rafael’s McNears Beach on Sunday, July 9th. His proclamation served as a confirmation of what so many had hoped to hear: the Terrapin spirt is back and by the next day “Sunday Daydream, Vol 2” had been announced for August 27th at Novato’s Stafford Lake.
 |
| The Sunday Daydream crowd @ McNears Beach (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
It was just over a year ago that Terrapin Crossroads was forced to shut down its restaurant and indoor & outdoor concert venues along the San Rafael canal due to an untenable lease property situation. The loss hit Bay Area music fans hard – particularly in Marin County where an afternoon hanging outside at Terrapin would often turn into witnessing incredible jam sets with little advanced notice and no admission charge. In particular, it was a treasure for the jam band scene and its many musicians who rotated in and out of Terrapin Family or Phi & Friends configurations as their touring schedules might allow.
 |
| The Sunday Daydream crowd @ McNears Beach (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
“Sunday Daydream, Vol 1” was promoted as a “Terrapin Crossroads presents” all-day event that harkened back to Phil’s announcement at Terrapin’s closing that 'Terrapin Crossroads was never a location - it was a community. We hope to see you all soon, in some form, somewhere down the road.' And that comment proved prophetic as this event was a 5-mile drive away from the original location on San Rafael city streets. The event was (well) organized by Phil’s family – son Grahame and his wife Claire and Brian and his wife Mari.
 |
| Elliott Peck @ McNears Beach (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
The day began with the “Turtle Trot Fun Run” as the morning participants got to choose between a 5k or 10K – earning not only a cool t-shirt and finishing medals, but also being granted early entrance to the concert. To add even more hustle to their step, the runners were greeted at the finish line with a pre-concert opening hour-long set from the “Turtle Trotters Band” aka Midnight North. They delivered a tasty morning set of Grateful Dead covers and Midnight North staples with Grahame Lesh on guitar and vocals, guitar/vocalist Elliott Peck, drummer Nathan Graham, bassist Connor O’Sullivan, keyboardist TJ Kanczuzewski – along with a special guest appearance by longtime Terrapin regular Scott Guberman.
 |
| Scott Guberman @ McNears Beach (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
Following the free set for the runners, the park was quickly cleared to secure the concert venue and by 11:45am the gates were reopened and a steady stream of the Terrapin faithful flooded into the area for the main musical festivities. The park space was well chosen and laid out as the wide space with a nice sloping hillside provided prime views throughout with a comfortable amount of space and opportunities for shade for those looking to avoid the rays. I’m not sure of the capacity, but by mid-afternoon, it had filled up comfortably with several thousand people.
 |
| Scott Law & Brian Rashap @ McNears Beach (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
“The Many Noted Outlaws” were the first band to take the stage featuring Terrapin regulars guitarist Scott Law, drummer Alex Koford, bassist Brian Rashap, singer/vocalist Greg Loiacono and Guberman returning for his second stint of the day to man the keys. They got the event off with a nice start playing a loose set that seemed to be being called out more than read from a piece of paper. They delivered crazy jams as they covered classics such as Tom Petty’s “Runnin’ Down a Dream”, Slade’s “Mama, Weer All Crazee Now” and Guberman took lead vocals on Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Run Though the Jungle.” In true Terrapin tradition, where a full set rarely went by without a surprise guest popping up on stage, Shannon Koehler from The Stone Foxes joined the Outlaws on-stage to add harmonica.
 |
| Eric Krasno & Grahame Lesh @ McNears Beach (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
Next up was “Eric Krasno & Friends” and his set was a dazzling mixture of blues, jazz and rock ‘n’ roll jams. Kraz was joined by bassist virtuoso Reed Mathis (Billy & The Kids, Electric Beethoven, The Golden Gate Wingmen and others), Otis McDonald on drums & vocals and Jason Crosby on keyboards. Krasno is a Grammy-winner in his own right with tremendous accomplishments as a guitarist, producer and singer. His guitar-playing prowess brings Buddy Guy and BB King to mind and with Dead & Company coming to a touring end this week in San Francisco his vocals did call up John Mayer. Krasno’s set highlights included the opener “Jezebel’ off his 2016 album “Blood from A Stone” and a blues guitar masterclass with “That’s What Love Will Make You Do” with Crosby delivering terrific organ and Mathis getting into a deep bass groove. Their cover of The Allman Brothers “Dreams” featured a soaring psychedelic organ solo by Crosby to go along with the soulful vocals of McDonald. The song brought everyone in the crowd to their feet AND dancing.
 |
| Eric Krasno, Grahame Lesh & Elliott Peck @ McNears Beach (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
Midway through the eleven song, 90-minute EK&F set, Krasno took a moment to reflect: 'Like the rest of you, I miss Terrapin so much, but it is beautiful that it has culminated in this.' Shortly afterward, Grahame Lesh joined for the last four songs of the set and Krasno and Lesh went into “Curse Lifter” – a dueling guitar song originally recorded with Krasno and Derek Trucks that could not have been a more perfect match for an outdoor show. Given the audience, it should come as no surprise that the biggest audience pop of the set came for “Deal” with Elliott Peck joining the group on stage for a very jazz-influenced version of the Dead classic. All four of the front line (Krasno, Lesh, Peck and Mathis) harmonized beautifully on Krasno’s “Please Ya”, before finishing the set with his fast-paced and jazzy “Unconditional Love.”
 |
| Terrapin All-Stars: Stu Allen, Grahame & Phil Lesh, and Dan Lebowitz @ McNears Beach (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
“The Terrapin All-Stars” were the final act of the day and, as mentioned earlier, the all-star members flow in and out of the band over months and years. Sunday’s version began with many of Terrapin Crossroads’ heaviest hitters: Grahame Lesh, Stu Allen and Dan Lebowitz on guitars and vocals, Crosby on keys, John Molo on drums, Reed Mathis on bass and Amy Helm (daughter of The Band’s Levon Helm) on vocals. They began the set with the anthemic “St. Stephen” - its opening serving as an introduction to a set that was going to be energized and stay true to the Dead catalog for the entirety of its two-hour run. The classic pairing of “China Cat Sunflower” and “I Know You Rider” saw Helm shine with her voice on “I wish I was a headlight, on a northbound train” adding an almost haunting, ghostly quality to the song.
 |
| Stu Allen, Grahame Lesh and Amy Helm @ McNears Beach (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
For “Friend of The Devil”, the all-stars shifted positions with Helm taking lead vocals, Mathis exiting for Grahame Lesh to take over on bass and Lebowitz shifting to play the pedal steel. Helm delivered a country era version of “Devil” that was welcomed enthusiastically by the crowd. Lesh and Lebowitz then returned to guitars and Brian Rashap strapped back on a bass for a Stu Allen-led “Standing on the Moon” that brought chills even when delivered in the mid-afternoon. Allen’s well-known channeling of Jerry Garcia’s playing and vocal style is always very apparent on some of Garcia’s most mournful songs and “Moon” is one of the best. Of course, any time the tune’s local reference lyric is sung, Bay Area crowds eat it up and this day the lyric was all the truer to the moment:
Standing on the moonBut I would rather be with you
Somewhere in San Francisco
On a back porch in July
 |
| Reed Mathis & Dan Lebowitz @ McNears Beach (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
A light and breezy “They Love Each Other” followed, with Helm taking the lead vocals and bringing everyone back to a happy mood. When Rashap took off his bass after the song and with about an hour left in the concert, the crowd buzzed as Phil Lesh took the stage – celebrating the return of the spirit of Terrapin. Lebowitz and Phil took lead vocals on a high energy Jack Straw that had the crowd’s hearts racing with everyone up and the railing suddenly extremely packed. Phil’s fondness for playing “Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo” was legend among those who saw shows often at Terrapin and he went right to it with his second song – his voice strong as it ever was on the song despite having completed his 83rd trip around the sun.
 |
| Dan 'Lebo' Lebowitz @ McNears Beach (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
Helm once again took the mic and delivered an excellent rendition of “Eyes of The World” that featured Stu and Phil doing nice backing chorus voices. Elliott Peck once again graced the stage and “Lady with a Fan” served its traditional role in introducing “Terrapin Station” and the crowd’s singing along with the anthem of their beloved venue must have been heard in the East Bay.” As the song reaches its finish with the singalong chorus of “Terrapin,” thousands of arms were up in the air as the entire McNears Beach stood and sang in a moment that was almost surreal. Running up against a time-limit to vacate and clean the park, the band was forced to cut the set short and end with “Uncle John’s Band” to send everyone home from an excellent event.
 |
| John Molo @ McNears Beach (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
As the band finished the set and the well-organized event came to a close, Phil Lesh announced “My grandchildren are going to be selling lemonade they made over at the side of the stage after this. And if you leave them a nice tip, I’ll be signing autographs.” It was such an appropriate way to end. When life gave the Terrapin community lemons…. well, you know the rest.
 |
| The crowd @ McNears Beach (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
Tickets are available for Terrapin Crossroads, Vol 2 at Novato’s Stafford Lake on Sunday, August 27th. This one will feature The Terrapin All-Stars (including members of Dawes and the Trey Anastasio Band horn section), Melvin Seals & JGB, Moonalice and Terrapin regulars Nicki Bluhm, Scott Law and Ross James.
Thanks for reading and while you're at it, you can follow us as well here: Instagram | Facebook.
