Phil Lesh was joined by Anders Osborne, Larry Campbell, Neal Casal, Marco Benevento, Tony Leone and Teresa Williams, as well as Grahame Lesh and the Take Jack choral group for the second show of his two-night “Cycle of Life” series at Terrapin Crossroads in San Rafael, CA last night.

Before it began, Lesh said of the event, “What you are about to experience is not a standard rock show, we are attempting to tell a story allegorically.”

The show began with a cover of the Reverend Gary Davis’ “Death Don’t Have No Mercy,” which was sung by the Take Jack choral group. The band then took the stage for a take on Pink Floyd’s “Great Gig in the Sky,” with Lesh providing the spoken word parts of the song and Williams singing the melody. Next came “St. Stephen” before Grahame Lesh joined the group for “Mountain Song.” The band then played Levon Helm’s “When I Go Away,” followed by the Abbey Road trifecta of “Golden Slumbers,” “Carry That Weight” and “The End” to wrap up the first set.

The Take Jack choral group kicked off the second set as well with a performance of “Blues for Allah” before they were joined by Teresa Williams for “Amazing Grace.” The band then returned for “Hurt,” “Unbroken Chain” and the Bob Dylan and The Band tune “This Wheel’s On Fire.” That song segued into “Terrapin Station,” which went into a jam followed by “Morning Dew.” The set came to a close with a take on “Black Muddy River” that transitioned into a “Dark Star” jam before fading out.

The band then led everyone outside for an encore at the venue’s Fire Pit. Campbell took up an acoustic guitar while Williams sang Leonard Cohen’s “Halleljuah” before the three of them proved vocals on “Attics of My Life” and “Unusual Occurrences in The Desert.”

Phil Lesh and Friends will return to Terrapin Crossroads tonight for the second and final installment of the “Cycle of Life” series.

Here’s a look at last night’s setlist via our Box Scores page

Friday, August 9, 2013, Phil Lesh and Friends, Terrapin Crossroads, San Rafael, CA

The Cycle of Life (Night 1 of 2)

Set I: Death Don’t Have No Mercy*, The Great Gig in the Sky > St. Stephen > Mountain Song% > When I Go Away > Golden Slumbers^ > Carry That Weight^ >
The End^

Set II: Blues for Allah* > Amazing Grace^ > Hurt > Unbroken Chain, This Wheel’s on Fire > Terrapin Station > Jam > Morning Dew, Black Muddy River > Dark Star Jam (fades out)

Enc: (Outside at fire pit) Hallelujah, Attics of My Life, Unusual Occurrences In The Desert

Notes:
(*)Take Jack (9 member Choral group) only
(^)with Take Jack
(%) with Grahame Lesh

Phil Lesh – bass, vocals

Anders Osborne – guitar, vocals

Larry Campbell – guitar, pedal steel guitar, cittern, violin, vocals
Neal Casal – guitar, vocals

Marco Benevento – keyboards, vocals

Tony Leone – drums

Teresa Williams – vocals