By Alan Crandall previously published at the DailyCamera.com
Phil & Friends poster by Denver artist Matt Brown
Former Grateful Dead bassist Phil Lesh has some friends he plans to play with here in Colorado. Some very impressive friends I might add. Phil Lesh and Friends is the simple name Lesh uses when picking a group of musicians to play with either in a small set of shows or on tour. The list of Lesh’s past friends include Warren Haynes, Merle Saunders, Donna Jean Godchaux, Pete Sears, Bill Kreutzmann, Kyle Hollingsworth, Michael Kang, Billy Nershi, Jeff Mattson, Bill Payne, Steve Kimmock, Derek Trucks, Jimmy Herring and the list goes on.
This year I am happy to report that Phil’s friends are an amazing group of artists set to play a three night engagement at the 1st Bank Center in Broomfield. When the shows were first announced the lineup included musicians John Schofield, Warren Haynes, Jackie Green and Furthur’s drummer Joe Russo. I was very excited. On Tuesday Lesh announced, via his Facebook page, the
Phil Lesh
addition of Rat Dog and Furthur keyboardist, Jeff Chimenti. These shows are on track to be amazing.
From Lesh’s Facebook page “Jeff Chimenti has been added to the lineup for the Phil Lesh and Friends shows in Broomfield, CO on February 16, 17 and 18! Tickets available at www.tickethorse.com”
Phil Lesh and Friends have not played in Colorado since the creation of the Lesh and Bob Weir band Furthur.
If you want to go and don’t have tickets, you may want to check out Mountain Sun on Pearl St. I went in the other day and got a ticket with a free beer for $50 dodging the service charges that the regular ticket outlets add to the ticket price. Plus February is Stout Month at the brewpub. See you at the shows.
Bloggers note: Special thanks to artist Matt Brown for letting me use his fantastic poster art for this post.