Phil Lesh of Grateful Dead remembered by Peter Shapiro of Fare Thee Well

Peter Shapiro, the concert promoter who is the Grateful dead‘s 50th anniversary Be well shows, spoke to Rolling Stone after the dead from the band’s bassist, Phil Lesh.

In recent years, Lesh has hosted annual birthday concerts for himself at Shapiro’s Capitol Theater venue in Port Chester, New York. Lesh’s five shows at the venue in March, to mark his 84th birthday, were among his last live performances before his death on October 25.

In a tribute to Rolling stoneShapiro reminisced about meeting Lesh more than two decades ago, the legendary Fare Thee Well performances, the bassist’s annual visits to the Capitol, and more.

I loved him. He was like a father to me. He actually showed us all, in many ways, how to live a life. In March of this year he turned 84 and had health problems, but he still came to the Capitol (Theater) for five evenings. He just kept going. He just had this inner strength and he loved to play.

I met Phil in 2005 when I was doing something called the Jammy Awards and he was co-hosting it. He did ‘Wharf Rat’, it’s legendary. That was almost 20 years ago. We had to do so many shows. I’ve done 200 shows with him, and over 100 at the Capitol. We did Central Park SummerStage. I did a really cool show with him at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. I got it with Talib Kweli at the Apollo. He played in the Brooklyn Bowl in New York and the Brooklyn Bowl in Las Vegas. When we opened Brooklyn Bowl Nashville in 2021, he did it. He would just come in and bless these locations.

He loved playing with new people and introducing new musicians to the music of the grateful dead – whether it was Robert Randolph, the pedal steel player, or Eric Krasno from Soulive or the Preservation Hall (Jazz Band) guys or Luther Dickinson or Jackie Greene or Chris Robinson from the Black Crowes. Gary Clark Jr.. Mike Gordon of Phish. Johannes Medeski. Joe Russo. George Porter of the Meters. Dave schools of widespread panic. He played extensively with his son Grahame in the Terrapin Family Band. It was very important to him to pass the baton to the next generation, and he has done a lot of that over the past twenty years.

After Fare Thee Well in 2015, so did the rest of the guys the Dead & Company thingand Phil wanted to continue performing with these unique people. He wouldn’t do many rehearsals. He wanted to bring these new artists and these young cats. He liked that they had to figure it out in real time. He loved the improvisation that the Grateful Dead were known for. He was always open to creative ideas. He was ready to explore where the music could go.

He really loved the Capitol, the home of the dead in ’70, ’71. He first came to play with me there in 2012. He was there with his wife Jill, and they said, ‘You know what? We just play here. We don’t have to take the tour bus to Philly (or) DC.” And so we did over 100 shows over the next twelve years. We did ten shows a year and every year we celebrated his birthday. People would come from all over America.

Last March he was not quite the same in health and strength. And you can see it in these musicians. Maybe you’ve seen the Stones or Elton or McCartney or Springsteen – the way these musicians can go on and on. He almost went to 85. His style, I don’t know if anyone can fully match it. Those Phil Lesh bass bombs were completely unique. I don’t think anyone else can do it. That’s gone. And it’s sad, but I try to focus on how lucky we all were to hear them for so long. It’s been thirty years since a member of the Grateful Dead passed away. That’s great.

I’ve probably done more shows with him than anyone in my life. And he had a lot of confidence in me, which meant a lot. I mean, I wanted a few more years with him. I hoped. I really was. We should all cherish these moments we have with our musical heroes, because the road is long and winding, but in the end it ends for everyone. And at the end all you have to do is look back and hopefully the rear view mirror is right. I just stopped – the car in front of me, the license plate says CHINA CAT. I feel happy.