Phil Lesh's touring project, named "Phil and Friends," implies a revolving door of support players, and indeed for a while that was true, but it has since jelled into a well-honed consistency that includes John Molo on drums, Rob Baracco (Zen Tricksters) on keys, and guitarists Jimmy Herring (Jazz is Dead, Aquarium Rescue Unit) and Warren Haynes (Allman Brothers).

Phil and Friends is perhaps the Grateful Dead member band that best fills the void of the authentic Dead experience since Jerry Garcia's passing. The Dead experience was very much alive and well, if not thriving, and the interdependence between stage and audience was very much apparent on May 28th at the Hult Center in Eugene, Oregon.

[Pictured: Rob Baracco]

After a long set by opener Galactica, Phil and Friends played a full three hours of music split into two sets that, all in all, with lengthy breaks, made for a solid 6 hour event. The venue at the Hult Center is a beautiful, modern, ornate theater, with incredible acoustics, balconies and not a bad seat in the joint. The downside is usually a restrictive uptightness around seating, clear aisles, etc.

Early on, crowd energy was a bit subdued, but as the night progressed audience parameters were increasingly tested and expanded. The first set closed with probably the evening's biggest surprise, "Masons Children," an early, obscure Dead number that no one I talked to recollected the Dead ever performing live. By the time the music was spiraling upward through a classic Dead run in the second set, beginning with "Scarlet Begonias" to "Fire on the Mountain," a more grounding "Tons of Steel," then into a soaring, crowd frenzying "Bertha/St. Stephen," the crowd was free at last.

Playing a broad selection of Dead material, they also scattered a number of songs from the new CD, There and Back Again, which is a real collaboration, with writing credits pretty evenly distributed amongst everyone is the band as well as Robert Hunter.

To hear jazz-driven renditions of so much Dead material was pure delight. Haynes' southern-style slide guitar work, woven over and under Herring's lightning picking, and Molo's multi-fill dynamic drumming along with Boracco's brilliant soloing and B3 work (as well as the best vocals in the band) lent a valuable range of style. Phil appeared healthy, youthful, upbeat and obviously was enjoying himself, as well he should be considering the immensity of the positive energy he was able to pull together. Not the obvious frontman, only his subtle nods and occasional between-song huddles indicated his propriety over direction and orchestration. Most of the time, though, it was vintage Phil Lesh, immersed in monstrous and intricate bottom line rhythm, as it always had been.

(C) 2002 - Tim & Ananda Owen