“And a short time to be… to be…”
– Phil Lesh, Box of Rain
Was it ever here at all? Was it a dream we dreamed one afternoon long ago?
Well, as Bob Weir once sang “Dreams are lies…. it’s the dreaming that’s real”. Or in this case, the streaming is real, proof that it happened.
I had March 8th marked on my 2012 calendar, as “Casual Opening” – somewhere I had gotten word that that is when Phil was going to open the restaurant we new he purchased, the former Seafood Peddler, and the adjacent Palm Ballroom (soon to be the Grate Room.) And yet I never saw an announcement, and I clearly didn’t know that sometimes at Terrapin things would happen without much notice… from day 1!
I was invited to the Ashkenaz Berkeley that night to see Deadicated Maniacs (a David Nelson Band tribute band) – and then I noticed Jay Blakesberg tweeting pictures and setlist… from Terrapin Crossroads! Instantly TxR FOMO became a reality – something that would affect myself and many others over the next few years. In 1999 when I missed Phil at the Warfield with Trey, Paige and Kimock, I made myself a promise to make as many Phil Lesh & Friends shows as possible from that point on, I never wanted to miss this magic again! When the TxR FOMO hit that night in 2012, I realized I messed up, and recommitted myself to see Phil as much as a I could, and that very clearly meant I needed to be at Terrapin Crossroads ALL THE TIME!
3.89.2012 on deadheadland.com
The next day I was in line early to get a spot up front… and spent a fair portion of the next 9 years in line, on the rail, and listening to Phil Lesh and all of his wonderful friends, and when i could, making videos or streaming it out to all of you on Deadheadland. I moved to Marin a month later, and as they say, the rest is history… my history and Terrapin’s were very intertwined. Until the very end of that final Ripple played by Stu Allen and Mars Hotel…
I haven’t seen Phil in 6 months (when he sat in with Midnight North in September, the last time he himself was publicly at TxR) – though so looking forward to feeling his bass bomb my nervous system at Skull and Roses in April!
Anyway, the streaming is real…. While I missed the 1st night, my good friend Photographer Stuart Levine was there, and shot these videos, the 1st official unofficial videos from Terrapin Crossroads “Casual Opening” on March 8, 2012. Phil is joined by Grahame Lesh, Jeff Chimenti, Tim Bluhm, Jackie Greene, Nicki Bluhm, Jordan Levine, and the one and only, Ross MF James!
