Okay, you can ask me if I miss living in the West now. Today, I do. Because shit like this only happens in Colorado, California, or Oregon. The news came to me in an e-mail titled, “Wolf Sighting In Denver,” which revealed that Jerry’s wolf guitar, hand-made by Doug Irwin, was played by Ryan Adams last week in Denver.
After rehearsing at The Philmore Thursday night, Phil and Ryan decided to cross the street and enter Deadhead bar deluxe, Sancho’s Broken Arrow. According to reports:
As the two walked in, the Dead played over the speakers and a stunned crowd couldn’t believe their eyes. The two shot pool for about an hour, hanging out with fans and taking pictures, and generally having a good time. The vibe was so good that Lesh and Adams decided to play an impromptu set a couple doors down at Dulcinea’s.
The crowd shuffled down and assembled in front of the small stage to watch Adams, hair recently dyed orange and donning a cowboy hat, and Lesh in typical t-shirt and jeans, play as a duo for roughly 90 minutes (12:45am-2:15 a.m.). Also of note was the fact that Adams was playing Jerry Garcia’s Wolf, the white guitar made by Doug Irwin that Garcia played throughout the `70s. This is the first known time that someone else other than Garcia has played the guitar publicly.
This is the first time in roughly 30 years that Lesh has played a free, impromptu show. Lesh commented that he had wanted to do something like this for many, many years but the opportunity had never presented itself. It seems that last night for Lesh, Adams and about a 100 people, the timing was just right.
As told to Josh Baron by Tim Donnelly
Set list: He’s Gone, Not Fade Away, Wharf Rat, Saint Stephen, Franklin ‘s Tower
Encore: Ripple, Friend of the Devil, Stella Blue, Shakedown Street