Photos by: Dino Perrucci Written by: Meredith Berke The final evening of Phil Lesh’s 75th birthday celebration commenced this Thursday night. Joining Lesh for the evening was Warren Haynes, John Molo and Rob Barraco, who has been the band for the four night run, while Barry Sless joined for the last two nights changing the dynamic of the band slightly from the first two nights where Eric Krasno was the second guitarist. This last night has some specific interests of note. The band opened with “Cassidy,” first played in 1974 and then “Bird Song,” first played in 1971 at The Capitol Theatre itself. “Brown Eyed Women,” “Black Peter” and “He’s Gone” all were early 1969-1971 songs, all written by Hunter and Garcia. Lesh’s song, “Pride of Cucamonga” was written in 1974, and never played live by The Grateful Dead. To end the set, Haynes crushed “The Midnight Hour,” bringing the tempo up to a feverish pitch, leaving us wanting more as the house lights came on. The first set showed us how Haynes and Sless can effortlessly go toe to toe against each other. Haynes specific style of southern guitar charm hits against the Maryland native’s crystal clear notes and riffs. Sless also plays the pedal steel, bringing a different style to our beloved songs. Second set got started on the same thread – early Grateful Dead songs, from the 1970’s, “Scarlet Begonias,” into “King Solomon’s Marbles,” another one of Lesh’s songs into “Mountains of the Moon,” a beautiful, soft, slow ballad. Then, the band pressed on the gas for “The Eleven>Fire on the Mountain.” Followed by a “Passenger,” Lesh’s song, or as he says, "What's weird about that song is I sort of did it as a joke. It's a take on a Fleetwood Mac tune called "Station Man." The last couple of songs, “St. Stephen,” “Shakedown Street,” “Give Us Your Organs,” and “Patchwork Quilt,” brought the celebration to a close, where the band bowed in front of the more than ecstatic crowd. There were moments of beautiful guitar banter, moments where Barraco on the keys made it sparkle from the stage. There were quiet moments where Molo and Lesh kept pace with each other and set the pace for the others. There were spaces to breathe, there were really fast moments where the music overwhelmed me. But mostly, there was a remembrance that Phil is getting into his golden years, still playing amazingly strong, and that we are all dancing around him.   Photos by: Dino Perrucci The Capitol Theatre Photo Gallery [gallery link="file" columns="4" ids="|"]