On Friday night at his own Terrapin Crossroads in San Rafael, CA, Phil Lesh led a group of Friends on an exploratory journey during an all-improvised “Telstar” performance that had more than a hint of Lesh’s psychedelic ’60s days with the Grateful Dead. 

Lesh’s Telstar shows originated in April 2008, when he recruited some Friends to perform a wild set of exploratory jazz at NASA’s Ames Research Center. Since then, Lesh has used Telstar as an umbrella term for his more “out-there” offerings, and last night was no different.

The bassist’s band for the experience consisted of Holly Bowling, Scott Law, Ross James, Alex Koford and Nathan Graham. From note one and throughout the tripped-out show, Lesh and company were bathed in psychedelic lights and images, obscuring each single member of the group and turning them into one amorphous collective, as they churned out on-the-fly music that definitely fits a similar description. 

Watch below via a free stream courtesy of nugs.net.