Bobby Weir has suggested it’s possible for the Grateful Dead to reunite as a trio following the passing of bass player Phil Lesh.
The musician died in October, at the age of 84, and before his passing, Weir, 77, and bandmates Bill Kreutzmann, 78, and Mickey Hart, 81, were planning a 60th anniversary reunion tour with Lesh.
Should they get back together, Weir admits he couldn’t replace his beloved bandmate.
In an interview with Rolling Stone, he said: “I think when Phil checked out, so did that notion, because we don’t have a bass player who’s been playing with us for 60 years now. And that was the intriguing prospect.… I think you need somebody holding down the bottom. Phil had all kinds of ideas that were pretty much unique to him. I grew up with Phil holding down the bottom in his unique way.”
Asked about reuniting as a three-piece, he added: “I suppose I could go back out. I wouldn’t put anybody in his place, so it would be a trio at this point. It’d be me and two drummers. I’d have to think about that. I haven’t thought about it — it’s just now occurring to me that it’s a possibility that we could do that, since you asked.… I guess we’ll just see what the three of us can pull together.”
Weir also admitted he and Lesh had their “differences”.
Recounting their last conversation, he shared: “We did have our differences. But the last phone call I had from him was when the news came out that we were being honoured at the Kennedy Center. He called me just simply to congratulate me and us, and that was his entire reason for calling. And when we were done talking about that, I was spun out, he was spun out. We tried to make sense of it for a little bit. And then said, ‘Well, OK, see you there,’ basically. I guess that wasn’t to be.”
The trio turned up with Lesh’s son, Grahame, to be honoured by then-President Joe Biden at the Kennedy Center Honors in December.
In 2015, Weir, Lesh, Kreutzmann, and Hart reunited for the ‘Fare Thee Well: Celebrating 50 Years of the Grateful Dead’ concerts.
They were joined by Trey Anastasio of Phish on guitar, Jeff Chimenti on keyboards, and Bruce Hornsby on piano.
The ‘Touch of Grey’ hitmakers claimed the five shows would be the last to feature the trio.