Ever since Jerry Garcia died in 1995, the members of the iconic American jam band, the Grateful Dead, have continued on in various different solo groups and projects. Bassist Phil Lesh tours with a group of musicians known affectionately as Phil Lesh and Friends. Rhythm guitarist Bob Weir tours with his group, Bob Weir & RatDog. Occasionally, when the remaining surviving members choose to tour together, they try to choose a worthy guitarist to fill the shoes of Jerry Garcia.

Last year, Warren Haynes, who plays for both the Allman Brothers Band and Gov’t Mule, was chosen to fill Jerry’s shoes when they toured as the Dead. Haynes is no slouch when it comes to guitar, but it is tough to have to find a replacement for the founding father of lead guitar of the genre. Now, Phil Lesh and Bob Weir are touring with a new lead guitarist under the band name, Furthur. This new guitarist is none other than John Kadlecik, the “fake Jerry” of Grateful Dead cover band, Dark Star Orchestra. It is probably the greatest honor for the member of a cover band to be asked to join the actual band on tour, and Kadlecik quit his job as “fake Jerry” to become “real Jerry” on tour with Furthur. Rounding out the rest of the band is Jeff Chimenti on keyboards, Jay Lane on drums and Joe Russo on drums.

The anticipation leading up to Furthur’s Barton Hall show at Cornell this past Sunday was high, considering the show the Grateful Dead last played at Barton Hall on May 8, 1977, is well known to Deadheads as one of the best Grateful Dead concerts of all-time. Sunday, the band played into the Valentine’s Day theme, opening with a cover of Wilson Pickett’s, “In the Midnight Hour.” The first set also had well-played versions of Grateful Dead classics “Tennessee Jed,” “Peggy-O” and “Sugaree.” The last song of the first set continued the Valentine’s Day theme with the famous Grateful Dead cover “Good Lovin.”

The second set opened with “Uncle John’s Band,” and continued with a Ryan Adams cover, “Peaceful Valley.” Also included in the second set was the classic Grateful Dead segue “China Cat Sunflower” into “I Know You Rider.” The encore was the rare “Samson and Delilah,” a song detailing the tragic relationship of the two namesake biblical characters and an appropriate end to a Valentine’s Day set.

Overall, Furthur is doing a great job of playing the Grateful Dead’s material — possibly the best job since Jerry himself was around. Although Sunday’s Furthur show did not stand on par with the legendary show of May 1977, this incarnation of the Grateful Dead certainly invokes a rarely achieved nostalgia of the Grateful Dead at the height of their greatness.