Dead and Company Took This Magical Tour To California While String Cheese Incident's Jason Hann Help Build A Huge Fire On The Mountain.
Just when you are convinced Dead and Company have reached their peak, they just play another show to prove the musical ceiling seemingly has no limit. Last night on the anniversary of Brent Mydland death they returned to friendly territory and just kept turning back the clock.
They leaped into the first stanza with a smoking"Cold Rain and Snow" as John Mayer dazzled the crowd with his crazy fingers and his confident vocals. An interesting"Jack Straw" followed as the band was feeling each other out one moment and exploring uncharted territory the next. Bobby is still holding up like a man half his age, after the intense "Black Throated Wind" many would argue he never sounded better. The blues bust out was a "Big Boss Man" that could have used a few more soundchecks. But this band shines bright when exploring old blues covers. The first half ended with a rousing"Half Step" that built to a breathtaking climax as the crowd sang "across the lazy river" in unison as so many have numerous times in the past. But this is not Furthur or anything close to resembling a Las Vegas show. Dead and Company have become a band beyond description.
Damn those set breaks can get wierd when the music stops and your eyes start. But if you were feeling Oteilish the second set had you covered. It opened innocently enough with a straight forward "Deal" maybe a little extra mustard got the thousands up and dancing again. The following"Scarlet Begonias" into an instant classic, "Fire on the Mountain" had everyone involved dialed in. The place erupted when S.C.I and eoto's drummer Jason Hann joined the volcano of emotions during an epic "Fire" that had more peaks than the locker room used in the movie Porky's.
Jason Hann invictous energy spread as the classic took on a reggae flavor before dissolving into a beautiful "Dark Star". The band explored more territory in this version as the music played the band. Jason joined the devils for Drums and convinced them he has rythem in spades, as this quickly became my favorite Drums/Space segment all tour. Oteil unleashed the bass bombs signaling the start of "The Other One". This psychedelic version had Bobby and John feeding off each other until the perfect segway carried the notes into a spirited "Stella Blue". This profound song always provoke tears, but the best kind. They ended yet another majestic show with thier rousing rendition of "U.S. Blues". I saw on the web some fans were disappointed that the boys did not pay tribute to Brent. They obviously missed the "Brokedown Palace" encore. It carried more emotion than the few that preceded it this summer. Just because they can a second encore in the form of. Chuck Berry's classic "Johnny B. Goode". We may have bitched at first but our John is family now and has been better than good for our scene.
Words:Kevin Long Photos: FB
- Set 1:
- (Grateful Dead cover) (John Mayer on lead vocals)
- (Grateful Dead cover) (Bob Weir and John Mayer shared lead vocals)
- (Grateful Dead cover) (John Mayer on lead vocals)
- (Bob Weir cover)
- (Grateful Dead cover)
- (Jimmy Reed cover) (John Mayer on lead vocals)
- (Grateful Dead cover) (Bob Weir and John Mayer shared lead vocals)
- Set 2:
- (Jerry Garcia cover) (John Mayer on lead vocals) (>)
- (Grateful Dead cover) (>)
- (Grateful Dead cover)
- (Grateful Dead cover) (>)
- (Grateful Dead cover) (>)
- (Grateful Dead cover) (>)
- (Grateful Dead cover)
- (Grateful Dead cover) (>)
- (Grateful Dead cover) (John Mayer on lead vocals)
- Encore:
- (Grateful Dead cover) (Bob Weir and John Mayer shared lead vocals)
- (Chuck Berry cover)
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