Bob Weir Fits Beatles Cover Within ‘Dark Star’ In Chicago

Bob Weir and Wolf Bros inaugural tour continued on Thursday as they finished off a two-night stand at the Chicago Theatre. The trio focused their efforts for the majority of the night on familiar material from Weir’s days in the Grateful Dead including a memorable “Dark Star” that featured The Beatles’ “Tomorrow Never Knows” in its midst.

“Jack Straw” was tapped to open things up as Weir and drummer Jay Lane exchanged verses on the classic outlaw road song. The threesome looked to the pairing of “I Need A Miracle” and Willie Dixon’s “Wang Dang Doodle” next with Bobby playing slide guitar on both. “Gonesville” from Weir’s 2016 collection of cowboy tunes Blue Mountain came ahead of the traditional folk tune “Peggy-O.” The recently revived “Josephine” followed with “Loose Lucy,” “Althea” and “Going Down The Road Feelin’ Bad” bringing the penultimate set in the Windy City to a close.

“Easy To Slip” from Little Feat’s Sailin’ Shoes and “Deep Elum Blues” helped kick off the second frame of the night. The highlight of the evening followed as the three-piece dug in on a pair of memorable segue-filled runs. Weir, Lane and bassist Don Was first offered “Dark Star,” serving up the jam-vehicle’s first verse before diving into The Beatles’ “Tomorrow Never Knows.” The psychedelic classic from The Fab Four’s Revolver eventually wound its way back into verse two of “Dark Star.” The adventurous stanza continued as Bob Weir And Wolf Bros would drop The Temptations’ “Shakey Ground” in the middle of “The Music Never Stopped.” A tender “Stella Blue” and a punchy “Turn On Your Lovelight” finished off their final set in Chicago. A campfire sing-a-long version of “Ripple” was tapped for the encore.

Watch pro-shot video of the openers from each set courtesy of nugs.tv and fan-shot video below:

Jack Straw

Easy To Slip

Dark Star Captured by Scott Sigman

Ripple Captured by Scott Sigman

Setlist