Bob Weir and Wolf Bros resumed their debut tour at the Landmark Theatre in Syracuse on Thursday night. The trio was joined by harpist Mikaela Davis for portions of both sets as well as the evening’s encore, which contained a Neil Young cover.
Weir, bassist Don Was and drummer Jay Lane opened the first set with the Grateful Dead classic “Jack Straw” and Blue Mountain gem “Gonesville.” The three-piece went on to fit “Me & My Uncle,” “Peggy-O” and “Deep Elem Blues” into the set ahead of “Althea” and “Loose Lucy.” Bobby then welcomed Rochester native Mikaela Davis to the stage to augment the band for the “Bird Song” that ended the set. Davis sang harmony, took solos and provided more rhythmic harp work throughout the lengthy “Bird Song.”
The trio returned to kick off the second set with a run of Little Feat’s “Easy To Slip,” the RatDog favorite “Two Djiin” and Bob Dylan’s “All Along The Watchtower.” Davis came back to the stage a few songs later to help out on “Wharf Rat” and “China Cat Sunflower” > “I Know You Rider” to close out the frame. A big surprise came when the four musicians covered Neil Young’s “Down By The River” as the first encore. Weir and Davis swapped turns singing lead. Bob Weir And Wolf Bros with Mikaela Davis then ended the night with a poignant “Ripple.” Watch video of “Down By The River” captured by nochevys and listen to an audience recording taped by Bill Goldberg:
Setlist
Set One: Jack Straw, Gonesville, Me And My Uncle, Peggy-O, Deep Elem Blues, Althea, Loose Lucy, Bird Song*
Set Two: Easy To Slip, Two Djin, All Along The Watchtower, The Music Never Stopped > Shakey Ground, Wharf Rat* > China Cat Sunflower* > I Know You Rider*
Encore: Down By The River*, Ripple*
* – w/ Mikaela Davis on harp
