On Sunday, Dead & Company played their final two sets of this year’s Playing In The Sand destination event at The Barceló in Riviera Maya, Mexico. Earlier showtime meant the band took the stage while the sun was still shining. The sky was dark for the second set which featured a few song selections that coincided with the super blood wolf moon.
Guitarist Bob Weir led the show-opening “Sugar Magnolia” and the band would return to its “Sunshine Daydream” coda to close out the set. Fellow guitarist John Mayer fired up “Bertha,” steering the rocker into Weir’s handling of “Good Lovin.’” The set moved along with “Brown-Eyed Women,” “Loser” and “Sugaree.” As the sun was setting, a south-of-the-border rendition of “U.S. Blues” was the catalyst to Weir wrapping up the set with “Sunshine Daydream.”
“Scarlet Begonias” got the final Playing In Sand set started. Bassist Oteil Burbridge was tasked with handling lead vocals after the transition into “Fire On The Mountain.” The cosmic “Dark Star” was then paired with the rising full moon, developing into a psychedelic improvisation that saw keyboardist Jeff Chimenti employing a variety of textures and sounds. Mayer worked a typically emphatic solo into a take on “Althea” that came within “Dark Star.” The prevailing jam segued into the weekend’s inevitable performance of “Playing In The Band” which mixed in elements of John Coltrane’s “A Love Supreme.”
The stage was then enveloped in the sounds of The Rhythm Devils as drummers Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann were again joined by Burbridge for “Drums.” Hart went directly to The Beam at the onset and returned to his signature instrument throughout the rhythmic excursion which soon became a super blood wolf moon version of “Space.” Weir’s thunderous “The Other One” came into formation out the free-form jam and produced more extended improvisation. Then came a particularly fitting rendition of the latter-Grateful Dead ballad “Standing On The Moon,” with Bobby handling the vocals formally sung by Jerry Garcia. The band road the “Casey Jones” train to the set’s conclusion.
The encore began with “Eyes Of The World,” which came with Oteil’s typically impressive soloing. Not done, Dead & Company had one additional nod to the more super blood wolf moon left as they tacked on their fifth performance of Warren Zevon’s “Werewolves Of London.”
Sugar Magnolia Via nugs.tv
Scarlet Begonias Via nugs.tv
Eyes Of The World Captured by Connor Holleb
Werewolves Of London Captured by Connor Holleb
Audio | Taped by Jeff Travitz
Setlist
Set One: Sugar Magnolia > Bertha > Good Lovin’, Brown-Eyed Women, Loser, Sugaree, U.S. Blues > Sunshine Daydream
Set Two: Scarlet Begonias > Fire On the Mountain > Dark Star > Althea > Dark Star > Playing In The Band > Drums > Space > The Other One, Standing On The Moon, Casey Jones
Encore: Eyes Of The World > Werewolves Of London
