After taking a night off on Friday, Dead & Company returned to the stage on Saturday for their Playing In The Sand destination event at Riviera Maya, Mexico’s Barceló. Blues-rock guitarists Eric Krasno and Marcus King played a pop-up, pool-side performance earlier in the afternoon, allowing attendees at the four-day destination event to continue their south-of-the-border party into the heart of the weekend.
Dead & Company opened up their first set with “Deal”, allowing John Mayer to take the leading reigns on vocals. “Deal” smoothly worked its way into “Hell In A Bucket”, which included a bluesy Mayer intro, as Bob Weir followed closely en suite. Weir sounded strong on vocals, before Jeff Chimenti dazzled the crowd with a whirlwind of a solo on the organ. “Cold Rain And Snow” was up next, with Mayer continuing to harness his inner-Jerry (Garcia) on lead vocals. The relaxing number allowed the crowd to focus in, before the sextet moved forward with “Ramble On Rose”.
Dead & Company – “Cold Rain And Snow”
[Video:The Zalewski Law Firm]
Following a breezy take on “Ramble On Rose”, Dead & Company kicked the tempo up a few notches, as Mayer led his bandmates into “Alabama Getaway”. The fun, yet quick take on “Alabama Getaway” led way to “Peggy-O”, as Weir strapped on his acoustic guitar. The mellow, vibe would continue, as Oteil Burbridge stepped to the front of the stage, leading the group through a heartfelt rendition of “China Doll”. Oteil seized his moment to shine, as his silky-smooth vocals cast the intently focused crowd into a trance-like state. “One More Saturday Night” brought the first set to a close, in whats been become its traditional placement these days in Dead & Company’s setlists.
Following a lengthy 45-minute set break, Dead & Company returned to open up the second set with “Estimated Prophet”. The cohesive six-piece unit sounded tight, as Oteil anchored the unstoppable steam locomotive with a meaty bass line. Mayer took a nice, extended solo, as the band stretched out along with him. Following the band taking a near full-stop, “He’s Gone” came next, which teased a short blues jam led by Mayer. “He’s Gone” smoothly segued into “St. Stephen”, as Dead & Company seriously upped the energy for the first time of the evening.
During “Stephen’s” lengthy, psychedelic jam, the crowd started to notice that a perfect circle of clouds had formed in a giant circle around the nearly full moon, sitting directly overhead. To say it was magical would be an understatement. In an old-school fashion, the band kept on chugging through “William Tell Bridge”, which led way to a roaring rendition of “The Eleven”. Dead & Co. stayed in the preliminary section of “The Eleven” for an unusually extended period, before dropping into the eleven-beat section that gives the song its name. Last night’s “Eleven” never peaked or boiled over, but it gelled perfectly with the show in the sky. The song came to a well-worked close, before Weir, Mayer, and Chimenti exited the stage for “Drums”. Bill Kreutzmann led Burbridge and Mickey Hart through a raucous take on “Drums”, before the rest of the band reemerged for the “Space”.
The ambient and spooky “Space” section of the second set was followed up by “Uncle John’s Band”, marked by a confident, yet delicate jam from a band that’s finding their sea legs again after taking five months off. “Morning Dew” brought the second set to a close, as the crowd locked into Mayer’s powerfully-driven lead on vocals. Dead & Company let it shine one last time on Saturday night, as the band delivered a rocking take on “Lovelight” in the encore slot.
Dead & Company – “Lovelight”
[Video:Still Dead]
For Playing In The Sand’s final night, Dead & Company returns to Rivera Maya, MX’s Barceló tonight with a two-set performance on the picturesque Caribbean coastline.
Setlist: Dead & Company | Barceló | Riviera Maya, Mexico | 1/19/2019
Set One: Deal > Hell In A Bucket, Cold Rain And Snow, Ramble On Rose, Alabama Getaway, Peggy-O, China Doll, One More Saturday Night
Set Two: Estimated Prophet > He’s Gone > St. Stephen > William Tell Bridge > The Eleven > Drums / Space > Uncle John’s Band, Morning Dew
Encore: Lovelight
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