A flood of professionally-shot Dead & Company videos have been posted to the band’s YouTube channel in recent weeks. The latest is the sextet’s version of “Throwing Stones” from their February 26, 2018 concert at BB&T Center in Sunrise, Florida.
The night was an emotional one for Dead & Company as it came soon after a mass shooting at the nearby Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland. Members of Dead & Company met with victims and their families that day. The six-piece ended their second set in Sunrise with an emotional version of “Throwing Stones.” Bob Weir, Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzmann, John Mayer, Jeff Chimenti and Oteil Burbridge were all wearing “MSDSTRONG” t-shirts in support of the students. Read Tales From The Golden Road host Gary Lambert’s notes on the song:
Bob Weir and John Barlow’s state-of-the-planet address, “Throwing Stones” made its live debut in the Grateful Dead’s repertoire in 1982, in the midst of a long recording drought by the band, and so would not turn up on record until the release of the Dead’s breakthrough commercial success, “In The Dark,” in 1987. It was performed many times by the Dead and by subsequent ensembles featuring the band members, but it would be hard to imagine a more timely and powerful setting for the song than this one, at the show Dead & Company played in Sunrise, Florida less than two weeks after the mass shooting at nearby Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, for an audience that included numerous survivors of the tragedy and their families. Weir brings a special intensity and passion to his vocal, fully equaled by the band’s accompaniment. – Gary Lambert
Watch D&C’s “Throwing Stones” from February 26, 2018:
Dead & Company kicks off summer tour on May 31 at Shoreline Amphitheatre.
