Over the weekend, Golden Gate Wingmen performed a three-night run at Denver, Colorado’s Be On Key Psychedelic Ripple. The Grateful Dead-inspired supergroup’s outing culminated on Sunday, April 21, with an inventive show featuring guest collaborators Todd Stoops and Boots Jaffee.
Golden Gate Wingmen features three musicians well-known in Grateful Dead circles — Furthur guitarist John Kadlecik, Dead & Company keyboardist Jeff Chimenti and RatDog drummer Jay Lane — as well as Electric Beethoven bassist Reed Mathis. The project, which formed in 2014 for a performance at Phil Lesh’s iconic Terrapin Crossroads venue, is known for its reinterpretations of Grateful Dead tunes, which they mix in with covers from classic rock acts rangings from Bob Marley to Led Zeppelin.
During their recent Sunday performance, the group opened with King Floyd’s “I Feel Like Dynamite,” a nod to Jerry Garcia and Merl Saunders’ Legion of Mary side project, which performed the tune 20 times in 1975. After energetic renditions of Peter Rowan’s “Tin Roof Shack” and Bob Dylan’s “Not Dark Yet,” the group invited Boots Jaffee to the stage to contribute harmonica to another Bob Dylan number, “It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry.” To close out the frame, the band moved through a 15-minute “Cassidy” and a set-closing 10-minute take on “What’s Become of Mary.”
For the second set, the quartet returned with a groovy “Golden Wing,” which was sung by John K. and highlighted by a phenomenal keys solo from Chimenti. Next, the group offered a well-segued take of “Lady With A Fan” into “Terrapin Station,” performing the fan-favorite segment from the “Terrapin Station Suite” ahead of an extended 17-minute “Shakedown Street.” Returning to Bob Dylan’s catalog, Golden Gate Wingmen offered up “The Man In Me” before inviting out keyboardist Todd Stoops for a mournful rendition of “Brokedown Palace.” Stoops stayed on to close out the set, offering his talents to the final song of the night, “Ripple.”
Listen to full-show audio of the performance below, courtesy of Fred Nicolois:
Setlist
Set One: I Feel Like Dynamite, Tin Roof Shack, Not Dark Yet^, It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry*, Cassidy, What’s Become Of Mary
Set Two: Golden Wings, Lady with a Fan > Terrapin Station > Shakedown Street, The Man In Me, Brokedown Palace **> Ripple **
- ^ – first time played
- * – w/Boots Jaffee: harmonica
- ** – w/Todd Stoops: keyboards
