Dead & Company summer tour has officially begun! On Friday, the Grateful Dead spinoff act featuring Bob Weir, Bill Kreutzmann, Mickey Hart, John Mayer, Jeff Chimenti, and Oteil Burbridge kicked off their 2019 summer run with their first of two shows at Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, CA.
Related: Dead & Company 2019 Summer Tour Debuts: Possibilities & Prognostication
After spending the first part of this year performing with various other projects, the sextet seemed excited to be back onstage together as they eased into the performance with “Playin’ In The Band”. After sauntering through some dreamy improvisational space, Weir counted the band into a slow-and-steady “Shakedown Street” featuring some loose call-and-response and amusing “shake it down now” adlibbing from him and Mayer. After petering out on the back of some whispy piano frills from Chimenti, the band opted for the more upbeat “Brown Eyed Women with Mayer on sultry lead vocals.
From there, Dead & Company slid into their first-ever cover of Merle Haggard‘s “Mama Tried”, a staple of Weir’s recent Wolf Bros setlists. A lengthy pause followed the country ditty before the band moved into a beautiful rendition of “Peggy-O”.
Next, the band let Mayer loose on blues standard “It Hurts Me Too”, allowing him to flex his blues licks and soulful voice on top of emotive Chimenti organ swells. After Weir led the band through a somber “Black-Throated Wind”, Weir and Mayer shared lead vocals on a set-closing “Casey Jones”.
Following a setbreak, the band hit the stage running (well, jogging) with the classic pairing of “Scarlet Begonias” and “Fire On The Mountain”, with Burbridge handling lead vocal duties on the latter. As “Fire” faded out, Dead & Company bounced into “Althea”, one of the songs in the band’s repertoire which Mayer has most made his own. Chimenti shined on this classic, with Burbridge holding down a tight pocket for him to play off of. Next, the band slid into “Estimated Prophet”, a nod to the Dead’s ancestral “burning shore” on which they’re kicking off their 2019 summer run. After spending 10+ minutes knocking on the golden door, the group slid into a summery “Eyes Of The World” that pushed past the 16-minute mark, making it the longest jam of the night.
As “Eyes Of The World” faded out, Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann took the reigns for the customary “Drums/Space” portion of the evening. Out of the oblivion of “Space”, “The Wheel” began turning, with Bob and John sharing the singing duties. A breezy “Wharf Rat” floated in next before the band capped their set with a bouncy, set-closing “Sugar Magnolia”. Finally, Dead & Company returned to the stage for an encore rendition of The Band‘s “The Weight” which saw Weir, Mayer, Burbridge, and Chimenti each take a turn at the microphone.
Below you can watch some videos from the tour-opening performance and check out a gallery of photos courtesy of photographer Matt Rea.
Dead & Company – “Playin’ In The Band” [Pro-Shot]
[Video: Dead & Company]
Dead & Company – “Scarlet Begonias” > “Fire On The Moutain” [Pro-Shot]
[Video: Dead & Company]
The second of two Dead & Company Shoreline shows will take place tonight, Saturday, June 1st. For a full list of Dead & Company’s upcoming summer tour dates, head here.
Setlist: Dead & Company | Shoreline Amphitheatre | Mountain View, CA | 5/31/19
Set One: Playin’ In The Band > Shakedown Street, Brown Eyed Women, Mama Tried*, Peggy-O, It Hurts Me Too, Black-Throated Wind, Casey Jones
Set Two: Scarlet Begonias > Fire On The Mountain, Althea, Estimated Prophet > Eyes Of The World > Drums/Space > The Wheel > Wharf Rat > Sugar Magnolia
Encore: The Weight
*Dead & Company debut
A full soundboard audio recording of the show is available to stream via Nugs.net.
The post Dead & Company Debuts “Mama Tried” In Summer Tour Opener At Shoreline Amphitheatre [Photos/Videos] appeared first on L4LM.
