Bob Weir and Wolf Bros returned to Sweetwater Music Hall on Thursday night for the third performance of the trio’s five-show residency at the venue. Thursday’s show featured a pair of guest appearances from cellist Alex Kelly and the Wolf Bros’ debut of “Young Blood” by The Coasters.
Weir, bassist Don Was and drummer Jay Lane kicked off the show with “K.C. Moan” after storytime with longtime Grateful Dead roadie Steve Parish. Next up was a trio of cowboy songs as Marty Robbins’ “El Paso” was followed by “Only A River” from Bobby’s Blue Mountain LP and Johnny Cash’s “Big River.” Then, Bay Area cellist Alex Kelly — who Weir told the crowd is helping him with a symphonic project — emerged for “Sugaree” and took an impressive solo during the Hunter/Garcia classic.
Another surprise came in the form of “Young Blood,” a song written by Doc Pomus, Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller that scored The Coasters a hit in 1957. While last night was the first performance of the song by this project, Weir regularly played “Young Blood” with RatDog, Kingfish and Bobby & The Midnites. The guitarist hadn’t covered “Young Blood” since 2014 as per Setlist.FM. The typically paired “Lost Sailor” and “Saint Of Circumstance” ended Thursday’s first set.
Parish came back to give another “Big Steve Rap” before Weir, Was and Lane began the second set with “Me & Bobby McGee.” An expansive “Eyes Of The World” followed along with a 10-minute “West L.A. Fadeaway.” Then, Alex Kelly returned for a gorgeous and adventurous “Bird Song.” Bobby and Wolf Bros went on to cover the Beatles’ “Tomorrow Never Knows,” jam on “Shakedown Street” and present the year’s first “Morning Dew” to close out set two. “U.S. Blues” served as the encore though there was no true encore break. nugs.tv live streams are available of the residency’s final shows on Friday and Saturday.
Pro-Shot Videos (via nugs.tv)
K.C. Moan
Me & Bobby McGee
Setlist
Set One: K.C. Moan, El Paso, Only A River, Big River, Sugaree*, Young Blood, Lost Sailor > Saint Of Circumstance
Set Two: Me & Bobby McGee, Eyes Of The World, West L.A. Fadeaway, Bird Song*, Tomorrow Never Knows, Shakedown Street, Morning Dew, U.S. Blues
* – w/ Alex Kelly
