Mickey Hart celebrated the first Planet Drum show in 15 years at Palo Alto, CA’s Frost Amphitheater on Sunday, splitting the bill with his Grateful Dead bandmate Bob Weir & Wolf Bros. The concert arrived three days after Planet Drum revealed plans for In The Groove, its third album and first since 2007’s Global Drum Project.
Hart and his counsel of global percussionists Zakir Hussain, Giovanni Hidalgo, Sikiru Adepoju, Issac Eady, and Dabdha Da Hora took the stage in the late afternoon sunlight. Frost Amphitheater was a fitting location for Sunday’s show, as the Grateful Dead performed 14 times at the amphitheater located in its native Bay Area city.
“If any of you see some of my brain cells around here I want you to pick them up and deposit them at the front gate so I can become whole again,” Hart said at the start of the show.
The single set performance saw Planet Drum welcome vocalists Sunny Jain and Anthony Carrillo as well as West African singer, dancer, and storyteller Mandjou Kone who led the band through a shekere chant that contained lyrics from Shakira‘s “Waka Waka (This Time For Africa). The ensemble also performed “Temple Caves” from its 1999 self-titled debut which won the first-ever Grammy for Best World Music Album.
Planet Drum – Frost Amphitheater – 5/1/22 – Preview
Planet Drum – “King Clave” – 5/1/22
[Video: Deadheadland Films]
Following a brief intermission, Bob Weir & Wolf Bros took the stage in the waning daylight. Opening with “Jack Straw”, Weir, Don Was, Jay Lane, and Jeff Chimenti were joined by The Wolf Pack horn section alongside pedal steel guitarist Barry Sleiss. After a spirited take on “Brown Eyed Women”, Weir and his bandmates delivered the first electric rendition of “She Knows What I’m Thinkin’”, a song Weir debuted in full during a solo acoustic interlude at his Ace 50th-anniversary concerts at Radio City Music Hall last month.
Bob Weir & Wolf Bros – “Jack Straw”, “Brown Eyed Women” – 5/1/22
Bob Weir & Wolf Bros – “She Knows What I’m Thinkin’” – 5/1/22
[Video: nowiknowuryder]
The set carried on with “Ramble On Rose” ahead of “Weather Report Suite” and an “Eyes Of The World” with Marvin Gaye‘s “What’s Going On?” thrown in the midst of the jam. The single-set nature of Sunday’s performance forced Bobby and his bandmates to transition into the more exploratory segment of the show on the fly, a task they performed dutifully with a segue into “The Other One”. As night fell upon Frost Amphitheater, Weir offered the Jerry Garcia lament “Standing on the Moon” before a thumping “Not Fade Away” closed the one and only frame. Taking the stage once again, Bob Weir & Wolf Bros bid goodnight with “Brokedown Palace”.
Bob Weir & Wolf Bros – “Brokedown Palace” – 5/1/22
[Video: nowiknowuryder]
Planet Drum will celebrate the release of In The Groove with a pair of newly announced shows at The Capitol Theatre on August 5th and 6th. A pre-sale for tickets begins on Thursday, May 6th at 10 a.m. ET.
Setlist: Planet Drum | Frost Amphitheater | Palo Alto, CA | 5/1/22
Set: Drops, Balafon Intro > Gadago Gadago, Shekere Chant [1] > Tides, Temple Caves > Phil Da Glass > Drum Roll > Storm Drum, King Clave
[1] w/ “Waka Waka (This Time For Africa)” quotes
Setlist: Bob Weir & Wolf Bros | Frost Amphitheater | Palo Alto, CA | 5/1/22
Set: Jack Straw [1], Brown Eyed Women, She Knows What I’m Thinkin’ [2], Ramble On Rose, Weather Report Suite [1], Eyes of the World [1] > What’s Going On? (Marvin Gaye) [1] > Eyes of the World [1] > The Other One [1], Standing on the Moon, Not Fade Away (The Crickets)
Encore: Brokedown Palace [1]
[1] w/ The Wolf Pack
[2] First electric performance
The post Mickey Hart Reunites Planet Drum For Co-Headlining Date With Bob Weir & Wolf Bros In Palo Alto [Videos] appeared first on L4LM.
