Dead & Company continued to mine its back pages with Tuesday’s concert in St. Louis, which featured the first “Box of Rain” in nearly three years. The resurrection of the Phil Lesh-sung American Beauty classic arrived in the second set at the Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre.
Another sweltering summer day gave way to the cool reprieve of Dead & Company, featuring Bob Weir, Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzmann, Jeff Chimenti, John Mayer, and Oteil Burbridge. The show opened with “The Music Never Stopped”, with Bobby declaring it “Too hot to even speak now.”
Dead & Company – “The Music Never Stopped” – 6/21/22
Mirroring the traveling circus that follows the Grateful Dead offshoot from town to town, Dead & Company took fans on a musical geographic journey with stops in “Alabama Getaway”, “Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo”, and Jack Straw’s Wichita. Following the thunderous “Jack Straw”, JonBo slowed things down with a bluesy breeze through the Ronald “Pigpen” McKernan-sung “Easy Wind”. The band then got back on the road again with Weir’s traveling tune “Black-Throated Wind” before “Bird Song” capped off the first set.
Dead & Company charged out of the gate for set two with the big surprise of the evening, “Box of Rain”. Tuesday’s performance marked only the band’s sixth-ever telling of the song, which features Mayer on vocals. The last rendition of “Box of Rain” arrived on 7/5/19 in Boulder, CO during a rain-shortened, single-set performance.
Dead & Company – “Box of Rain”, “Scarlet Begonias” – 6/21/22
After the sing-along tune, it was time to truly get down to set two business, as “Scarlet Begonias” kicked off the exploratory segment of Tuesday’s program. An expansive “Playing In The Band” would follow and reach its natural conclusion ahead of its regular improvisational bookend, “Uncle John’s Band”. The music never stopped as the continuous improvisation led into the Oteil Burbridge-sung “Fire On The Mountain” before the Rhythm Devils took center stage on “Drums” and “Space”.
Filtering out of “Space”, Dead & Company had another surprise in store with the band’s fourth-ever “Spanish Jam”. The instrumental blueprint originally inspired by “Solea” off Miles Davis‘ Sketches of Spain last appeared at a Dead & Co show on 8/20/21 at Citi Field. Back to live-action, Weir threw it back to ’80s Dead with “Hell in a Bucket”, no jean shorts required. This brought up “Black Peter” in the ballad slot before “U.S. Blues” wrapped set two. Taking the stage once again, Dead & Company opted for a rare electric take on “Ripple” to finish the evening.
Dead & Company’s summer tour continues tonight, June 22nd, in Cincinnati, OH. For tickets and a full list of tour dates click here.
Setlist: Dead & Company | Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre | St. Louis, MO | 6/21/22
Set One: The Music Never Stopped, Alabama Getaway, Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo, Jack Straw, Easy Wind, Black-Throated Wind, Bird Song
Set Two: Box of Rain [1], Scarlet Begonias > Playing in the Band > Uncle John’s Band > Fire on the Mountain > Drums > Space > Spanish Jam > Hell in a Bucket > Black Peter > U.S. Blues
Encore: Ripple
[1] LTP 7/5/19
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