Dead & Company Kicks Off Summer Tour 2022 At Dodger Stadium

Dead & Company Summer Tour 2022 began on Saturday at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. The band featuring Grateful Dead members Bill Kreutzmann, Mickey Hart and Bob Weir along with Oteil Burbridge, Jeff Chimenti and John Mayer took the stage for the first time since Halloween and surprised fans with the Dead & Company debut of Traffic’s “Dear Mr. Fantasy” complete with the Beatles’ “Hey Jude Reprise” after “Drums” and “Space” in the second set.

The sextet got in the groove and “Let The Good Times Roll” to open the evening and tour at their first and only Dodger Stadium show since July 7, 2018. Sam Cooke penned “Let The Good Times Roll,” which Dead & Company debuted at Citi Field in New York City on August 20, 2021. The Grateful Dead covered the song 47 times between April 30, 1988 and May 29, 1995. Mayer, Weir and Chimenti shared lead vocal duties on the opener.

The ensuing “Playing In The Band” gave Dead & Company the first chance to stretch out. John Mayer utilized an auto-wah effect throughout the lengthy jam. “Playin’” bled into “Feel Like A Stranger,” sung with authority by Bob Weir and featuring a taste of “My Favorite Things.” Next, Oteil Burbridge stepped into the spotlight to front a gorgeous “China Doll” before John Mayer handled lead vocals on “Brown Eyed Women.” The six-piece closed the frame by pairing Grateful Dead classics “Jack Straw” and “Casey Jones.”

Read on after The Skinny for the rest of the recap and more.

Dead & Company returned after a 47-minute setbreak to launch the second set with “Althea.” John Mayer shined on the song that he heard on Pandora in 2011 and sent him down a Grateful Dead wormhole that led to him joining Dead & Company. Mayer strung together one powerful riff after another during his potent “Althea” solo. “Scarlet Begonias” came next featuring Weir on lead vocals and John going falsetto for harmony vocals. The “Scarlet” jam was a highlight of night with impressive interplay between all six members of the band. “Scarlet” gave way to “China Cat Sunflower” in a bit of a wonky transition. Weir and Mayer traded licks in an improvisation that built into “I Know You Rider.”

All of the vocalists sung “I Know You Rider,” which featured lots of barrelhouse piano rolls from Jeff Chimenti. The seamless run continued with the “Fire On The Mountain” hinted at earlier with “Scarlet Begonias.” Oteil was once again tapped to sing the Grateful Dead live staple as Mayer unleashed a flurry of fretboard fireworks. John built his solo to a strong peak and then the instrumentalists left the stage for The Rhythm Devils to deliver the tour’s first “Drums.” Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann pounded out tribal beats and were eventually joined by Burbridge for the percussive adventure.

Hart moved over to the Beam after Kreutzmann and Burbidge vacated the stage to start “Space.” Hart strummed the instrument and let it ring out to form the base for “Space” improvisation from Weir, Chimenti, Burbridge and Mayer. The four musicians treated fans to trippy interludes that altered between light and dark. Billy and Mickey came back and Dead & Company launched into “Dear Mr. Fantasy.” While last night marked the D&C debut of the Traffic song from 1967’s Mr. Fantasy, the Grateful Dead initially played the tune in 1984 with Brent Mydland on lead vocals and would perform it 58 times through July 21, 1990.

The Grateful Dead initially worked “Dear Mr. Fantasy” into “Hey Jude Reprise” in 1985 and would occasionally end the Traffic cover with the bit of the Beatles song over the next few years. John Mayer and Bob Weir combined forces to sing “Dear Mr. Fantasy” with Mayer leading Dead & Company through the instrumental “Hey Jude Reprise” as the crowd sang along. The final notes of “Dear Mr. Fantasy”/”Hey Jude Reprise” faded into “Stella Blue.” Bob Weir laced his vocal delivery of the Hunter/Garcia ballad with emotion before Mayer reeled off a powerful solo.

Dead & Company went on to end the second set with the day-appropriate “One More Saturday Night.” The band then returned to cap the evening with a take on Warren Zevon’s “Werewolves Of London” for the encore. The tour continues on Monday and Tuesday night at Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, California. Watch livestreams via nugs.net. Check out pro-shot video featuring the start of each set and fan-shot video of “Dear Mr. Fantasy” and “Hey Jude Reprise” below:

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Poster

https://www.instagram.com/p/Ceq8UQvOwTS/

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