Finally Back At SPAC: Dead & Company’s Final Tour Rolls On In Saratoga Springs

Dead & Company’s Final Tour arrived at Saratoga Performing Arts Center in Saratoga Springs, New York last night to begin their weekend at the hallowed upstate venue. It was a highly anticipated night, especially since D&C was forced to cancel their 2022 SPAC show due to a family emergency.

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The sold-out crowd erupted as the first notes of “Let The Good Times Roll” sang out over the venue, over 20,000 voices singing along to the upbeat lyrics before the sextet launched into a standalone “Scarlet Begonias.”

Guitarist John Mayer and keyboardist Jeff Chimenti locked in early on in the jam, facing each other as they traded musical ideas. The groovy “Scarlet” jam briefly extended into a spacey motif with a sprinkling of Chimenti’s grand piano before Mayer brought the band smoothly back around to the conclusion of the song.

Mayer wasted no time and jumped directly into a well-paced “Deal,” which featured excellent solos from him and Chimenti, this time on Hammond B3 organ. Guitarist Bob Weir, stepped to the mic next for his own “Black-Throated Wind,” which seemed to get the extra-mustard treatment from the band.

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The first set continued with an energetic “Dire Wolf,” Chimenti once again shining with an exemplary piano solo. Drummer Jay Lane kept the pace steady as the Jerry Garcia classic drew on.

The first big jam of the night emerged next with an ethereal intro to “Bird Song.” Taking their time before singing a single lyric, Weir’s textures perfectly complemented Mayer’s spiraling leads as they floated into the first verse.

Lane played with time as bassist Oteil Burbridge bassist Oteil Burbridge went from melodic phrases to chordal tones and back again, swirling in the late evening air. Lane pushed the improv into a swinging groove reminiscent of “Truckin’” as Chimenti went full jazz mode on piano. This Type II section led cleanly back into the conclusion of the impressive “Bird Song.”

“Going Down the Road Feeling Bad” was tapped as the first set closer and caused another round of responsive singalongs from the capacity crowd.

Coming out from set break, Dead & Company wasted no time before jumping straight into “They Love Each Other.” An unexpected pick for a second frame opener under normal circumstances, last night’s “TLEO” was performed in its fast 1973 arrangement for only the second time ever by this band. Including the fourth verse only seen in its earlier versions, Mayer seemed like a kid in a candy store during this rocking rendition of the song, heading over to lock in with Chimenti during each other’s solos. Lane and Burbridge held down the bouncy rhythm as Weir looked on at the two soloists with proud eyes.

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Jumping directly from the last note of “TLEO,” Dead & Co locked into the intro of “Terrapin Station” to an absolutely massive roar from the crowd. This was no standard version – the normally-brief interlude in the middle of the song was stretched out for numerous minutes in an awe-inspiring musical conversation between Mayer and Chimenti as tones and psychedelia swirled around them. Weir proceeded to nail the vocals to the “inspiration” refrain as the crowd energy only got bigger throughout the massive riffs.

A perfectly-placed “He’s Gone” delved deep into improvisational territory next. Blending with “The Other One” perfectly, the languid pace of the music let each musician breathe as Lane seemed to be engaged in interplay with Burbridge, Mayer, and Chimenti simultaneously. Chimenti began to lean away from his acoustic piano and into synth world as Mayer played off of the weirdness. Weir smoothly brought in the first verse of the song without missing a beat. The music gradually fragmented into dissonance as drummer Mickey Hart commanded the stage for “Drums” and “Space.”

With a theme of ants for last night’s segment, distorted images of the bug in question were displayed on the screen above the stage as Lane, Hart, and Burbridge attacked The Beast with aggression. Lane and Hart simultaneously hit deep toms that sent reverberations around the entire venue before Hart took his time on The Beam. Hitting an incredibly deep note and holding it for a lengthy period, the very foundations of SPAC seemed to shake under the onslaught of vibration.

The rest of the band returned and coalesced slowly into a melodic motif led once again by Mayer and Chimenti’s unmatched interplay, their conversation stretching on for minutes in a gorgeous theme as Hart sprinkled in dissonant video game sounds.

The lengthy “Space” landed back in the second verse of “The Other One” via a calypso-influenced jam and brought the extended jamming portion of the night to a close in a very impressive fashion.

Late-era Garcia ballad “Days Between” was tapped for the ballad slot as Weir absolutely sang his heart out on the song. Chimenti’s full piano sound and Mayer’s liberal use of the whammy pedal had the crowd in full rapture through the song – an underrated piece of the Dead’s catalog.

“Turn On Your Love Light” rocked the end of the second set before the almost-obligatory “One More Saturday Night” encore sent the crowd home happy.

With the momentum of their final tour only building as it draws closer to its conclusion, this band is creating beautiful improvisation out of a timeless catalog of songs every night.

Dead & Company’s Final Tour continues tonight with a Father’s Day show at SPAC. Purchase livestreams for the SPAC show and all The Final Tour concerts via nugs.net.

Audio (Taped by Eric Lugassy)

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Source: JamBase.com