Dead & Company returned to the friendly confines of Wrigley Field on Friday night to open a two-show stand at the historic Chicago ballpark. The arrival of The Final Tour at the home of the Chicago Cubs was particularly notable given the significance of the Windy City as it relates to the ongoing legacy of the Grateful Dead.
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Chicago looms large within the story of the Dead. The last concert guitarist Jerry Garcia performed was the Grateful Dead’s show on July 9, 1995 at Soldier Field. Keyboardist Brent Mydland’s final show before his untimely death was the Dead’s July 23, 1990 concert at the World Music Theater in the nearby Tinley Park suburb.
In July 2015, Soldier Field hosted the final three “Fare Thee Well” shows which was the last time the “core four” surviving members of the Grateful Dead – guitarist Bob Weir drummers Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann and bassist Phil Lesh – shared the same stage together. Since then, Dead & Company has visited Wrigley Field several times, previously performing at the corner of Waveland and Sheffield in 2017, 2019, 2021 and 2022.
With the Cubs on a road trip in San Francisco, Wrigley Field was once again opened to Dead & Company and “Playing In The Band” got the call to open the show, blossoming into a welcoming 10-minute jam that let the musicians on stage – Weir, Hart, guitarist John Mayer, drummer Jay Lane, bassist Oteil Burbridge and keyboardist Jeff Chimenti – get stretched out. Mayer then steered a rollicking run through “Deal.” As “Deal” was winding down, Mayer seamlessly launched into “Tennessee Jed,” which sizzled under the warm setting sun.
With storied Chicago blues club Kingston Mines just blocks south on Halsted, Dead & Co. dug into “It Hurts Me Too,” giving Mayer lead on the song that was first recorded in 1940 by Chicago bluesman Tampa Red and popularized by Elmore James. Along with Mayer delivering an emphatic solo, Chimenti responded with a captivating organ solo of his own.
The blues-bar-band swing of “Ramble On Rose” came next and paired nicely with the similarly situated “Brown-Eyed Women” that followed. Mayer focused his attention on Chimenti during “Brown-Eyed Women,” a frequent occurrence that often sees the guitarist zeroing in and connecting directly with the keyboardist.
“Crazy Fingers,” the gentle Jerry Garcia/Robert Hunter song rarely played by Dead & Company, made its first setlist appearance of The Final Tour. Another tour debut was selected for the first set closer as “Dancin In The Streets” drew big cheers when Weir sang the “They’re dancing in Chicago” line. As the cover of the Motown classic was winding down, Bobby told the audience he’d “see y’all in just a little bit.”
The second set started with “Sugaree,” which can sometimes seem restrained when performed by Dead & Co., but Friday’s performance was of the wild-frenetic-wheels-going-to-fall-off variety that quickly jumpstarted the latter half of the show. A coupling of “Estimated Prophet” with “The Other One” provided some of the evening’s most inspired improvisation.
Burbridge’s bass playing was assertive from the jump, serving as a vibrant guidepost. While set one was heavy on the blues, the transition from “Estimated” to “The Other One” displayed the band’s penchant for incorporating a jazz-fusion feel to their jams, driven by Burbridge and Chimenti’s Fender Rhodes attack.
After long hinting at its theme, “The Other One” fully formed but was left unfinished after one verse in favor of a segue into “Terrapin Station.” A satisfying arrival at the soaring conclusion of “Terrapin” ushered in the prevailing “Drums” section.
Labeled “Gods & Planets,” according to Hart, the otherworldly percussive jam was “Following in the tradition of cosmos as muse, [and] tonight’s drums and space takes its inspiration from the Music of the Spheres and the gods who’ve acted as the planet’s namesakes.” Forming a three-piece combo, Lane played his drum kit, while Hart played the xylophone-like Balafon and Burbridge played a banjo bass.
Hart, Burbridge and Lane transitioned to an exploration of the other massive collection of drums at their collective disposals, pounding out complex rhythms before yielding the stage to Hart and the penetrating drone of The Beam. The emergent ambient, free-form “Space” was initiated upon the return of Weir, Mayer, Chimenti and eventually Burbridge.
Once the band was fully reassembled, the tender strains of “Stella Blue” sprung out with Weir fronting the beloved ballad. The deep ballad was countered by a joyful sequence of “Sugar Magnolia” into “Scarlet Begonias” back into a “Sunshine Daydream” ending.
Just as the Grateful Dead did at their second-to-last show in Chicago, Dead & Company capped their penultimate Chicago concert with a “U.S. Blues” encore.
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