Grateful Dead drummer Bill Kreutzman brought his select cadre of musical mercenaries, AKA “The Kids”, to Port Chester, NY’s storied venue, The Capitol Theatre, for the first weekend of his short run of Halloween shows billed as Daze Of The Dead on Friday and Saturday. Besides regular partners-in-crime Aron Magner (The Disco Biscuits) on keys, Reed Mathis (Electric Beethoven, Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey) on bass and vocals, and Tom Hamilton (Joe Russo’s Almost Dead), he also invited the Barr Brothers, Andrew and Brad, to give the crowd plenty of musical tricks and treats.
The Halloween/Day of the Dead weekend is a perfect fit for Kreutzmann to pop out for a short span and take it somewhat easy with just four shows on back-to-back weekends. The light schedule of live shows Kreutzmann has adopted gives him opportunities to avoid the more grueling aspect of touring. After decades of duty on the front lines with the Dead and more recently Dead & Company, it’s something Billy K has more than earned. As a side effect, it adds a little extra incentive for fans not to miss these special shows. Add in the rotating guest slots filled this weekend by the brothers Barr and each weekend varies in more than song selection and venue. Truly, no two shows are the same.
The Barr Brothers, with Andrew Barr on drums and percussion and Brad on guitar and vocals, utilized their Americana-heavy pedigree to supply some of the more interesting zigs and zags of the weekend performances. While Hamilton, Magner, and Matthis are old hands at bringing the works of Jerry Garcia, Bob Weir, Phil Lesh, and the rest to fresh life, the roots-based brothers added a little more down-to-earth grounding to the weekend’s fun, though neither was shy about taking plenty of spacewalks with their more “cosmically minded” collaborators.
Mathis, who regularly handles the job of dropping thick lines of Lesh-inspired bass, helped kick the first night off with some excellent work approximating John Entwistle of The Who in their opening tune, “The Kids Are Alright”. Brad Barr had no reservations about his vocal duties or his fretboard work, mixing himself into the chorus and several leads throughout the evening on songs like early set highlight “St.Stephen”.
Billy & The Kids – “The Kids Are Alright” (The Who), “St. Stephen” [Pro-Shot] – 10/20/23
If his brother Andrew was feeling any trepidation jamming with the iconic Billy K he certainly didn’t show it, matching the legend beat-for-beat. Whether it was Dead songbook highlights like “Eyes Of The World” or tracks from other legends like Bob Dylan (“She Belongs To Me”) and the set-closing take on The Rolling Stones‘ musical come-on “Let’s Spend The Night Together”, this iteration showed plenty of spirit and dedication to their craft.
Speaking of dedication to their craft, renowned music promoter and Capitol Theatre owner Peter Shapiro used the set break to honor a couple of the hardest workers in making the music available to fans night after night. First, he presented Brian Lynch, lead usher of the Capitol Theatre, with a lovely dedication and a tasty-looking cake, for his 1,000th show in just over three years. He then cajoled Kreutzmann out to gift him with a specially made, drummer topped, “#1” trophy. The ever-humble percussionist attempted to sneak off before accepting the well-deserved honorarium, but Shapiro nimbly caught up with Billy K and made sure he got the token of respect that one of the guides on this “Long, Strange Trip” surely deserves.
Set two started with a spacey “Drums” that immediately justified the award and any others that folks who want to send the legend’s way. Proving Halloween isn’t just a time of covers, other highlights of the second set included a dirge-like “Friend of The Devil” and an “unraveling as it went” night-ending encore of “Ripple” that sent the crowd out to the crisp, October air in a blanket of warm and fuzzy thoughts and feelings.
Saturday’s night two doings saw The Who’s songbook return to show opening duties with a hearty “Join Together” before a near-furious guitar and keys outburst helped make for a memorable one-two of “Help On The Way” > into “Slipknot!”. Again, whether on well-trodden Dead tracks or covers from the likes of Marvin Gaye (“Baby Don’t You Do It”), Tampa Red (“It Hurts Me Too”), and another Stones first set closer (“The Last Time”) the quality of play was top notch all around, as expected of an ad hoc group with this level of pedigree.
Billy & The Kids – “Join Together” (The Who), “Help On The Way”, “Slipknot!” [Pro-Shot] – 10/21/23
The second set delivered a much longer exploration than the previous night’s “Drums> Space” and an even longer return trip from the depths of “Morning Dew” and “Uncle John’s Band”. Crosby, Stills & Young lynchpin Stephen Stills penned one of the second set’s highlights with his sage advice “Love The One You’re With” which provided a crowd-hyping lead to the set-ending runaway “I Know You Rider”.
After an always-welcome “Brokedown Palace”, the two-show run concluded with a jubilant “Touch Of Grey” that had fans dancing from front row to back, in the aisle, and anywhere within earshot. It was a wonderful capper to not just the show but the weekend’s festivities, and if this is any indication, lucky fans with tickets to next weekend’s California stops in Santa Barbara and Sarasota should be salivating for a bag of yummy musical treats to come.
As the makers of the music that shaped a generation reach their golden years, we should be counting our collective blessings that folks like Billy K., Bob Weir, and Phil Lesh are somehow still out there, producing vital new takes on material that has inspired generations of love and goodwill. That players like The Kids and The Barr Brothers get the opportunity to work alongside them as peers is surely a boon as well…but the real winners are, as always, we the fans. The Day Of The Dead is usually a celebration of those who passed, but, thanks to Bill Kreutzmann, it’s one more chance to hear the music play.
Check out images from Billy & The Kids at The Capitol Theatre courtesy of photographers Maggie Miles and Andrew Blackstein along with full-show audio from Steven Weld.
Billy & The Kids – The Capitol Theatre – Port Chester, NY – 10/20/23 – Full Audio
Billy & The Kids – The Capitol Theatre – Port Chester, NY – 10/21/23 – Full Audio
Setlist: Billy & The Kids | The Capitol Theater | Port Chester, NY | 10/20/23
Set One: The Kids Are Alright (The Who), St. Stephen, Eyes Of The World, She Belongs To Me (Bob Dylan), Beat It On Down The Line (Jesse Fuller), Mama Tried (Merle Haggard), Jack Straw, Row Jimmy, Let’s Spend The Night Together (The Rolling Stones)
Set Two: Drums > Scarlet Begonias, Friend Of The Devil, Ramble On Rose, A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall (Bob Dylan), Fire On The Mountain
Encore: Lay Down Sally (Eric Clapton), Ripple
Setlist: Billy & The Kids | The Capitol Theater | Port Chester, NY | 10/21/23
Set One: Join Together (The Who), Help On The Way, Slipknot!, Franklin’s Tower, Peggy-O (Traditional), Brown-Eyed Women, Baby Don’t You Do It (Marvin Gaye), Sugaree, It Hurts Me Too (Tampa Red), The Last Time (The Rolling Stones)
Set Two: Drums > Space, Morning Dew, Uncle John’s Band, The Wheel, Crazy Fingers, Cassidy, Love the One You’re With (Stephen Stills), I Know You Rider (Traditional)
Encore: Brokedown Palace, Touch of Grey
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