After a midweek breather, Bob Weir & Wolf Bros were back at The Capitol Theatre on Friday to resume the band’s five-night run. Night three saw the band get back to the basics with favorites from the Grateful Dead songbook and beyond after welcoming prolific jazz bassist Ron Carter on nights one and two.
Bob Weir is nothing if not a creature of habit. He finds something he likes and he sticks with it, whether that be bandmates or Birkenstocks. So far, every show of this latest Capitol Theatre residency has seen Weir start the evening solo acoustic, as he did on Friday with “Peggy-O”. Song by song, he then welcomed out his bandmates with Don Was and Jay Lane coming out for Bobby’s collaboration with the late Rob Wasserman, “The Winners”. Pedal steel guitarist Barry Sless then jumped in the mix for “Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Tooldeloo”, with the full The Wolfpack string and horn section joining for “Tennessee Jed”.
Bob Weir & Wolf Bros – “Peggy-O” (Traditional), “The Winners” [Pro-Shot] – 12/15/23
The full band lineup would remain intact for the remainder of the show, which continued with “Odessa” from the RatDog songbook. Though Bobby certainly needs no assistance padding ten unique setlists, it’s never a bad time to remember just how prolific he is even outside of the Grateful Dead, with solo and side project selections peppered in throughout the run. Returning to the fundamentals, Bobby gave a local shoutout to New York City with “Ramble On Rose” before things heated up with a stretch of “I Need A Miracle” into “Fever” and finally “U.S. Blues” to close the frame.
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Coming back from setbreak at full strength, Weir and company hitched on down the highway with Kris Kristofferson‘s classic traveling diddy “Me & Bobby McGee”. The singalongs continued with the progressive stomper “Man Smart, Woman Smarter”, with Jeff Chimenti shining on boogie-woogie piano, before the band dug into what second sets are all about.
Bob Weir & Wolf Bros – “Me & Bobby McGee” (Kris Kristofferson), “Man Smart, Woman Smarter” (King Radio)] [Pro-Shot] – 12/15/23
Using “Bertha” as a jumping-off point, Bob Weir & Wolf Bros rode the momentum through “The Wheel” and into fan-favorite “Eyes of the World”. Even after playing many of these songs for over half a century, Bob Weir continues to find new and exciting ways to innovate classic Grateful Dead compositions, as he has done recently by including Marvin Gaye‘s “What’s Going On” in the middle of an “Eyes” jam, as he did on Friday.
Pulling back from the improvisational ether, Bobby delivered a sobering reading of “Stella Blue” ahead of the classic second set walk-off cover of “Not Fade Away”. Returning to the stage without missing a beat, Bob Weir & Wolf Bros rode off into the sunset with the traditional “Going Down The Road Feeling Bad”.
Bob Weir & Wolf Bros return to The Capitol Theatre tonight, December 16th, for their fourth of five shows. For tickets and a full list of tour dates head here. Check out a gallery of images from Friday’s show below courtesy of photographer David Gray.
Setlist: Bob Weir & Wolf Bros | The Capitol Theatre | Port Chester, NY | 12/15/23
Set One: Peggy-O (Traditional) [1], The Winners [2], Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo [3], Tennessee Jed [4], Odessa, Ramble On Rose, I Need A Miracle > Fever (Eddie Cooley) > U.S. Blues
Set Two: Me & Bobby McGee (Kris Kristofferson), Man Smart, Woman Smarter (King Radio), Bertha > Cassidy > The Wheel > Eyes Of The World > What’s Going On (Marvin Gaye) > Eyes Of The World, Stella Blue, Not Fade Away (The Crickets)
Encore: Going Down The Road Feeling Bad (Traditional)
[1] Bob Weir solo
[2] Bob Weir, Jay Lane, Don Was
[3] Bob Weir, Jay Lane, Don Was, Jeff Chimenti
[4] Bob Weir, Jay Lane, Don Was, Jeff Chimenti, Barry Sless
Notes: Full band with The Wolfpack unless otherwise noted
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