Billy & The Kids And Barr Brothers Keep Cover Debuts Flowing At Bay Area Halloween Show

Billy & The Kids returned to California last night for a Halloween show loaded with cover debuts at The Mountain Winery in Saratoga. The band assembled by Bill Kreutzmann last played the Grateful Dead drummer’s original home state in 2016.

The performance at the idyllic outdoor Bay Area venue kicked off the second part of Kreutzmann’s Daze Of Dead concert series which concludes tomorrow, Thursday, November 2 at the Santa Barbara Bowl in Santa Barbara, California. Billy & The Kids featuring Kreutzmann along with guitarist Tom Hamilton, keyboardist Aron Magner and bassist Reed Mathis were joined by special guests guitarist Brad Barr and drummer Andrew Barr of The Barr Brothers and The Slip at .Mountain Winery as they were at The Capitol Theatre last month and will be in Santa Barbara.

Billy & The Kids came out of the gates with their premiere version of The Beatles’ “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” sung by Brad Barr. The final notes gave way to a nicely extended Hamilton-led “Terrapin Station” before Mathis belted out “Estimated Prophet” complete with its “California” refrain. Aoxomoxoa gem “Dupree’s Diamond Blues,” the evening’s second debut, followed featuring Brad Barr on lead vocals. Brad also helmed the ensuing Billy & The Kids’ first-ever take on Talking Heads’ “Psycho Killer.”

A synth-tinged jam bled out of “Psycho Killer” and eventually birthed an expansive “Bird Song.” The 15-minute version saw the six musicians explore various soundscapes and smoothly switch tempos. Billy & The Kids then nodded to the Brent Mydland era of the Grateful Dead by unveiling “Blow Away” with Aron Magner singing the words originally sung by the late keyboardist and penned by John Barlow. The fourth Billy & The Kids debut of the set brought the opening stanza to a close.

The ensemble took the stage for the second set and delivered a few minutes of spacey improvisation. A “Shakedown Street” emerged out of the ambiance with a Pink Floyd feel. Billy & The Kids embarked on a funky interlude out of “Shakedown” and then took it down a notch for the tender “To Lay Me Down.” Brad Barr handled lead vocals on the Hunter/Garcia ballad.

Billy & The Kids debuts weren’t limited to the first set as the second set rolled on with a powerful “Spanish Moon.” Hamilton fronted the Little Feat cover and engaged in volleys of fretboard fireworks with Brad Barr. Andrew Barr and Bill Kreutzmann offered a drum duel to link “Spanish Moon” with a rousing “The Other One.” Brad Barr then took the lead on the title track to the Grateful Dead’s 1989 studio album Built To Last. A pair of additional premieres were tacked on to end the night. The second set concluded with a Hamilton-fronted “Promised Land.” Then, Tommy played guitar and gathered with Magner, Mathis and Brad Barr at the front of the stage to sing the evening’s “Attics Of My Life” encore backed by Kreutzmann and Andrew Barr on drums.

Watch pro-shot video of the opening “Sgt. Pepper’s”/”Terrapin” combo via nugs.net below:

Photos by Susan Weiand

Setlist

Set One: Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band > Terrapin Station > Estimated Prophet > Dupree’s Diamond Blues, Psycho Killer > Bird Song, Blow Away

Set Two: Space > Shakedown Street > To Lay Me Down, Spanish Moon > Drums > The Other One, Built To Last, Promised Land

Encore: Attics Of My Life