Bob Weir Celebrates Sweetwater 50th Anniversary With David Nelson, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott & Others

Grateful Dead/Dead & Company guitarist Bob Weir headlined a concert at Sweetwater Music Hall on Thursday night that was a benefit for the Sweetwater Music Hall Arts Fund. The venue in Milly Valley, California is recognizing its 50th anniversary throughout November and last night’s “Bobby Weir & Friends” concert was part of the ongoing celebration.

Special guests that performed with Weir included his longtime friends and collaborators David Nelson and Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, along with fellow cohorts, local guitarist Matt Jaffe, mandolinist Lorin Rowan and up-and-coming guitarist Matty Michna. Backing Bobby for the concert was his Wolf Bros. bandmates Jay Lane on drums and Barry Sless on pedal steel guitar, plus keyboardist Jason Crosby and bassist .

Jaffe was the first guest brought out during the first set and contributed to a cover of Bob Dylan’s “Like A Rolling Stone.” Michna then came on as Jaffe exited and augmented “Eyes of the World,” which segued into Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On?” and then back into “Eyes Of The World.” Machina recently contributed to a similar sequence with Bob Weir and Wolf Bros. in Los Angeles. The return to “Eyes” brought an end to the first set.

The second set began with the 91-year-old Ramblin’ Jack Elliott onstage with the band. Elliott, who has performed with Weir a number of times, helped lead a rendition of Jimmie Rodgers’ “Mule Skinner Blues.” The veteran musician left after the first song of the set as David Nelson, who co-founded The New Riders Of The Purple Sage, emerged and remained for the rest of the second set. Rowan, who co-founded the Rowan Brothers with his siblings Peter Rowan and Chris Rowan, was also brought out for “Friend Of The Devil,” “Peggy-O” and “Minglewood Blues.”

The collective then went into “Dark Star” as Rowan left the stage. The ensemble made their way into “The Other One” ahead of a set closing “Not Fade Way.” Nelson and Rowan were also part of the evening’s encore, which consisted of the Grateful Dead classic “Ripple.”

Watch pro-shot video of last night’s set openers below: