Bob Weir & Wolf Bros Drive ‘Lazy River Road’ For 1st Time In Reno

‘ already memorable 2022 fall tour rolled on in Reno on Wednesday. Fresh on the heels of their landmark Kennedy Center run with the National Symphony Orchestra as well as a three-night hometown stand at The Warfield in San Francisco culminating in Bobby’s 75th birthday, the Grateful Dead guitarist and his band delivered the Wolf Bros debut of the latter-day Dead classic “Lazy River Road” during the first set.

Weir, drummer Jay Lane, bassist Don Was, keyboardist Jeff Chimenti and pedal steel guitarist Barry Sless as well as The Wolfpack string and horn section launched the first frame with a very fitting New Orleans-sounding “Iko Iko,” punctuated by the Wolfpack horns — trombonist Adam Theis, trumpeter Brian Switzer and woodwind specialist Sheldon Brown. Weir and Wolf Bros then went it alone for two classic Bobby songs from the Dead repertoire beginning with the Cannon Jug Stompers’ “Minglewood Blues” followed by the Weir co-write with lyricist John Perry Barlow and GD keyboardist Brent Mydland, “Hell In A Bucket.”

The quintet then offered the Wolf Bros’ premiere of “Lazy River Road.” Debuted by the Grateful Dead on February 21, 1993, it would remain in steady rotation and was performed at the band’s final show at Soldier Field on July 9, 1995. For Bobby’s first performance of the song since December 8, 2018, the guitarist utilized some slide during the intro before leading the band through the first few verses. Sless had some tasty slide work of his own in store on the pedal steel alongside some cascading piano runs from Chimenti. The band then hit the bridge and brought the song home. After Merle Haggard’s “Mama Tried” and the GD favorite “Loose Lucy,” the Wolf Pack returned to help close the set with “Bird Song.”

The second frame got underway with the quintet on Bob Dylan’s “When I Paint My Masterpiece” ahead of a Reno-appropriate “Deal.” The Wolfpack then returned for the recently Wolf Bros debuted Bob Weir 1978 solo cut, “Salt Lake City.” The horn and string section would stay on for the remainder of the set which consisted of a seamless sequence initiated with the Ratdog era pairing of Dylan’s “Silvio” and the Chuck Rio instrumental classic “Tequila.”

After finishing up “Silvio,” the ensemble trickled into “He’s Gone,” which gave way to a cover of The Beatles’ psychedelic Revolver closer “Tomorrow Never Knows.” From there the group started “Goin’ Down The Road Feeling Bad” followed by “Black Peter” and the classic Bobby closer “Sugar Magnolia.” Bob Weir And Wolf Bros would return to deliver their first “Friend Of The Devi” encore to cap off the evening.

Listen to full-show audio below via nugs.net:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2IdVQ2qfKAw&ab_channel=nugsnet