Watch Bobby Weir & J.D. Souther Perform Another Impromptu Song At The Guild Theatre

Bobby Weir & Wolf Bros continued a five-show residency last night at the intimate confines of The Guild Theatre in Menlo Park, California. Once again, Bob Weir brought out JD Souther to write a song live on stage to start the second set at the Bay Area venue.

While the show was billed as Bobby Weir & Wolf Bros Trio, there were only a few times last night when it was just Weir, drummer Jay Lane and bassist Don Was without any other musicians. In addition to multiple appearances from Souther, violinist Mads Tolling was on hand for a majority of the concert.

One night after Weir and Souther composed a song on the fly to launch the second set at the Guild, the “experiment” resumed at the same spot on Tuesday. The Grateful Dead guitarist came up with a pattern used as the basis of the improvised song. Eagles collaborator J.D. Souther played acoustic guitar as the pair worked out a few changes. Lane emerged on keys at first and then moved behind the kit, Was took up his spot on upright bass and Tolling added fiddle to the impromptu number which doesn’t have a title yet.

Weir called out chord changes as the ensemble locked in on a basic structure to the delight of the audience. Souther and Weir each gave lyrical melodies a try before ending the songwriting session. “We have a day off after tomorrow, we’ll try to actually work up some of this stuff,” Bobby advised. See “New Song #2” and the ensuing version of Souther’s “You’re Only Lonely” below thanks to pro-shot video from Relix:

Night Two of the five-show run began with Weir, Lane, Was and Tolling offering up an upbeat take on “Friend Of The Devil.” The trio then went at the rollicking “Bertha” and passion-filled “Mission In The Rain” as a three-piece with Mads adding fiddle to the “Brown-Eyed Women” that fell in between. The Wolfpack fiddler contributed to the rest of a first set that featured such Grateful Dead classics as “Ramble On Rose,” “Throwing Stones” and the full “Weather Report Suite.”

After the songwriting workshop and “You’re Only Lonely” performance, Souther led the outfit through “New Kid In Town,” the Eagles’ 1976 single he penned with Don Henley and Glenn Frey. From there, J.D. departed the stage to leave Bobby, Jay, Don and Was to take “Truckin'” for a spin. Next came a rendition of the Eddie Cooley and Otis Blackwell co-write “Fever,” which gave way to a “Viola Lee Blues” that included a cover of Bob Dylan’s “Maggie’s Farm” within.

The Wolf Bros Quartet linked “Wharf Rat” with “Sugar Magnolia” to close Tuesday’s second set. J.D. Souther reemerged to join the four musicians for the evening’s two-song encore of the Eagles’ “Heartache Tonight” and Jimmy Reed’s “Bright Lights, Big City.” Weir hadn’t performed the latter since guesting with Chris Robinson Brotherhood at San Francisco’s Great American Music Hall on December 15, 2011.

It’s back to The Guild for Bobby Weir & Wolf Bros this evening. Head to FANS.live to purchase a livestream. Watch pro-shot video of the first two songs from last night’s show below:

Setlist (via Setlist.FM)

Set One: Friend Of The Devil*, Bertha, Brown-Eyed Women*, Mission In The Rain, Ramble On Rose*, Throwing Stones*, Weather Report Suite*, Let It Grow*

Set Two: Improvised Song**, You’re Only Lonely^, New Kid In Town^, Truckin’*, Fever*, Viola Lee Blues* > Maggie’s Farm* > Viola Lee Blues*, Wharf Rat*, Sugar Magnolia*

Encore: Heartache Tonight^, Bright Lights Big City

• * – with Mads Tolling on fiddle
• ** – Started with Bobby & J.D. Souther, ended with Tolling, Don Was and Jay Lane joining in
• ^ – with J.D. Souther on guitar and Mads Tolling on fiddle