Dave Matthews Band Welcomes Bob Weir In Berkeley

Over the course of the Dave Matthews Band‘s 25-year career the group has shared the stage with many special guests, but never a member of the Grateful Dead. The DMB finally crossed that feat off their musical bucket list last night, when Bob Weir sat-in at the Greek Theatre in Berkeley.

Dave and his band are hurtling towards the end of their 25th Anniversary Tour and the start of a long hiatus. The second night at the Greek saw one of the more inventive setlists of the entire tour. DMB opened with “The Stone,” which hadn’t been played in 23 shows. Later in the set they dusted off “Can’t Stop” for the first time in 105 shows, but the money shot came a few songs after when Weir emerged.

Bobby sat-in with the Dave Matthews Band on a lengthy, jammed-out version of Daniel Lanois’s “The Maker.” Lanois’s signature tune has been a part of DMB’s repertoire since the band’s earliest days. In more recent years “The Maker” has been extremely rare as last night’s rendition along with a version in 2015 are the only ones played since 2011. Just around the same time Matthews started performing “The Maker,” another guitarist named Jerry Garcia debuted his version of the tune with his eponymous band. “The Maker” stayed a staple of the JGB repertoire through his death in 1995. Tuesday’s rendition in Berkeley marked the first time Weir is known to have played “The Maker.” He added his iconic, wild rhythmic work throughout the jam section of the tune, pulling out a capo at one point before deciding to ditch it. All told, “The Maker” expanded past the 12-minute mark and featured Weir on backing vocals.

DMB followed Weir’s appearance with a bevy of classics including “Tripping Billies,” “Jimi Thing,” and “Rapunzel,” along with a “Sister”/”Ants Marching” encore. The band now heads to The Gorge for their traditional Labor Day weekend run.

Watch Bob Weir guest with DMB on “The Maker” as captured by Mitch Wight:

UPDATE: Check out “Bobby Cam” footage focused on Weir shared by Janine Corcoran