Dead & Company Delivers Live Debut & Tease A Paul Simon Classic In Camden

On Friday night Dead & Company pulled into the Philadelphia suburb of Camden, New Jersey for their first two-night stand of the summer at the BB&T Pavilion. As promised by bassist Oteil Burbridge the six-piece act continued to dig into the Grateful Dead’s vast catalog of originals and covers for new material. Last night saw a Dead & Company debut for the second show in a row along with a tease of a Paul Simon song and bookending both their sets the way they each got started.

Bob Weir, Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzmann, John Mayer, Jeff Chimenti and Burbridge leaned on their Americana side throughout the opening frame. The night got rolling with a slow-building take on “Jack Straw” that featured Weir and Mayer trading verses as it segued straight into “Cold Rain & Snow.” The band looked to “Deep Elem Blues” next as Chimenti got his first chance to shine laying down a rollicking barroom piano solo with Mayer throwing down some bluesy guitar licks. Weir strapped on an acoustic guitar next as he led Dead & Company through their first ever stab at “Jack-A-Roe,” the traditional English folk song about a woman who dresses as a man to follow her lover as he heads to war.

A slowly unfolding “Loser” minus its “sweet Susie” line followed as it built to a crescendo with Mayer tearing through some fierce guitar playing. A bubbling “Bertha” brought the energy at the 25,000-capacity amphitheater back up from the slow-paced start. The sextet brought their first of four sets in Camden to a close with “Cassidy” which devolved into some gorgeous freeform jamming reminiscent of something you’d hear inside an “Eyes Of The World” led by Mayer. As they toyed with elements of “Cassidy” they instead veered back into the refrain of “Jack Straw” to put a punctuation on things.

The familiar drumbeat of “Not Fade Away” got Dead & Company’s set second off the ground as they lit into a spirited sing-along take on the Buddy Holly rock and roll classic. After delivering just the first two verses of “Not Fade Away” and an extended jam, the band segued straight into “Dark Star.” The familiar bassline soon devolved into their second exploratory jam of the night. The psychedelic classic was stretched out past the 20-minute mark for its first workout on this tour as it eventually crashed into “St. Stephen.”

Latter-day Dead chestnut “Black Muddy River” followed with the stage then turned over to the Rhythm Devils as Hart and Kreutzmann set out the “Drums” portion of the night. The rest of the band returned for more experimental soundscapes as “Space” found its way into “The Wheel.” While previous versions of the song had seen the band work in vocal teases of “Stay” by Maurice Williams, last night Mayer changed things up as he offered up a portion of Paul Simon’s “Diamonds On The Soles Of Her Shoes.” “Wharf Rat” followed with Dead & Company delivering the final verse of “Not Fade Away” to bring things to an end. The crowd continued to sing “you know our love won’t fade away” until the band returned for their encore as they delivered “Ripple” with Mayer on acoustic guitar to close out the evening.

Watch pro-shot video of the opener from each set, check out the full setlist and official poster for both nights below:

[Jack Straw]

[Not Fade Away]

Setlist