Dead Creek: Dead & Company Bring Final Tour To Noblesville

Dead & Company returned to Ruoff Music Center (the venue formerly known as Deer Creek) in Noblesville, Indiana on Tuesday. D&C made their Deer Creek debut in 2016 and returned in 2018 and 2019. After taking 2020 off due to the pandemic, the band played Deer Creek in 2021 and again in 2022.

Their Final Tour concert on Tuesday featured an exciting first set featuring a country-styled “Dark Star,” the rarely played “It Must Have Been The Roses” and a fantastic “Bird Song” jam. Set two was highlighted by a standout “Uncle John’s Band” and more.

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Each summer between 1989 and 1995, the Grateful Dead played Deer Creek, adding the outdoor amphitheater to the band’s list of notorious venues. Notorious both for exceptional performances at the shed near Indianapolis and notorious for the gate-crashing incident that marred the Dead’s final visit to Deer Creek and led to the cancelation of what would have been their last show there on July 3, 1995.

Just like at the Dead’s first show at Deer Creek in 1989, “Bertha” opened the first set of Tuesday’s concert. Guitarist John Mayer initially steered the band before guitarist Bob Weir stepped up to take a verse. The opener provided the musicians an opportunity to get their bearings within the succinct jam. An abrupt drop into “Good Lovin’” came next with keyboardist Jeff Chimenti digging into the groove on organ and bassist Oteil Burbridge laying down an equally groovy bass line.

Rarely played by Dead & Company, the tender Robert Hunter composition “It Must Have Been the Roses” made its first appearance of the year. Mayer passionately sang lead on the extremely slowed-down arrangement of the song making just its fifth D&C setlist to date.

Next up was Johnny Cash’s “Big River” which segued into a countryfied take on “Dark Star.” A similar “Dark Star” and “Big River” mashup occurred last Saturday at Fenway Park in Boston. Unlike that instance, Tuesday’s “Dark Star” included vocals, with Weir delivering the second verse, completing Saturday’s edition. Not on the printed setlist, the segue into the twangy “Dark Star” was seemingly unplanned and drew a cheerful response from those in attendance.

The unusual and impressive foray into “Dark Star” was followed by Mayer fronting the group on the blues staple “Next Time You See Me.” The set continued with a nifty transition into “Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo” that featured Mayer’s emphatic soloing at various points throughout.

The heftiest dose of improvisation in the first set developed out of the “Bird Song” that surfaced at the end of “Half-Step.” Sounding almost more like “Dark Star” than the “Dark Star” played earlier in the set, the “Bird Song” jam twisted and flowed while Mayer locked into Chimenti who injected complementary piano runs. Burbridge sounded off with explosive bursts of notes. Weir steadily kept up, adding melodic layers underneath the improvisational flurry. Drummers Mickey Hart and Jay Lane propelled the improvisation with a restrained pace that matched the intricate interplay between the others onstage.

The nearly 20-minute “Bird Song” jam continuously transitioned through different motifs, the tempo increasing with each subsequent shift. Melodic and rhythmic, the jam took on different textures and styles before winding back to the conclusion of “Bird Song.” Weir mistakenly thought the set was ending but was quickly corrected when his bandmates fired up “Don’t Ease Me In” to put a joyous cap on the opening set.

A joyous “Iko Iko” made for a fun start to the second set. The New Orleans anthem was paired with “Sugaree” coming in after the opener. “Sugaree” is one of a handful of Grateful Dead songs Mayer seems particularly fond of playing. The type that could conceivably have entered his solo repertoire without his D&C association. Chimenti should also be commended for his piano work inside of “Sugaree.”

With the first two songs of the set logged, Dead & Co. got going with a sequence stringing together the faithful couple of “China Cat Sunflower” with “I Know You Rider” that segued into “Uncle John’s Band.” A subdued transition between “China” and “Rider” was a scant smattering of improv. The bridge between “Rider” and “Uncle John’s Band” was a bit more eventful. The band members cycled through a variety of passages inside the “Rider” framework, roaring to a frenzied peak before firing up “UJB.”

“Uncle John’s Band” opened up into a flowing improvised space with call-and-response interaction between Mayer and Chimenti answering on Fender Rhodes. The back-and-forth between guitarist and keyboardist maintained momentum and was bolstered by the responsive rhythm section, particularly Burbridge’s agile playing, and Weir’s sharp interjections. Once fully outside of the “Uncle John’s Band” formation, Burbridge shifted into another gear, fearlessly letting a barrage of bass notes fly alongside Meyer’s tension-building soloing.

Hart and Burbridge then commanded the free-form “Drums” section of the second set. Attacking The Beast and its vast array of percussion instruments, Hart and Burbridge filled the amphitheater with dynamic sounds and pulsating beats. Hart’s nightly free-form exploration commenced as he moved to The Beam for several additional minutes of mind-bending, core-shaking drone.

Weir, Mayer, Burbridge and Chimenti reconvened onstage and were off to explore “Space.” The sweet and gentle “Space” produced some melodic passages while unfolding with more restraint than some other sequences on the tour.

Weir’s triumphant “Hell In A Bucket” surfaced out of the prevailing “Space” segment and laid out an inviting groove to set up the end of the set and saw Mayer utilizing his Charvel Custom Shop San-Dimas guitar. Weir then howled the wistful Jerry Garcia/Robert Hunter ballad “Wharf Rat” landing with an emotional flourish. A song that dates back to the Dead’s earliest days, Bobby “Blue” Bland’s “Turn On Your Lovelight” sizzled into the closer slot with Weir again gloriously howling the lyrics to the classic blues tune.

Tuesday’s encore consisted of “Touch Of Grey,” sending the Deer Creek faithful off with a promise of persistence as Dead & Company played their final notes at the storied venue.

After a few days off, Dead & Company’s Final Tour resumes on Saturday with the first of three shows in Boulder, Colorado. Watch livestreams of Dead & Company’s Folsom Field shows and the remainder of The Final Tour via nugs.net

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