Playing With The Band: Goose Drummers Join Dead & Company In Mexico

Dead & Company held the second of three headlining performances at their Playing In The Sand destination event in Riviera Cancún, Mexico. Goose drummer Ben Atkind and percussionist Jeff Arevalo came out during the second set to join D&C drummers Bill Kreutzmann and Mickey Hart and bassist (playing drums) Oteil Burbridge for the free-form “Drums” segment.

Monday’s first set got underway with guitarist Bob Weir piloting “Scarlet Begonias” while fellow guitarist John Mayer embellished with high register harmonies. Mayer was again playing his custom replica of Jerry Garcia’s “Wolf” guitar built by Bill Asher of Asher Guitars, who was commissioned by original “Wolf” creator Doug Irwin to recreate the guitar. The often paired “Fire On The Mountain” would not come until the end of the first set as “Bertha” slipped into the second slot.

Next up were two songs originally sung by the late co-founding Grateful Dead member Ron “Pigpen” McKernan with Weir leading a cover of “Good Lovin’” and Mayer helming the Pigpen/Robert Hunter co-write, “Mr. Charlie.” Weir’s co-write with the late John Perry Barlow, “Black-Throated Wind” saw action after having been played by D&C just once in all of 2022. A loping, laid-back “Let The Good Times Roll” featured Weir, Mayer and to cheers from the audience keyboardist Jeff Chimenti taking turns singing the verses.

The Dead’s beloved improvisational gateway “Dark Star” oozed into existence, sharpening slowly into shape. The long, loose intro went out to the outer realms before being brought back to focus with Weir delivering the spirited first verse. From there the jam took on a distinct jazz fusion feel, weaving in and out of the familiar “Dark Star” theme. The previously mentioned “Fire On The Mountain,” enthusiastically sung by Burbridge, bounded out of the depths of “Dark Star” and put a joyous cap on the “Scarlet” > “Fire” bookended first set.

Read on after The Skinny for the rest of the recap and more.

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Dead & Company started the second set of their second Playing In The Sand performance this year with the festival’s namesake song, “Playing In The Band.” Working around the “Playing” theme, which would appear again later in the set, the ensuing jam progressed, inching further away from the “Playing” structure and exploring uncharted territory. A subdued “Brown-Eyed Women” came next and provided a pathway back to “Dark Star” for another heavy dose of improvisation and ultimately landing on the song’s second orbital verse. The audience on the beach under the starry Mexican sky was then treated to “Terrapin Station,” and a lengthy piecing together the multifaceted composition’s many parts.

After arriving at “Terrapin,” Kreutzmann, Hart and Burbridge were left onstage for the night’s “Drums” segment. D&C was joined by Jay Lane, Wally Ingram and Isaac Eady during their night one performance at Playing In The Sand, and on Monday night they were again joined by guest percussionists. Monday’s “Drums” percussive jam was augmented by Goose’s Ben Atkind and Jeff Arevalo who explored various components of the drummers’ massive array of instruments that was adorned with playable sombrero-wearing skeletons. Hart propelled the “Drums” sequence with his RAMU-generated pulses building to an intense series of tension-built peaks.

Hart was then left onstage alone to go deep into drone via his Pythagorean instrument “The Beam.” Soon, Weir, Mayer, Chimenti and Burbridge reemerged to explore free-form improvisation through “Space,” angularly slicing together a psychedelic soundscape. When the drummers came back, the jam continued exploring spacey territory, anchoring itself with elements of “Playing In The Band.”

The drawn-out improvised segment sharply ended with a quick start to “Althea,” which saw Mayer laying out a typically fiery solo. Bobby then was in charge of a cover of Bob Dylan’s “All Along The Watchtower” that showcased Chimenti’s organ skills. Another cover, the ever-poignant “Morning Dew,” was selected as the second set’s final song.

The encore kicked off with a welcoming “Uncle John’s Band,” which was a final avenue for improvisation. The “UJB” jam wound its way around to a “Playin’ Reprise” punctuation, drawing an end to the show.

Playing In The Sand concludes this evening with Dead & Company performing at 5 p.m. ET.. A livestream is available via nugs.net.

Audio (Taped by Eric Lugassy)