Sturgill Simpson Joins Dead & Company For Magical ‘Morning Dew’ In San Francisco

Dead & Company continued to celebrate 60 years of Grateful Dead music on Saturday with the second of three concerts at San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park. Opener Sturgill “Johnny Blue Skies” Simpson helped the sextet end their first set with “Morning Dew,” while Grahame Lesh stood in on bass for “St. Stephen” during the second set.

Sturgill Simpson kicked off Saturday’s action with a memorable performance in front of the approximately 60,000 fans gathered for the concert on the Polo Field. Simpson and his talented touring band of guitarist Laur Joamets, keyboardist Robbie Crowell, drummer Miles Miller and bassist Kevin Black didn’t show any rust despite the set only being their second since ending the spring leg of their Who The F**K Is Johnny Blues Skies? tour on May 24.

The quintet romped through 11 songs without taking any breaks to make the most of the allotted 75 minutes. Simpson bookended his set with “A Good Look” and “Fastest Horse In Town” off his 2019 album SOUND & FURY. The LP was also represented by “All Said And Done” and “Best Clockmaker On Mars,” the latter of which featured a rousing jam on Rage Against The Machine’s “Bulls On Parade.” Other highlights included “Welcome To Earth (Pollywog),” a cover of Procol Harum’s “A Whiter Shade Of Pale” and a “Brace For Impact (Live A Little)” with a tease of “China Cat Sunflower.”

Dead & Company — Grateful Dead guitarist Bob Weir and drummer Mickey Hart along with keyboardist Jeff Chimenti, drummer Jay Lane, bassist Oteil Burbridge and guitarist John Mayer — were introduced by San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie. The band came out at 6:20 p.m. and lit into a rare cover of “In The Midnight Hour.” Weir handled lead vocals on the band’s ninth-ever version of the Wilson Pickett classic.

John Mayer stepped into the spotlight for the “Bertha” that filled the two-slot. “Bertha” gave way to a powerful “Jack Straw” in which Mayer and Weir traded vocal duties. Bobby was in fine form on Saturday after several shaky moments on Friday. The band then fired up a “Dear Mr. Fantasy” that showcased the stellar organ work of Jeff Chimenti. The Traffic cover came complete with its companion “Hey Jude Reprise.”

Next up was “Passenger,” a song associated with late Grateful Dead bassist Phil Lesh. Lesh composed the music for the Terrapin Station track featuring lyrics credited to Peter Monk. Bobby belted out “Passenger” on Saturday and, as with Dead & Co.’s eight previous versions, included an extra set of Monk’s lyrics.

The set moved forward with a spirited “Brown-Eyed Women” that saw Mayer and Chimenti propel each other to great heights. The guitarist and keyboardist both soloed at the same time as they exchanged knowing glances. Then, Sturgill Simpson emerged for an otherworldly “Morning Dew.”

Simpson belted out the post-apocalyptic tale penned by Canadian folk artist Bonnie Dobson in 1962 that the Grateful Dead adapted for inclusion in their repertoire. “Morning Dew” was a highlight of Sturgill’s appearances with Weir & Friends at the Dead Ahead destination events held in Mexico in January of 2024 and 2025. Last night’s version was also a winner thanks to Simpson’s potent vocal delivery and stunning guitar solo. John Mayer took an incendiary solo of his own to bring “Morning Dew” and the first set to a close.

Dead & Company returned after nearly 40 minutes to get the second set underway with “Uncle John’s Band.” The sextet then delivered the holy triumvariate of “Help On The Way,” “Slipknot!” and “Franklin’s Tower.” The band patiently worked through the instrumental “Slipknot!” with Mayer inserting teases of the “Ghostbusters” theme and The Who’s “Eminence Front.” John Mayer also garnered a huge cheer when he sang “If you get confused, listen to Chimenti play” to introduce the keyboardist’s “Franklin’s Tower” solo.

Mayer then brought out Phil Lesh’s son, Grahame Lesh, to play bass on “St. Stephen.” Burbridge sat out the song as he did on Friday when Grahame joined the band for “Box Of Rain” and “Playing In The Band.” Grahame Lesh shared vocal duties on the lengthy “Stephen,” which featured fretboard fireworks galore from John Mayer.

The instrumentalists left the stage after “St. Stephen” to mark the start of the evening’s “Drums” excursion. Mickey Hart began on Beam but quickly moved to join Jay Lane and Oteil Burbridge in pounding out tribal rhythms. Psychedelic imagery was displayed on the screens behind the Rhythm Devils, and then Hart went back to the Beam. Mickey also dialed up soundscapes from Random Access Musical Universe (RAMU) database.

Mayer, Burbridge, Chimenti and Weir returned for a trip to “Space.” The musicians connected on a short “Spanish Jam” to lay the groundwork for a transition into “Days Between.” Weir impressively channeled the late Jerry Garcia on the last great song Bobby’s fellow GD guitarist wrote with lyricist Robert Hunter. Bobby was also in the spotlight on the “Truckin'” that trailed the ballad.

“Truckin'” gave way to a take on the traditional “Cold Rain & Snow” sung by John Mayer. The hard 10 p.m. curfew was quickly approaching, so the band decided not to leave the stage before Weir kicked off the tear-jerking “Brokedown Palace” finale. Bobby and John Mayer co-helmed the emotion-laden American Beauty gem.

Dead & Company’s Grateful Dead 60th anniversary celebration ends today (with Trey Anastasio Band).

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Dead & Company and opening sets from Golden Gate Park livestreams are available via nugs.

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