[UPDATED] Dead & Company Keep The Bob Dylan Cover Debuts Coming In Burgettstown

On Wednesday night Dead & Company featuring Grateful Dead members Bob Weir, Bill Kreutzmann and Mickey Hart joined by John Mayer, Jeff Chimenti and Oteil Burbridge continued summer tour with a Pittsburgh area show at First Niagara Pavilion in Burgettstown, Pennsylvania. The six-piece had already added a number of Bob Dylan covers to their repertoire, but threw yet another into the mix at a show containing plenty of jams and improvisation in Burgettstown.

Dead & Company kicked off the show with a jam they eventually turned into “Hell A Bucket.” Then, Mayer had his first turn up front for “Bertha.” Earlier this tour the sextet debuted their version of one of the last Grateful Dead songs, “Liberty” and treated Pittsburgh fans to their second-ever rendition on Wednesday. “Liberty” led into the Dead & Company debut of Bob Dylan’s “Maggie’s Farm.” Weir was in fine form as he growled the lyrics to a song he had sung with both the Grateful Dead and RatDog. John Mayer belted “Cold Rain & Snow” ahead of the tour’s second “Looks Like Rain,” while a “Row Jimmy”/”Throwing Stones” sequence ended the set.

An adventurous “Shakedown Street” opened the second set and contained some of the evening’s most impressive improvisation with Mayer, Burbridge and Chimenti each showing why the members of the Dead picked them for the band. Mayer then led an expansive “Uncle John’s Band” ahead of the tour’s second “All Along The Watchtower.” The interesting rendition of “Watchtower” featured a number of tempo changes and a few lyrical miscues from Weir which he acknowledged with waves of his hands. Dead & Company almost turned “Watchtower” into a reggae tune at points of the 11-minute version. The always welcome “China Cat Sunflower” > “I Know You Rider” pairing led into “Drums”/”Space.”

The Rhythm Devils have infused current technology into their nightly “Drums” excursion, at times giving the sequence a jamtronica sound they might have picked up from their shows with the Disco Biscuits. Hart and Kreutzmann mixed the modern sounds with the pounding tribal beats and rhythms that have always been a hallmark of “Drums.” Mickey then moved over to The Beam to give the band’s instrumentalists a base for their free-form “Space” excursion. The slow and throbbing Jerry ballad “Black Peter” emerged out of “Space” and was followed by a quick romp through “Johnny B. Goode.” Dead & Company ended the evening with the tour debut of “In The Midnight Hour” as the encore. Next up for the band is two nights at Fenway Park in Boston on Friday and Saturday. Webcasts are available via nugs.tv.

Full Show Audio (Taped by Sean Fagan)

Videos

[Maggie’s Farm | Captured by Chris Annala]

[Cold Rain & Snow | Captured by Chris Annala]

[Shakedown Street | Captured by Ben Tenney]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1p3rb-1ECiE

[All Along The Watchtower | Captured by Chris Annala]