Dead & Company Let It Grow In St. Louis

Dead & Company brought their inaugural tour to the Scottrade Center in St. Louis on Friday. Grateful Dead members Bob Weir, Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann along with Oteil Burbridge, John Mayer and Jeff Chimenti continued to grow the repertoire by debuting two more Weir classics as part of a show that also featured an “Eyes Of The World” that cinched a spot on the list of highlights from the tour.

The six-piece came out of the gates with an extended “Shakedown Street” sung by Bobby. Mayer had his first turn leading the band on “Brown-Eyed Women.” The two guitarists continued to trade off the lead singer baton as Weir fronted the group on “New Minglewood Blues,” “The Music Never Stopped” and the tour debut of “Black- Throated Wind” in the opening stanza, while John was up front for “They Love Each Other” and “Sugaree.”

Dead & Company kicked off the second set with a Weir-sung “Iko Iko.” The group then embarked on a 20-minute “Eyes Of The World” that featured outstanding solos from Oteil, John and Jeff. Next up was the evening’s other tour debut – “Let It Grow” – which now leaves our list of songs missing in action. Bobby was in fine voice on “Let It Grow” as he was for much of the night. “Terrapin Station” followed and led into “Drums”/”Space”. “The Wheel” slid out of “Space” and then gave way to the tour’s second “Looks Like Rain.” A rollicking “Sugar Magnolia” brought the second set to a close, while “Ripple” served as encore. The sextet heads to Minneapolis tonight.

Videos (captured by Connor Holleb)

[Let It Grow]

[The Music Never Stopped]

[Black-Throated Wind]

[Eyes Of The World]

Audio (taped by Scott T)

Setlist (via RatDog.org)

Set One: Shakedown Street (bw) > Brown-Eyed Women (jm), New Minglewood Blues (bw), They Love Each Other (jm), Black-Throated Wind (bw), Sugaree (jm), The Music Never Stopped (bw)

Set Two: Iko Iko (bw), Eyes of the World (bw) > Let it Grow (bw) > Terrapin Station (jm,bw) > Drums > Space > The Wheel (all) > Looks Like Rain (bw) > Sugar Magnolia (bw)

Encore: Ripple (bw, jm)