Not Fade Away: Dead & Company Deliver Playing In The Sand Finale

Dead & Company wrapped their first run of 2023 in a year that will see Grateful Dead offshoot’s Final Tour with the third of three destination concerts at the Moon Palace in Riviera Cancún, Mexico. The Playing In The Sand finale boasted a first set excursion on “Cassidy,” stellar second set jams and a three-song encore.

Dead & Company kicked off the first set with “Cold Rain And Snow” that saw John Mayer handle lead vocals and playing his replica of Jerry Garcia’s “Wolf” guitar once again. Mayer had a bit of trouble with the song’s cyclical riff but made up for it by peeling off some rapid-fire licks over a groove. The vocalists harmonized well together on the choruses throughout.

Next, the opening strains of “Cassidy” cascaded over the beach before guitarist Bob Weir ran the band through one of his signature songs. After the final “fare thee well now” segment the sextet jumped into a loose, jazz-tinged jam courtesy of keyboardist Jeff Chimenti’s piano accents with Mayer leaving a trail of licks behind him like seabird footprints in the sand. Bassist Oteil Burbridge bubbled underneath it all with bounding riffs on his six-string. The sextet then swerved into a more “Cassidy” sounding framework and pulled off a nice transposed section before dropping the final “flight of the seabirds.”

Burbridge then led the band through “High Time.” Oteil always does a fantastic job with the songs he sings lead on and the seaside “High Time” was no different. Mayer had a bit of a guitar gaff at the beginning which he laughed off and made up for with a tasty solo before Oteil brought the tune home. “Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo” came next with Bobby showing off his pipes. Mayer had some spicy soloing in store for the number along with some saloon-style piano from Chimenti. Weir reeled off a ride before sliding into the third verse with the vocalists vamping on the final chorus and heading down the “Rio Grande-o,” which boasted some more saucy licks from John, a few of which got a rise out of Oteil.

Next up, Mayer led D&C through “Sugaree” and also laced the tune with a variety of riffage from bubbling to bluesy, underpinned by rolling basslines from Oteil and sparkling piano from Chimenti. The final solo from Mayer saw fretboard fireworks alongside rhythm compliments from Weir and a spirited crescendo ahead of the final verse and chorus. The band then eased their way into “The Wheel,” which rolled into a spacious jam that saw Mayer playing off of Chimenti.

John then worked out some rhythm work over a buoyant bassline from Oteil that saw drummers Bill Kreutzmann and Mickey Hart surging, giving the jam an almost disco feel before things cooled back down. Oteil then thumped out a driving bassline that led the band back into “The Wheel.” After the “won’t you try” refrain the band got into an island-y jam that waxed straight reggae and saw the vocalists playing with the refrain before dropping nicely into “New Speedway Boogie.” Bobby led the band through a particularly bluesy rendition of the Workingman’s Dead classic punctuated by Mayer’s proficiency in the genre. Bobby would belt away the darkness over a raved-up vamp on the coda to conclude the first frame.

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

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Dead & Company — with Jay Lane filling in for Kreutzmann — launched the second set with “China Cat Sunflower.” Mayer tore off some tasty licks to bridge “China” and “I Know You Rider” with Oteil dropping some serious low end underneath. Billy then emerged and sat down on his throne with Jay Lane giving him a kiss on the way out. The band soon dropped into “Rider” featuring some sticky harmonies ahead of a ride from Mayer and Bobby leading a “headlight” charge. Mayer had some more riffage in store for the tune before kicking it over to Chimenti on piano ahead of an a capella out.

The band then dropped into “He’s Gone,” with Weir and Mayer trading vocal duties. Mayer and Chimenti showed off their chemistry once again with an interlaced guitar/organ passage before John ripped into a solo ahead of the bridge. Jay Lane would pop back in to fill in for Billy just ahead of the “nothing’s gonna bring him back refrain” followed by a bluesy “He’s Gone” vamp during which Billy returned. After fading out “He’s Gone,” the sextet jumped into the favorite “Help On The Way.”

Mayer led the band through the Blues For Allah opener and on into its companion song “Slipknot!” complete with a vibey jam that waxed jazzy. Mayer and Chimenti linked back up on wild guitar runs and crunchy electric piano accents respectively. This went on for some time. The sextet then hit the crescendo back into “Slipnot!” and flew into “Franklin’s Tower” with Mayer resuming his role on lead vocals. Chimenti shot a B3 laser at Mayer that got a rise out of the guitarist ahead of a sweet drop out on the last verse, which saw some guitar melding between Mayer and Weir ahead of the final chorus and the sequence’s big ending.

It was then time for “Drums,” which saw the return of Goose’s Ben Atkind in The Rhythm Devils’ world. Oteil also got in on the fun, briefly hopping on Billy’s kit before joining the other three drummers for the finale. Then it was The Beam time. As always, Mickey got the weirdness going before the guitar and keyboard players trickled in and delivered a sparkly “Space” which showed signs of “The Other One.”

The band simmered on the intro before Oteil whipped things to a boil ahead of the big drop. A jazzy, cool-handed “The Other One” followed as the band began another long cook before Bobby slipped in the first verse. Mayer would experiment with some harmonics with Chimenti joining him on electric piano as the jam unfolded. Bobby brought the song home with the second verse as the vocalists rallied around him on the chorus.

Next, “Standing On The Moon” fell into the ballad slot. Bobby broke out his slide before singing the poignant number, which references the Gulf of Mexico among other locales. “Not Fade Away” then emerged from “Standing On The Moon.” The vocalists came together for the Buddy Holly & The Crickets sing-along to wrap set two complete with the song’s usual fanfare.

Dead & Company returned to encore with a funky “U.S. Blues” which boasted a walking bassline from Oteil and bluesy organ from Chimenti as Weir and Mayer swapped vocal duties. Both guitarists made an impact on the tune with Bobby on slide and Mayer tearing into each solo. Bobby then tied Playing in The Sand together with a rollicking “Sunshine Daydream” after the band kicked off the run with “Sugar Magnolia.” But it wasn’t over yet as Bobby led the band into a beautiful “Brokedown Palace” to seal Playing In The Sand.

Next up for Dead & Company is an appearance at New Orleans Jazz Fest. The band will then embark on their Final Tour. Watch pro-shot videos of the opening songs from each set at Tuesday’s Playing In The Sand finale.

Stream an audience recording of last night’s show taped by Eric Lugassy: