Dead & Company Serves Up More Tour Debuts In Darien

On Tuesday night, Dead & Company played their 12th show of the summer as the sextet’s tour continued at Darien Lake Performing Arts Center in Darien, New York. The band has been mining the Grateful Dead repertoire throughout the tour and have performed over 100 different songs since May 30. Dead & Company’s visit to Darien featured five more tour debuts including a Bob Dylan cover the group hadn’t played in nearly two years.

Guitarists John Mayer and Bob Weir, bassist Oteil Burbridge, drummers Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann and keyboardist Jeff Chimenti opened with a “Cold Rain & Snow” sung by Mayer. Weir then fronted “Tennessee Jed” before Mayer stepped back to the front for “Dire Wolf.” The evening’s first tour debut came in the form of a cover of Bob Dylan’s “Queen Jane Approximately.” Bobby sang the tune with passion as D&C dusted off “Queen Jane” for the first time since June 28, 2016.

The show rolled on with Oteil handling lead vocals on the gorgeous “If I Had The World To Give,” a song he’s made one of his signature tunes. Next came a nicely extended “Here Comes Sunshine” and the tour debut of “Little Red Rooster.” Tuesday’s opening stanza concluded with a fierce “Let It Grow” that spanned 16 minutes. “Let It Grow” was the third tour debut of the set as the Weir classic had been on the shelf since November 28, 2017.

Dead & Company kicked off last night’s second set with the beloved New Orleans tune “Iko Iko.” The six-piece then embarked on an adventurous “Dark Star” featuring stellar work from both Mayer and Chimenti. Oteil was at the forefront of a transition into “Truckin'” that emerged out of the multi-faceted “Dark Star” jam. Mayer bounced around the stage throughout the “Truckin'” which gave way to the tour debut of “Smokestack Lightning.”

A series of interesting segues continued with a move from “Smokestack Lightning” into “Dark Star.” Chimenti utilized wild synth tones ahead of Bobby singing the second verse. Weir yelled the “nightfall” lyric over and over before “Dark Star” faded out. John Mayer then played the intro to “Deal” and the rest of the band quickly fell in line. One of the highlights of the night was the group interplay during Mayer’s “Deal” solo. All six members of the band added to a tasty musical stew. Burbridge, Weir and Mayer offered variations of the “Don’t you let that deal go down” lyric before the instrumentalists left The Rhythm Devils to deliver the evening’s “Drums” segment. Hart went immediately to The Beam unlike most nights while Kreutzmann pounded out throbbing beats. Oteil emerged halfway through “Drums” to add to the mix.

A particularly funky “Space” was propelled by Burbridge following “Drums.” Mickey never left the stage as he strummed The Beam during “Space.” The sextet began the slow and tender “Wharf Rat” after Kreutzmann returned. Weir sang the Hunter/Garcia ballad which featured a furious solo from Mayer. Dead & Company went on to conclude the frame with “Casey Jones.” One more surprise awaited in the encore as the group covered Warren Zevon’s “Werewolves Of London” for the first time this tour. Next up for Dead & Company is a show at Blossom Music Center near Cleveland on Wednesday night. A webcast is available via nugs.tv.

Pro-Shot Videos | via nugs.tv

[Cold Rain & Snow]

[Iko Iko]

Fan-Shot Videos | Captured by TheKamherst

[Deal]

[Dark Star]

[Werewolves Of London]

Setlist (via Ratdog.org)

Set One: Cold Rain And Snow (jm), Tennessee Jed (bw), Dire Wolf (jm), Queen Jane Approximately (bw), If I Had The World To Give (ob), Here Comes Sunshine (jm), Little Red Rooster (bw), Let It Grow (bw)

Set Two: Iko Iko (bw), Dark Star v1 > (bw) Truckin’ > (bw) Smokestack Lightning > (bw) Dark Star v2 > (bw) Deal > (jm) Drums > Space > Wharf Rat > (bw) Casey Jones (jm, bw)

Encore: Werewolves Of London (bw, jm)