Dead & Company Offers Jam-Heavy Run Closer At Shoreline

On Saturday night, Dead & Company continued their tour-opening run at Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, California. Following Friday’s night celebratory show, which saw the Grateful Dead spin-off live debut “Mama Tried”, the band offered up a high-energy performance to close out the first weekend of their Summer Tour 2019.

The show opened with a laidback “Bertha” led by John Mayer, followed by “Good Lovin’,” a cover of The Young Rascals’ 1966 hit sporting Bob Weir on vocals. Keeping with the “love” theme, the band segued into “They Love Each Other,” which marked the longest song of the set at 11 minutes and featured a fiery guitar solo and falsetto harmonies from Mayer.

An upbeat take of Johnny Cash’s “Big River” highlighted Jeff Chimenti, with his ragtime-inspired solo playing off Mayer’s lead guitar and serving as a highlight of the set. A grooving “Mr. Charlie,” which Dead & Company debuted last year at The Gorge, continued the frame before the group slowed things down for a meandering “Tennessee Jed.” To close out the set, the band offered up the classic pairing of “Lost Sailor” into “Saint of Circumstance” featuring soaring guitar work from Mayer and expressive vocals from Weir, making for a dramatic finish to the first half of the show.

To open the second set, Dead & Company offered up another classic pairing, with the opening combination of “Chica Cat Sunflower” into “I Know You Rider” ringing in at over 20 minutes. A mournful “Row Jimmy” came ahead of the non-stop segment that built to the finish of the frame, starting with a nearly 11-minute rendition of fan-favorite “Deal.” The psychedelic, percussive first half of “The Other One” led into the sprawling “Drums portion of the night, which saw bassist Oteil Burbridge join the Rhythm Devils’ duo of Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann.

After the full band returned for the brief improvisational “Space,” Dead & Company offer a quick detour through an instrumental rendition of “My Favorite Things,” marking a debut of the iconic track from The Sound of Music. Next, the band quickly returned to “The Other One,” with the three-minute jaunt leading into the set’s final song, a heartfelt “Morning Dew” sung by Weir. For the encore, Dead & Company offered up a patient take on “Uncle John’s Band,” which again saw dynamic interplay between Chimenti and Mayer. A jam based off “Supplication” led into “Playin’ In The Band” reprise to close out the show.

Watch “Bertha” and “China Rider” below, courtesy of nugs.tv:

Pro-Shot Videos via Dead & Company

Bertha

China Cat Sunflower > I Know You Rider

Setlist (via Dead & Company’s Facebook)

Set One: Bertha > Good Lovin’, They Love Each Other, Big River, Mr. Charlie, Tennessee Jed, Lost Sailor > Saint of Circumstance

Set Two: China Cat Sunflower > I Know You Rider, Row Jimmy, Deal > The Other One > Drums > Space > My Favorite Things > The Other One > Morning Dew

Encore One: Uncle John’s Band > Supplication Jam > Playin’ In The Band Reprise