Dead & Company Concludes Summer Tour 2022 In New York City

Dead & Company wrapped up their 2022 summer tour with the second of two concerts at Citi Field In New York City on Saturday. As he did the night previous, drummer Bill Kreutzmann played the entire show which saw a bust out cover of “Wang Dang Doodle” as well as the first “Deal” encore.

Dead & Company kicked off their tour closer with “Playing In The Band.” Guitarist Bob Weir led the band through one of his signature songs and his voice was maybe feeling the effects of a long tour. But Bobby belted it nonetheless. The band jumped into the jam with some shimmering guitar from John Mayer and Oteil Burbridge dropping bass bombs. John then linked up with keyboardits Jeff Chimenti on piano as things took a jazz-fusion turn. Kreutzmann and his fellow Rythm Devil Mickey Hart then brought the group into a kicked-back groove with Mayer continuing to solo before the band coalesced and segued smoothly into “Uncle John’s Band.”

Mayer had some pretty runs in store for the intro before hopping into the “UJB” riff proper and toggling between it and improvisation. The vocalists came together to sing the tune and Bobby’s voice sounded much more warmed up, singing a high part nicely. After a few verses, John continued his tasty lick campaign with a short but sweet ride. Following the minor coda, D&C returned to their more free-form jazz format with Mayer on some flanged guitar and Oteil reeling off rolling runs on his six-string bass. John and Jeff would team back up to swap riffage before the former slid back into the “UJB” coda riff.

“Dear Mr. Fantasy” fell in the third slot. Bobby handled Brent Mydland’s high-register vocal part well. Following the wordless bridge, Mayer tore into a bluesy solo. Weir and Mayer came back to sing along with some choice Hammond organ stylings from Chimenti. The band flowed from the final bridge into “Hey Jude Reprise.” “Ramble On Rose” bubbled up beyond “Hey Jude Reprise.” Although experiencing some more vocal issues, the crowd was behind Bobby, especially on the “New York City” lyric. As with the night previous, Weir played one of the D’Angelico guitars designed by AJ Masthay set to be auctioned off for charity at the end of the tour. John had some twang-tinged runs in-store for “ROR” ahead of some fitting honky tonk piano from Jeff.

Mayer then led the group through a jumping “Brown-Eyed Women,” tearing into his solos with gusto using a finger pick right hand technique sans pick. John and Jeff continued some of the stellar chemistry they’ve come across over the past few years, especially on this tour and especially on “BEW.” Next, the band eased into “Jack Straw.” John presided over a pretty sequence between verses with Oteil adding some nice bass touches underneath before “leaving Texas.” John had some smoking stuff up his sleeve ahead of the final chorus. The beloved tune would bring the first frame, along with a trio of Europe ‘72 classics, to a close.

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

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Dead & Company had some more jazz-inflected jams in store to open the second set, which interestingly segued into the “Truckin’” build-up. The road anthem references many cities but there was only one Citi Field was interested in. Oteil would drop some driving arpeggios as Mayer got into his solo with some fiery blues riffage and Burbridge switching to more rolling bubbly notes. On the “busted” line, the iconic picture of Jerry Garcia’s mug shot from the 1970 New Orleans bust, which inspried the line in the song, flashed on the screen and got a big cheer. A thunderous drop came after the second build and the sextet landed on a bluesy romp that led into the first “Wang Dang Doodle” (Willie Dixon) in over five years, which boasted a Bobby solo. John threw a capo on for his solo after which the band cooled down quickly and headed into “Scarlet Begonias.”

Weir helemd the From The Mars Hotel cut, which featured a spirited solo from Mayer spurred on by a fantastic Rhythm Devils build-up. The jam started low, with John quietly flying around the fretboard as it built and saw extended interplay between Mayer and Chimenti before getting back to the “Scarlet” riff. The band wasted no time diving into an interesting “Franklin’s Tower” out of “Scarlet Begonias.”

Dead & Company has paired “Scarlet” with a variety of tunes on this tour including “The Wheel,” “Playing In The Band” and “Viola Lee Blues.” The Citi Bank 2022 version had a nice funky groove with Mayer almost teasing what sounded like ABB’s “Blue Sky” during one of his solos. John also changed up a lyric to, “if you get confused listen to Chimenti play,” after which Jeff embarked on an outstanding Hammond solo with a crunchy, full Leslie tone. An almost “Franklin’s Tower” reprise-like sequence underpinned the final verse with Mayer wailing away between lines.

The opening strains of “St. Stephen” followed. John reeled of some fiery blues licks throughout the Aoxomoxoa opener. The improvisation got underway with some big hits ahead of Mayer whipping up some psychedelic blues licks which led into a swampy, bottomed-out groove on which Oteil had a lot to say. The band then marched their way out of the bayou into a swinging shuffle with more tasty licks from Mayer ahead of a return to “Stephen” and on into the psychedelia of the “William Tell Bridge” into “The Eleven.” A sequence expansive in its sonic scope split the two songs. The sextet returned to their big sound following “The Eleven” with Burbridge all over the six-string providing a roiling foundation for Mayer before the sextet cooled down into “Drums.”

While Billy and Mickey started out “Drums,” they were soon joined by honorary Rhythm Devils Jay Lane and Oteil Burbridge not long into the percussive section. Mickey began “Space” by bowing The Beam before strumming it and shaking it. The band returned to explore “Space” further, somewhat sinisterly, and ending up in a vibey sequence and on into Bob Dylan’s “All Along The Watchtower” with Mayer adding a bit from Jimi Hendrix’s definitive version. Bobby led the band through the first two verses before John reeled off a smoking solo. After the “wind began to howl line,” Mayer jumped into a fantastic wahed-out melodic solo.

Next up, a big “Morning Dew” drop. Bobby led the band through a seasoned, shimmering rendition of the Bonnie Dobson tune capped off by an expressive solo from Mayer with the band providing a dynamic foundation for him to do so. While D&C didn’t leave the stage ahead of the encore, Weir would don a t-shirt with the female symbol, Stealie and fist of solidarity before John jumped into the rollicking opening riff to “Deal.”

The sextet simmered things way down for Mayer to start bringing the jam to a boil which he did with help from Jeff on organ and bounding basslines from Burbridge. Weir, Mayer and Chimenti then vamped on a vocal jam before Oteil brought bass back in. Dead & Compnay then flowed into “Playin’ Reprise” to bookend the show and conclude Summer Tour 2022.

Watch pro-shot video of the first and second set openers below:

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