Dead & Company Kicks Off 2021 Tour In Raleigh

Dead & Company tour began on Monday at Coastal Credit Union Music Park at Walnut Creek in Raleigh, North Carolina nearly 19 months after the sextet last took the stage. The band featuring Grateful Dead members Bob Weir, Bill Kreutzmann and Mickey Hart as well as John Mayer, Oteil Burbridge and Jeff Chimenti focused on Hunter/Garcia classics in the first set and worked the D&C debut of “Death Don’t Have No Mercy” into last night’s second set.

“Touch Of Grey” with its fitting refrain of “we will get by, we will survive” served as opener for the first Dead & Company show after a forced hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Weir handled lead vocals on “Touch” before sharing frontman duties with Mayer on “Shakedown Street.” The latter featured a different ending as the band went without the “shake it down now” vocals. Next up was a nicely extended “Deal” complete with powerful bluesy licks from John Mayer, who also sang the song.

Weir returned to the spotlight to lead his mates through “Tennessee Jed.” Then, John Mayer fronted the group on “Brown Eyed Women” ahead of a Bobby-sung “New Speedway Boogie.” Last night’s second set got underway with an 18-minute “Playing In The Band.” The six-piece showed little rust as they took “Playin'” deep before revving into “Truckin’.” Bobby delivered the lyrics in authoritative fashion and the jam bled into Dead & Company’s first and only cover of blues gem “Spoonful” by Willie Dixon since June 10, 2017 as per OtherOnes.net.

Weir handled vocals on “Spoonful” which gave way to “Playing In The Band Reprise.” The improvisational highlight of the night came next as the sextet treated fans to the beloved “Help On The Way”/”Slipknot!”/”Franklin’s Tower” suite. “Slipknot!” featured impressive interplay between Mayer and Chimenti and the rest of the band quickly followed the patterns the soloists laid down. Keyboardist Jeff Chimenti also shined on a +13-minute “Franklin’s Tower” that brought the stellar trifecta to a close.

The Rhythm Devils, Kreutzmann and Hart, were left on-stage after “Franklin’s” for their nightly “Drums” segment. Mickey and Bill pounded out tribal rhythms and were soon joined by Oteil for the excursion. Hart then headed over to the Beam to lay the groundwork for “Space.” The instrumentalists varied between pretty and evil soundscapes before the drummers returned for “The Wheel.” Weir then powerfully sang Dead & Company’s debut version of Reverend Gary Davis’ “Death Don’t Have No Mercy.” D&C uncorked an emotional “Not Fade Away” to conclude the second set and concert.

While the evening ended without an encore due to weather forcing a late start, fans sang “you know our love will not fade away” as the band left the stage and as they departed the venue. Dead & Company continues the tour in Bristow, Virginia on Wednesday. A livestream is available via LiveDead.co.

Watch pro-shot video of the set openers via Dead & Company’s YouTube channel as well as commentary from David Gans and Gary Lambert below:

See fan-shot “Help”/”Slip”/”Franklin’s” video captured by The Zalewski Law Firm:

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