Dead & Company Unveils Version Of Hunter/Garcia ’70s Classic In Columbus

A lengthy fall tour from Dead & Company moved to Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio on Saturday night. The band featuring Grateful Dead members Bob Weir, Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann along with Oteil Burbridge, Jeff Chimenti and John Mayer worked through many heavy rotation staples from the GD live repertoire and also threw in their first version of a song the Dead only played a handful of times.

The sextet opened with a Mayer-sung “Cold Rain & Snow” featuring a memorable solo from the guitarist. Mayer then traded verses with Weir on “The Music Never Stopped” before singing “Row Jimmy” by his lonesome. Bobby fit “Me & My Uncle” into the next slot and D&C then moved on to “Cumberland Blues.” One of the first Dead songs John Mayer showed love for was “Althea” and his passion for the tune came through in Columbus ahead of the expected “One More Saturday Night,” which at least came in an unusual spot – first set closer.

Dead & Company treated fans to a seamless second set as the only break in the music between 9:14 and 11 p.m. was the encore break. Up first was a riveting “St. Stephen” featuring impressive blues-laden licks from Mayer. The tempo was slow and a funny moment took place when the band approached the “Lady fingers” verses as Mayer or Weir wasn’t sure who should be singing that part. Bobby eventually stepped up and may have flubbed a line or two, but D&C eventually charged back into the end of the song and the jam. John and Oteil’s interplay during the “Stephen” jam was one of the highlights of the night and the pair helped increase the tempo to a reasonable level.

The second set continued with a beautiful “He’s Gone” song by Mayer and Weir. “China Cat Sunflower” came next, but instead of moving into its traditional partner of “I Know You Rider” Dead & Company had other plans. The six-piece fit their first ever version of Hunter/Garcia’s underrated Shakedown Street contribution “If I Had The World To Give” between “China” and “Rider.” Oteil sung lead on the song which the Dead only performed three times in concert between August 30, 1978 and November 20, 1978.

A raucous singalong “Rider” gave way to the evening’s “Drums” segment. Hart and Kreutzman focused on banging out jungle beats before they worked in pre-recorded samples. Mickey had a few minutes playing The Beam ahead of the instrumentalists returning for a wild “Space” sequence. Bobby, John, Jeff and Oteil spent longer seeking out structures to jam on during “Space” than usual. Eventually, the drummers returned and for a few glorious minutes Dead & Company explored completely new ground before they began a Weir-sung “Stella Blue.” Weir was in charge throughout the rest of the set as he then led a cover of Bob Dylan’s “All Along The Watchtower” and his own party song “Sugar Magnolia.” For the encore, the sextet said farewell to Ohio with a semi-acoustic “Ripple.”

Dead & Company now heads to Charlotte on Tuesday night. As always, a live webcast is available via livedead.co.

Watch pro-shot video from last night’s show thanks to livedead.co:

[Cold Rain & Snow]

[St. Stephen]

Setlist (via Ratdog.org)

Set One: Cold Rain And Snow (jm), The Music Never Stopped (bw. jm), Row Jimmy (jm), Me And My Uncle > (bw) Cumberland Blues (all), Althea (jm), One More Saturday Night (bw)

Set Two: St. Stephen > (all) He’s Gone > (bw. jm) China Cat Sunflower > (bw) If I Had The World To Give > (ob) I Know You Rider > (all) Drums > Space > Jam > Stella Blue > (bw) All Along The Watchtower > (bw) Sugar Magnolia (bw)

Encore: Ripple (bw, jm)