Tennessee Judd: Wynonna Joins Dead & Company At Playing In The Sand

Dead & Company returned to the stage on Saturday to kick off their final Playing In The Sand destination event at Moon Palace Cancún in Rivera Cancún, Mexico. The band featuring Grateful Dead members Bob Weir, Bill Kreutzmann and Mickey Hart accompanied by John Mayer, Oteil Burbridge and Jeff Chimenti brought out Wynonna Judd for “Ramble On Rose” during the first set and a trio of drummers/percussionists as part of the evening’s “Drums” sequence in the second set.

Playing In The Sand (PITS) is back after a two-year hiatus. The 2022 installment was canceled at the last minute due to “spiking COVID-19 cases” after both Bill Kreutzmann and John Mayer pulled out of the event. Last year’s PITS was supposed to be held over two consecutive weekends but the event has been kept to one weekend this time around. Playing In The Sand 2023 comes ahead of a summer run for the group that will be its “Final Tour.”

John Mayer emerged using a replica of Jerry Garcia’s iconic “Wolf” guitar. Mayer took to Instagram before the performance to reveal the axe was crafted by Bill Asher of Asher Guitars, who was commissioned by original “Wolf” creator Doug Irwin to recreate the guitar.

Dead & Company began Saturday’s show with a crowd-pleasing “Sugar Magnolia” led by Weir who passed the baton to Mayer for a nicely extended “Deal.” The sextet then worked through a 14-minute “Shakedown Street” that saw Mayer show off the “Wolf” replica with fretboard fireworks aplenty. “Shakedown” gave way to “Ramble On Rose” with Bobby welcoming Wynonna to the stage at the beginning of the song. Weir sat-in with Judd last week at Brandi Carlile’s Girls Just Wanna Weekend destination event, which was held a few miles away at the Hard Rock Hotel Riviera Maya.

“Ramble On Rose” featured Wynonna Judd and Bobby Weir sharing lead vocal duties. The pair had previously teamed up for a studio version of “Ramble On Rose” released in February of 2020. Wynonna crushed her vocals and received huge cheers from the crowd in Mexico. “I love you too!” Judd proclaimed in the midst of her appearance. “There’s only one of them,” Weir said as Wynonna vacated the stage.

Saturday’s first set moved forward with a pairing of “They Love Each Other” and “Tennessee Jed.” Both contained effusive Mayer solos as did the “Jack Straw” that followed. Dead & Company sealed the frame with a rousing “Casey Jones.”

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

Want more Dead & Co stats?

Visit JamBase’s The Skinny Hub

More Skinny

The sextet selected “St. Stephen” to open their second set on Saturday. Dead & Co. turned in an adventurous 15-minute rendition in which they altered tempos a few times. Next came “Dear Mr. Fantasy,” which along with its “Hey Jude Reprise” finish was the night’s lone non-Grateful Dead original. Drummer Jay Lane contributed to the Traffic cover. Lane, who subbed for Bill Kreutzmann at a number of Dead & Company shows last year and the previous fall, shared Mickey Hart’s kit.

Dead & Company powered through Weir-helmed renditions of “Estimated Prophet” and “Eyes Of The World” next. The +30-minute sequence included plenty of jamming. Mayer and Chimenti connected on a jazzy interlude within “Estimated Prophet,” while Burbridge delivered a stellar solo towards the end of “Eyes.” The instrumentalists left after “Eyes” as Hart and Kreutzmann embarked on “Drums.” The pair were soon joined by Burbridge, Lane, Tedeschi Trucks Band drummer Issac Eady and percussionist Wally Ingram (Bob Weir & Phil Lesh/Timbuk3/Stockholm Syndrome) for the 12-minute percussive trip.

Eventually, Hart remained onstage by his lonesome to provide droning tones from The Beam before Weir, Mayer, Chimenti and Burbridge explored “Space.” The drummers returned in time for a swerve into “Cumberland Blues.” Bobby and John sang the Workingman’s Dead classic which saw Mayer string together impressive licks within his solo. The six-piece then took it down a notch for a beautiful “Stella Blue” passionately belted out by Bob Weir. A day-appropriate “One More Saturday Night” ended the set.

John Mayer had acoustic guitar in hand as Dead & Company concluded their first of three Playing In The Sand 2023 performances with a “Ripple” encore. Weir went on to collaborate with Goose at the event on Sunday night. Dead & Co. returns to the stage tonight. Purchase livestreams through nugs.net.

Listen to Saturday’s show via an audience recording taped by EJL95:

Watch pro-shot video from the start of each set via nugs.net below: