Full Show Audio & Pro-Shot Video: Dead & Company Visits SPAC

Dead & Company‘s summer run continued on Tuesday night with a visit to Saratoga Performing Arts Center in Saratoga Springs, New York. The band featuring Grateful Dead members Bob Weir, Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann along with John Mayer, Oteil Burbridge and Jeff Chimenti treated fans to an inventive sequence of songs in the second set that saw them split “China Cat Sunflower” and “I Know You Rider” as the opener and closer.

The six-piece came charging out of the gates with “Hell In A Bucket” before Mayer stepped up to sing the blues standard “Next Time You See Me.” Weir then led the ensemble through “Loose Lucy” ahead of an emotional “Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo” featuring Bobby and John splitting vocal duties. Mayer was on fire throughout the “Mississippi Half-Step” solo. Next up was the tour’s second “Looks Like Rain” before D&C served up “Dire Wolf” and a “Lost Sailor” > “Saint Of Circumstance” sequence to conclude the opening frame.

Dead & Company kicked off Tuesday’s second set with “China Cat Sunflower.” The band then revved into “Deal” instead of “China Cat’s” normal partner, “I Know You Rider.” Not only did “Deal” contain a bit of a vocal jam, but the group infused the song with extended solos. A second vocal jam gave way to a “China Doll” that was beautifully sung by Oteil. “Terrapin Station” came next and led into “Drums.” Kreutzmann and Hart pounded out tribal beats and worked a few different themes into the mix. Then, the instrumentalists returned for a brief foray into “Space” that gave way to the tour’s first “All Along The Watchtower.”

After starting “All Along The Watchtower” normally, Dead & Company threw in a reggae groove for a few verses and to begin Mayer’s solo. From there, “Black Peter” filled the ballad slot with Weir handling vocals. The sextet then brought the second set to a close with the expected “I Know You Rider.” Dead & Company concluded the evening by encoring with “Going Down The Road Feelin’ Bad.” The tour continues on Thursday night in Bristow, Virginia.

Watch pro-shot video of “Hell In A Bucket,” “Next Time You See Me,” “Loose Lucy” and “Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo”:

Listen to a recording of Tuesday’s show taped by Bill Goldberg: