Full Show Pro-Shot Video: Tom Hamilton & Holly Bowling’s Acoustic Explorations Of The Grateful Dead

The music of the Grateful Dead has been interpreted in scores of inventive and unique ways over the years. On Saturday night the band’s songbook was once again the source material as guitarist Tom Hamilton and pianist Holly Bowling teamed up to present Acoustic Explorations Of The Grateful Dead at The Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, New York.

While acoustic renditions of Dead songs aren’t unusual, this pairing offered a new bent at the historic rock palace. Bowling, who is best known for her classical piano background and Hamilton, who has been delivering high-octane versions of the material as a member of Joe Russo’s Almost Dead, delivered a two-set affair that was more akin to a recital than a raucous rock concert.

The Ghost Light band mates opened up the night with the pairing of “Help On The Way” > “Slipknot!” with Hamilton handling vocals as he would throughout the majority of the night. A gorgeous, sprawling exploratory half-hour-plus rendering of “Eyes Of World” followed that featured a number of inventive movements and transitions. A tender “Stella Blue” emerged out the Wake Of The Flood track with Hamilton and Bowling joined by vocalist Raina Mullen next, as the trio swapped verses on “Jack Straw” to close out their first frame.

The night’s second set got going with a lengthy take on “St. Stephen” that saw the pair include the song’s “William Tell Bridge” portion that the Grateful Dead would often segue into “The Eleven” during their psychedelic ballroom days. Last night Bowling and Hamilton chose to have it work its way into “Slipknot!” instead, with “Franklin’s Tower” then completing the triumvirate that got started earlier in the evening. A tender and emotional “Wharf Rat” followed with the pair returning back to “Franklin’s Tower.” Mullen emerged once again as the trio delivered “Cassidy” to bring the set to an end. Bowling and Hamilton returned to close out the night with “Brokedown Palace.”

Watch pro-shot video of the entire show provided by Relix, listen to full show audio and check out the setlist below:

Audio | Taped by Keith Litzenberger

Setlist

Set I: Help On The Way> Slipknot!> Eyes of the World > Stella Blue > Jack Straw*

Set II: St. Stephen > William Tell > Slipknot! > Franklin’s Tower > Wharf Rat, Franklin’s Tower, Cassidy*

Encore: Brokedown Palace

*Raina Mullen – Vocals