Watch Orebolo Honor Grateful Dead’s Capitol Theatre Legacy During 3-Night Stand
View footage of the acoustic Goose offshoot covering “New Speedway Boogie,” “Jack-A-Roe,” “Tennessee Jed,” “Ship Of Fools” and “U.S. Blues.”
By Scott Bernstein Feb 13, 2024 • 11:20 am PST
The Capitol Theatre is forever linked with the Grateful Dead thanks to the 18 shows the band played at the Port Chester rock palace, guitarist Jerry Garcia calling it one of his two favorite venues in a 1970 interview and bassist Phil Lesh performing over 100 concerts at the venue since 2012. Acoustic Goose offshoot Orebolo acknowledged the connection by fitting five Dead covers into the setlists for their recently completed three-night stand at The Capitol Theatre.
Orebolo — Goose’s Rick Mitarotonda, Peter Anspach and Jeff Arevalo — also had another tie-in to the Grateful Dead. The trio was fresh off an appearance at the inaugural Dead Ahead festival in Riviera Cancún, Mexico. Orebolo’s Dead Ahead set featured collaborations with Sturgill Simpson on his song “Breakers Roar” and Bobby Weir on the Grateful Dead classic “Brokedown Palace.”
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The Capitol Theatre concerts held on February 8, 9 and 10 were each sold out and marked the biggest Orebolo headlining shows yet. Mitarotonda, Anspach and Arevalo mixed stripped-down Goose tunes with a diverse batch of covers to form the setlists. Four Grateful Dead songs were played as well as a traditional from the GD live repertoire done Garcia style.
View the best available video footage of all five covers below:
New Speedway Boogie – February 8
The lone Grateful Dead cover played on opening night was “New Speedway Boogie.” Penned by Jerry Garcia and Robert Hunter in response to the violence that went down at the 1969 Altamont Festival, Orebolo delivered their third performance of the song late in the second set on Thursday, February 8. Currently, fan-shot video featuring about half of the three-piece’s “New Speedway Boogie” is the only available footage on YouTube.
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| jackstrawfromwichita (See 4 videos) | |
| Orebolo (See 16 videos) |
Jack-A-Roe – February 9
“Jack-A-Roe” was played in front of an audience by Orebolo for the first time on February 9, the second night of the Capitol Theatre run. The Grateful Dead unveiled their arrangement of the traditional song on May 13, 1977 and performed “Jack-A-Roe” over 100 additional times through Garcia’s death in 1995. Goose’s lone version came during their acoustic first set at Radio City Music Hall in New York City on June 24, 2022.
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| Dean Novin (See 7 videos) | |
| Orebolo (See 16 videos) |
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Tennessee Jed – February 9
Jerry Garcia and Robert Hunter’s “Tennessee Jed” was performed by Orebolo late in the second set on February 9. The trio had played the Grateful Dead first set favorite six times prior. Debuted by the Dead on opening night of their 1971 Fall Tour, the song was a well-tred staple for the rest of their career. Note the footage above was captured by venue owner Pete Shapiro and shared by Relix.
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| Relix (See 1,767 videos) | |
| Orebolo (See 16 videos) |
Ship Of Fools – February 10
Orebolo worked a Grateful Dead classic into the mix towards the end of each show’s second set with “Ship Of Fools” getting the call at the finale on February 10. The Hunter/Garcia ballad had been performed four times prior by the trio. The Grateful Dead premiered “Ship Of Fools” on February 22, 1974 at San Francisco’s Winterland Arena and it remained in rotation through 1995.
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| themeboudin (See 68 videos) | |
| Orebolo (See 16 videos) |
U.S. Blues – February 10
Orebolo ended their run at The Capitol Theatre with a “U.S. Blues” encore on February 10. Like “Ship Of Fools,” Hunter/Garcia’s “U.S. Blues” was also debuted by the Grateful Dead in 1974. However, the forerunner to the song, “Wave That Flag,” was trotted out the previous year. Orebolo previously played “U.S. Blues” five times before the performance at The Cap.
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| Kathy Kerkes | |
| Orebolo (See 16 videos) |
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