Spafford Honors Bob Weir With 56-Minute ‘The Other One’ Cover In Knoxville
Hear the Arizona-based jam quartet devote their entire first set to an adventurous cover of the Grateful Dead classic.
By Scott Bernstein Jan 15, 2026 • 9:21 am PST
Photo by The Observatory on Reddit via Spafford
Spafford kicked off their 2026 Winter Tour last night with a concert at Barley’s Taproom in Knoxville, Tennessee. The quartet devoted their entire 56-minute first set to an exploratory version of the Grateful Dead classic “The Other One” as a tribute to Bob Weir.
The Wednesday night show in Knoxville marked Spafford’s first concert since Bob Weir died. Spafford wasted little time before honoring the Grateful Dead co-founding guitarist, who succumbed to lung issues at age 78. “The Other One” was among Bob Weir’s signature songs and often birthed adventurous improvisation.
Spafford traversed several different jam styles over the nearly hour-long “Other One.” Guitarist Brian Moss and bandmates drummer Nick Tkachyk, keyboardist Cory Schechtman and bassist Shon Gordon began with a ferocious romp before a Schechtman-led blues vamp gave way to the untz. Moss then unleashed a massive torrent of effusive leads as the band built to the first of many peaks.
Schechtman’s handiwork on clavinet was featured next and paved the way for another Moss shred session, this time over a Pink Floyd-esque progression. The foursome broke down the jam around the 36-minute mark with Gordon and Tkachyk finding a deep pocket. The Arabic-tinged avenue Spafford strolled through next eventually developed into a joyous groove akin to “Crazy Fingers,” with one more peak leading the band back to the conclusion of “The Other One.”
After band namesake Chuck “Spafford” Johnson recited a poem, Spafford lit into a 21-minute “Fake The Fate” to get the second set underway. More jams followed with lengthy versions of “Mind’s Unchained,” “Shelter In Place” and “Darkness Singularity” rounding out the closing stanza. Spafford went sans encore break and wrapped the show by covering Eddie Harris’ “Sham Time.
Stream Spafford’s set-long “The Other One” and the rest of the quartet’s show in Knoxville below:
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Setlist (via SpaffNerds.com)
Set One: The Other One
Set Two: Fake The Fate > Mind’s Unchained, Shelter In Place > Darkness Singularity
Encore: Sham Time
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