Two Dead & Company Debuts Among Alpine Valley Night One Highlights

Grateful Dead members Bob Weir, Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann brought Dead & Company featuring Jeff Chimenti, John Mayer and Oteil Burbridge to the massive Alpine Valley in East Troy, Wisconsin for the first of two shows on Saturday night. The trio have a long history of performances at the venue including 20 Grateful Dead shows between 1980 and 1989 as well as the “Grateful Dead Family Reunion” in 2002. Last night’s show featured many GD classics as well as a pair of Bob Dylan covers.

The sextet kicked off the evening with a jam that hinted at “The Wheel” but eventually gave way to “Cassidy.” Dead & Company showed off their improvisational prowess on a wild jam in “Cassidy” before Mayer handled vocal duties on “Brown Eyed Women.” The tour’s second “I Need A Miracle” came next ahead of the Dead & Company debut of “Dire Wolf.” John Mayer sang the Hunter/Garcia classic and did a nice job with it. “Ramble On Rose” kept the set going while “Box Of Rain” and “The Music Never Stopped” brought the opening stanza to its conclusion.

Dead & Company began the second set with a fierce “Deal.” Up next was “Eyes Of The World” which has become a showcase for Oteil’s bass work and last night’s version was no different as it contained another jaw-dropping solo from Burbridge. The impressive and jam-heavy pre-“Drums”/”Space” segment of the evening concluded with “St. Stephen” and “The Other One” both of which featured stellar interplay between the instrumentalists. Hart and Kreutzmann than took the huge crowd on a rhythmic adventure throughout “Drums” before Mayer, Hart, Burbridge, Weir and Chimenti jammed free-form style. “Space” gave way to the evening’s first Bob Dylan cover – “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall.” The memorable set continued with the Dead’s famed “Help On The Way” > “Slipknot!” > “Franklin’s Tower” triumvirate ahead of the expected “One More Saturday Night.”

The six-piece had one more trick up their sleeves to end the night. Dead & Company returned for the encore 21 years after the final Grateful Dead show with their first-ever version of Dylan’s “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door.” John Mayer handled vocals on the cover which had both tender and rusty moments. D&C plays Alpine Valley again tonight. A webcast is available via nugs.tv.

Videos

[Dire Wolf | Captured by Sojahsey1]

[Eyes Of The World | Captured by Connor holleb]

[Cassidy Jam / Brown Eyed Women | Captured by Stephens Answer]