Bob Weir Campfire Tour at Wiltern Theater with Special Guests

The Grateful Dead’s Bob Weir brought his “Campfire Tour” to Los Angeles in support of his recent released collection of cowboy songs titled, Blue Mountain.  Now, just prior to the show I was informed that there had been an audible called on the line up and due to a family emergency, Aaron Dessner would not be performing on the upcoming tour dates. In his place, Steve Kimock (Bob Weir and Ratdog) and Jon Shaw (WOLF! and Shakey Graves) had graciously agreed to step in for the nine date run on guitar and lap steel, and mandolin, piano, upright base and backing vocals, respectively. Kimock and Shaw were both part of the Blue Mountain recording sessions and play on the album.  What I didn’t know was that was just the tip of the “special guest” iceberg.

The night began with Weir solo on an acoustic guitar for three songs, ending with Blue Mountain, the title track off the new CD.  He then brought out his band for the remainder of the first set which, largely included offerings from the new album including Cottonwood Lullaby, Lay My Lily Down, Only A River, Ghost Towns and Gonesville.  The only exception was the Marty Robbins cowboy classic, El Paso.  Nothing out of the ordinary or unexpected from the first set.  It seemed as if quite a few folks had not yet heard and/or formed a personal opinion on the new material which was met with a receptive but not quite enthusiastic response.  Personally, I like it.  It’s nice to see something new and different from past offerings of Weir’s.

Set two came out hot with the John Denver song often covered by the Grateful Dead, Me & My Uncle followed by Jack-A-Roe and the much anticipated and expected, West LA Fadeaway.  Then the stage went dark.  The familiar noodling of a Jack Straw intro was heard wafting from the speakers as a tall shadow walked out from back stage and picked up a guitar.  As the lights slowly came up the crowd roared with appreciation over the appearance of John Mayer on guitar and vocals.

Mayer stayed out there as the bag of guests opened up once again as Matt Beringer (The Nationals) stepped up on vocals for Morning Dew.  Beringer stepped aside once more to let Mayer take the spotlight again for I Know You Rider.  Then, the stage was cleared for Weir to once again take his acoustic solo to play one of my personal favorites off the new disc, Ki-Ai Bossie.

Weir then called the band back out for what can only be described as an “all hands on deck” encore of Peggy-O and a full house sing-a-long of Ripple.  A fine way to end the evening.

 

Bob Weir
Wiltern Theater LA, CA
10-10-16

Set 1
KC Whistle *
Loose Lucy *
Blue Mountain *
Cottonwood Lullaby
Lay My Lily Down
Only A River
Ghost Towns
El Paso
Gonesville

Next stop on the Campfire Tour is 10/12 in Upper Darby, PA at the Tower Theater.  For more dates and ticket information, click HERE.