Night three of the Dead & Company Summer Tour 2019 found it’s was to the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, CA. The tour kicked off Friday night with two nights at the hallowed grounds of Shoreline Amphitheater in Mountainview, CA.
Original Grateful Dead members Bob Weir, Bill Kreutzman and Mickey Hart together with John Mayer, Oteil Burbridge (Allman Bros) and Jeff Chimenti (Ratdog, Golden Gate Wingmen, et al) make up the center ring of the traveling musical circus known as Dead & Company. Not quite the three ring menagerie that the Good Ol’ Grateful Dead used to tote around from town to town but still a sight (and sound) to behold. Compele with the hoards of “Dead”-icated fans, truly an experience beyond description to the unindoctrinated.
Just after 7pm on Monday night the band took the stage with a familiar tease tuning erupting into “Cold Rain & Snow”. A mellow way to kick off the night but here’s to hoping things would get rockin’ quickly…they did…kinda sorta. “Hell in a Bucket” certainly got everyone who was still sitting down up and dancing.
The first time played “High Time” with Burbridge and Weir trading vocals was a mellow but delightful treat.
Who doesn’t love a first set Jack Straw? No one…although it could have been a bit more rockin’ and punchy than the one delivered last night.
Second set kicked off with the crowd participation Iko Iko which got the blood pumping after the setbreak. Certainly the monumental Help>Slip>Frank>Drums>Space>Stella Blue cannot be ignored as well as a short Lady With A Fan>Terrapin Encore. Clearly they wanted to give more from that encore but sadly, as the Rolling Stones would say, “time waits for no one”….even Weir and Mayer. (Apparently it does wait for Keith Richards)
Now…this is especially for all you Mayer haters out there in the land of Deadheads. John Mayer impressed the hell out of me last night with not only his masterful guitar work but his delivery of the lyrics to some age old Grateful Dead standards as if he himself wrote them and was pouring out the emotions he felt as he penned the words. Truly, Mayer has a grasp of what this music means to all of the fans and wishes to do it more than just superficial justice but rather share that he feels as deep about the tunes as they do.
Dead & Company will perform again tonight at the Hollywood Bowl before moving on to The Gorge in George, Washington on June 6-8.
For more information on Dead & Company Summer Tour 2019 visit: https://deadandcompany.com/
Dead & Company, Hollywood Bowl, Los Angeles, CA 6/3/18
Set 1:
- Cold Rain and Snow
- Hell in a Bucket
- Easy Wind
- Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo
- High Time (Weir and Oteil on shared vocals) *
- Jack Straw
- Bird Song>Don’t Ease Me In
Set 2:
- Iko Iko
- New Speedway Boogie
- Sugaree
- Help on the Way>Slipknot!>Franklin’s Tower>Drums>Space>
- Stella Blue
- Not Fade Away
Encore:
- Lady With A Fan
- Terrapin
*First time played by Dead & Co.
