Almost 20 years to the day the Grateful Dead performed their last ever show at Chicago’s Soldier Field, the revamped band, with a guitarist named Trey in place of Jerry, returned to the stadium that today ironically looks as transformed as The Dead appeared the last time they visited. The facility underwent a huge renovation in 2003 that has since lost many of its trademark characteristics including its classical colonnades.
On that historical foot-note, the band kicked the Chicago run off with the last song Jerry Garcia would ever perform with them: “Box of Rain.” With fans clamoring online for Trey Anastasio to take more of the lead vocals on the Jerry sung compositions, hopefuls got their wish as Anastasio got lead dibs Friday night on “Bertha,” “Crazy Fingers,” “Scarlet Begonias” and “Help on the Way.” “Bertha” displayed the playful vibrancy listeners have come to adore from Anastasio, while the slower Jerry songs reclaimed the essential keys that are often lost when either Lesh or Weir take on those lead vocals.
Set One Friday was collectively the strongest opening first set of the run so far as Anastasio made adjustments to his tone and was better dialed in the mix, while everyone was playing off each other superbly. Anastasio stole the show again with soaring solo after soaring solo starting off with a riveting one in the often straight forward “Jack Straw.” The spirit of improvisation was alive in the second set as “Playing in the Band,” featured the most interesting jam of the evening that went into territories that even Anastasio’s other band rarely hits these days, while “Scarlet Begonias” allowed for another memorable tangent that ignited a buildup spark into “Fire on the Mountain.” Hornsby got a soulful lead vocal spot for “Fire on the Mountain,” much to many listeners’ relief who were expecting a Mickey Hart vocal rap. Although the tail end of “Fire” was flubbed , the highlights of Night One in Chicago far outshone any flubs along the way.
This version of the Grateful Dead continued the trend set the first night in Santa Clara of giving love to some of the 60’s compositions that never received much stage time in later day Dead eras including “Mason’s Children” and “New Potato Caboose.” Bob Weir was in the best vocal health he’s shown in a long time most noticeably in “The Music Never Stopped” and “Let It Grow.” The band’s stamina never relented in the second set as they executed a near perfect “Help On The Way->Slipknot>Franklins Tower.” The Dead song book still has many more iconic composions that haven’t been outed yet, but one can almost guarantee “U.S. Blues” on the Fourth of July and the Sunday tradition of “Samson and Deliliah” the closing night: waiting to see has never been more fun!
Photos by Jay Blakesberg
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