It was almost exactly a year ago that this reviewer wrote a glowing account of how John Mayer and the remaining touring members of the Grateful Dead found each other at the perfect time. But no one really knew what to expect when Dead and Company took their act to the summer sheds and stadiums. Expectations were muted and blown away subsequently. Now the secret was out and the stakes were higher.
So how did Johnny and Company fare? Still pretty fucking good. The band is different this time out. Mayer is including some new wrinkles into both his vocal and instrumental repertoire, for one. On the show opening “Dancing In The Streets,” which clearly used the May 1977 arrangement and guitar tone as a model, he used a little falsetto singing. Since Donna Jean wasn’t guesting on this one, it worked ok. The jam and the song choice (“Shakedown Street,” had already been used the show before so I wondered how they would compensate) worked well. The crowd settled in, the guitarist had his shades on, it was summer tour.
No, it’s not the same as it was in ’88-’91. John is not Jerry and that’s the point. He’s still the kid who idolized Stevie Ray long before he listened to the Dead on Pandora. But he’s also the reason that the circus (not Ringling Bros., they’re done) can once again come to town. “Jack Straw” had some nice playing although the tepid pace (Bobby, I’m looking at you) made it hard to hang in. “Here Comes Sunshine” was an inspired choice until Mayer less successfully used the falsetto and forgot the words entirely. The song got into a nice groove eventually. “Cold Rain & Snow” and “Bird Song” were both welcome treats before “One More Saturday Night finished things off.”
Set II started with a peppy “Scarlet Begonias” which didn’t even hint at going into “Fire On The Mountain.” Instead, it menacingly dropped into “Viola Lee Blues” as Mayer’s blues chops worked perfectly. “Estimated Prophet,” a song that definitely needs to pick up the pace again, segued into the band’s first “Comes A Time.” As with “China Doll” from earlier shows it was sung by Oteil Burbridge and he’s come a long way from his Al Jarreau-like scatting from his early days in the Allmans. With the passing of Gregg Allman and the recent health scare of his brother Kofi, maybe he felt especially raw. But the performance was all emotion and beautifully delivered.
“Eyes Of The World” was noteworthy for having its strongest and most intense jam be the one that’s usually got one eye (no pun intended) on Drums. The jam before the last verse often is just a wind down for Hart and Kreutzmann but this one brought some serious heat. “The Other One” came out of “Space” and also had some nice Mayer runs. When it segued into “Morning Dew,” it featured another big chord transition. Have they been listening to those May ’77 boards again? With Weir singing Garcia’s ballads, he’s gotten to the point (or age) where he’s not really Bobbying them up any more. What they lack in polish they more than makeup for in heart and isn’t that what Garcia singing was all about? Mayer did some fanning and even started jumping down a bit. It was a great way to finish things off.
It had already been announced that the Empire State Building would light up for the encore, so “U.S. Blues” seemed like the logical choice. However, a shambling “Touch Of Grey” reminded us why we were all there. Then a counterpunch of “Johnny B. Goode” brought the house down and reminded me of all the great shows that featured that song. Some I went to, some I missed, some were before my time. What this band did on Saturday isn’t that, but it sure was fun.
