Dead and Company kicked off their 2019 “Fall Fun Run” which a pair of shows at the “World’s Most Famous Arena.” Even as bad as the Knicks are, it’s still the Garden. Night one, Halloween, also served as a tribute to the late lyricist Robert Hunter. The setlist was filled completely with songs he wrote for both Jerry Garcia and Bob Weir. The encore was the lone exception, “Werewolves Of London,” by the criminally underrated Warren Zevon.
Night two was an entirely different animal. They opened with a nice “Cold Rain & Snow,” which got into a nice groove thanks to John Mayer’s slinky guitar work. Since Dead and Co’s summer tour, Mayer has been busy with his solo shows and it clearly has a new element to his playing with this band. There were several times during the show that he’d inject a flourish that we hadn’t heard before. Weir had announced on social media that he’d be sticking with his kilt from All Hallow’s Eve and he kept his promise. It’s not clear whether he ever plans to return to pants. “Hell In A Bucket” is the one song that doesn’t really benefit from it’s slowed-down arrangement as it loses a lot of its trademark raunch, but did set the stage for the next few sing-a-long style tunes.
“Ramble On Rose,” of course got a huge roar with its “just like New York City” line. “Mr. Charlie” was a real treat as its a lost Pigpen nugget and Mayer really excels in the blues. Popstar Maggie Rogers made a surprise appearance on “Friend Of The Devil,” which has thankfully returned to its original tempo. Rogers’ friend and publicist is the daughter of legendary Dead soundman Dan Healy, which may have helped prompt her appearance. Her voice fit in really nicely with the rest of the band and they closed the first set with a nice spacey “Bird Song” with some really nice jazzy riffs from Mayer.
Set II came roaring right of the gate with a nice rendition of “Scarlet Begonias” into “Fire On The Mountain.” This summer, the power went out during “Fire” when they played it at Citi Field, so it was nice to see Mayer’s guitar and Oteil Burbridge’s vocals get a second chance. “He’s Gone” is always a crowd-pleaser and this one had another Pigpen staple, Lightnin Hopkin’s “Smokestack Lightning” tucked inside and this really let Mayer get bluesy. When “China Cat Sunflower” and “I Know You Rider” followed, it was clear this was going to be a special set:“Scarlet/Fire” and “China Cat/Rider” were only played at the same show nine times by the Grateful Dead themselves and never in the same set.
“Drums” and “Space” gave way to John Mayer’s favorite song “Althea.” This version also had a couple of really cool guitar flourishes from Mayer. “The Other One” was apparently on the setlist but the band opted to go right into “Morning Dew.” The climax was a little rushed compared to the version Citi, but it’s hard to complain when they play this song.
The encore featured a return spot from Maggie Rogers on “The Weight,” which let everyone take a turn on vocals. “Brokedown Palace” served a perfect follow up to send everyone smiling into the November night. The band resumes their tour this week at Nassau Coliseum and Hampton Coliseum. These are also storied Grateful Dead venues, so the shows are sure to be special.
One Response
A “nice” review but if I may say so, you need a better editor. The word nice appears frequently, sometimes more than once in a single sentence. In any case, nice work and keep it up.