Dead & Company Wraps Up NYC History With Huge Sense Of Focus & Mission at Citi Field Night 2 (SHOW REVIEW)

When this reviewer wrote about last year’s Citi Field show, the air of uncertainty was surrounding the band. Rolling Stone immediately ran a “scoop” that it would be the final tour, which the band immediately debunked.  This year, however, they announced that it would indeed be the end of this project.  The announcement was made last September, possibly to get ahead of any speculation this time.  Like last year, the band was without Bill Kreutzmann, who officially backed out before the tour kicked off in Barton Hall in May.  Jay Lane was once again to drum alongside Mickey Hart.

However, this entire tour has had a sense of focus and a fire that was lacking in the last few years. The biggest complaint with this band has always been the slowed-down tempos, but this year they definitely read the suggestion box.  They have been putting out excellent and inventive shows every night (according to my ears) and it was exciting to see what they are doing in person.

“Feel Like A Stranger” wasn’t as fast as the Dead played but light years quicker than this band had been doing it.  The complaints about tempo may seem petty, especially for those who never saw Jerry Garcia in person.  But the music was getting to the point where there was really no foundation for Mayer, Weir, Chimenti, and Burbridge to build on.  That is happily no longer the case.  “Franklin’s Tower” followed with some excellent soloing from Mayer, who had been forced to sit for the second set of Wednesday’s show due to back problems.  He was up and moving on Thursday, sporting a Francisco Lindor #12 shirt in the process.  “Dear Mr. Fantasy” and the “Hey Jude Reprise” were featured as well and were even stronger than last year.  “Truckin’” allowed the band to further salute New York for having the ways and means and a scorching “Deal” ended the first set.

The band put out a classic ‘80s quartet of “Scarlet Begonias,” “Fire On The Mountain,” “Estimated Prophet” and “Eyes Of The World” to open up the second set.  Each song was fantastic, even if the transitions were a little abrupt. Oteil Burbridge has seemingly been having the time of his life this tour, and has been decked out in full face paint every night.  His vocals on “Fire” were especially joyful, as it must be bittersweet for him to see this project come to an end.  Then again, he now has Deadheads and Allman fans at his solo shows and that will only increase in the future.

A short romp through Miles Davis’ “All Blues” came out of “Space” and segued perfectly into “Cumberland Blues.”  “Cumberland” was great as always, but really showed how this band has come together this tour.  “All Along The Watchtower” allowed Mayer to show his chops and he even threw a bit from the Hendrix version in there before the band settled into “Morning Dew.”  Like last year’s Citi “Dew,” Weir was very quick with the vocals, but this one was all about the jam.  It really was fantastic and had the entire crowd hanging on every note.  “Brokedown Palace” seemed like the only encore that fit after it and it was sweet and poignant.  No one wants to say that something is over, but playing up against that knowledge has really given this band the jolt to finish their run consistently strong. 

Is this band the same as the Grateful Dead?  Nothing could be. There were some nights even the Grateful Dead couldn’t be the Grateful Dead. But this group is really giving the fans something to both savor and miss after it’s gone. What could be better than that?  Sometimes the songs that we hear really are just songs of our own.