In 2015 as the Grateful Dead were prepping for their 50 year anniversary celebration shows, a new spinoff of the band took flight. That band now named Dead and Company consists of original Grateful Dead members Bill Kreutzmann (drums), Mickey Hart (drums) and Bob Weir (guitar). Along with the original Grateful Dead, the band also includes John Mayer (guitar), Jeff Chimenti (keyboards) and Otel Burbridge (bass). The band has been a steady touring outfit since and brought their show to Darien Lake PAC this past Tuesday night.
The band has been on tour since May 30th and already have gone through 100 different songs in the setlist. For this show, they delayed coming out due to the traffic slowly filtering in. The show was supposed to start at 7pm but the band took the stage probably around 7:20pm. Once the band took the stage, they went into Cold Rain and Snow with Mayer handling vocals. The vocal duties were tossed around all night between Mayer and Weir. Burbridge handled vocal duties on “If I Had the World to Give.”
Mayer fits right into the band with his style of guitar playing. Both him and Weir really have keen sense of paying off each other and the rest of the band fills in the around the guitar sounds. The steady percussion of both Hart and Kreutzmann are like an old set of shoes. They fit comfortable and dependable. Along with longtime Allman Brothers bassist in Burbridge, this makes for one hell of a rhythm section.
When attending a Dead and Company show you can expect the unexpected. The setlist varies from night to night and for the fans at Darien, they were able to witness the 16 minute song “Let it Grow,” which hasn’t been played on this tour yet. They payed homage to Grateful Dead guitarist Jerry Garcia in doing his solo song “Deal.” A few covers were tossed into the mix including Bob Dylan’s “Queen Jane Approximately.”
Even though this is a completely new project the vibe of going to a traditional Grateful Dead show was alive and well. Tie dies were aplenty and the hippie culture was all around. The show attendees danced all round for the 3 plus hour show and smiles were as far as the eye could see.
Set 1:
Cold Rain and Snow (Grateful Dead song)
Tennessee Jed (Grateful Dead song)
Dire Wolf (Grateful Dead song)
Queen Jane Approximately (Bob Dylan cover)
If I Had the World to Give (Grateful Dead song)
Here Comes Sunshine (Grateful Dead song)
Little Red Rooster (Willie Dixon cover)
Let it Grow (Grateful Dead song)
Set 2:
Iko Iko (The Dixie Cups cover)
Dark Star (Grateful Dead song-verse 1)
Truckin’ (Grateful Dead song)
Smokestack Lightning (Howlin Wolf cover)
Dark Star (Grateful Dead song-verse 2)
Deal (Jerry Garcia cover)
Drums (Grateful Dead song)
Space (Grateful Dead song)
Wharf Rat (Grateful Dead song)
Casey Jones (Grateful Dead song)
Encore:
Werewolves of London (Warren Zevon cover)
We would like to thank Ashley Ball from Livenation for her assistance with the credentials to cover the show.
