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| Bob Weir & Jay Lane @ the Guild Theatre (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
Bobby Weir & Wolf Bros Trio pulled the bus into his hometown for a 5-night residency at Menlo Park’s The Guild Theatre. After having played the first three shows Monday through Wednesday, he opened Friday’s show in a jovial mood, “We’re going to have some fun tonight’” Weir proclaimed, before introducing “a dear old friend of mine” Steve Kimock.
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| Bobby Weir & Wolf Bros and friends @ the Guild Theatre (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
What had originally been billed as Trio-only performances for the week had not seen a night without guests as Molly Tuttle, JD Souther and Ketch Secor from Old Crow Medicine Show had taken the stage. Night four was no exception with members of Weir’s extended Wolfpack - Trumpeter Brian Switzer and Mads Tolling on violin joining Kimock for the majority of the evening.
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| Bobby Weir & Wolf Bros and Steve Kimock @ the Guild Theatre (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
Beginning with a 15-minute soaring “Cassidy,” Weir set a perfect tone for the fourth night performance where the setlist stayed more true to traditional songs of the Grateful Dead catalog than other nights. From there, the band jumped into a bouncing cover of Sonny Boy Willamson’s “Good Morning, School Girl” that saw Kimock and Weir trading leads. A rueful and mournful “Loser” followed with Kimock starting the song with a tender, tapping technique before taking the more traditional soulful high solos of the tale of regret.
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| Bobby Weir & Wolf Bros. with Steve Kimock @ the Guild Theatre (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
“Tennessee Jed” came next with its rousing connection to the audience as the crowd danced under frequent house lights and roared along at all the right moments. A momentary forgotten lyric by Weir elicited a roar of support from the crowd which then provided a support net of lyrics via sing along for the next few verses. Mads Tolling delivered multiple solos that demonstrated the Grammy Award winner’s virtuosity and added extra depth to the song. Weir has long been known for his fondness for “cowboy songs” and on this night, he broke out his acoustic guitar for the Dead’s classic cover of Marty Robbins’ “El Paso.” Weir delivered some of his best vocals of the night as he brought to a close the doomed lover’s final moments and Kimock and Weir had some wonderful back and forth on guitar.
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| Steve Kimock & Bobby Weir @ the Guild Theatre (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
“Black Throated Wind” was a nice segue back to more electric guitar rock. The band delivered it like a locomotive - starting slow and driving as they gradually built momentum that seemed to be partly sourced from the energy of the audience. Jay Lane’s drumming is always top-notch with the many varieties of groups in which he performs. With “Wind”, Lane wore a wide smile as he continued to drive the pace further and faster. What seemed like a song that would naturally lead into a set break an hour into the show was just a catapult for two more. A swinging and bluesy “I Need a Miracle” preceded “Bird Song” where Switzer delivered beautiful layers of trumpet to accompany Kimock and Weir’s knockout guitar and Don Was’ intricate work on bass. Was stands back and out of the spotlight and never approaches the microphone, but he shows his mastery of the standup bass in bringing a background jazzy tone to so many great rock songs. By the time Weir & Wolf Bros landed “Birdsong,” the first set had exceeded 90 minutes.
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| Jay Lane & Bobby Weir @ the Guild Theatre (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
The Guild Theatre really shined with this residency as night after night, Deadheads entered the main floor with jaws dropping at the beauty and intimate size of the room. The team there has also really mastered a hospitality approach that borders on “family-like” in how they treat everyone involved in the venue from artists to support teams to the fans. Big kudos also must go out to the team mixing the sound and lighting during this residency. The sound at The Guild was crystal clear and - on this night - deftly handled the balance of Weir’s unique hybrid lead & rhythm guitar with Kimock’s traditional lead guitar style. The lighting on this night featured unique background projections, along with the traditional beautiful lighting that accompanies.
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| Bob Weir @ the Guild Theatre (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
After a 35-minute break, Weir kicked off the second set with a hard-driving, defiant version of “The Winners” – leaving no doubt that the second set was not going to take a back seat to the amazing start of the show. From there, the band launched into the favorite “China..Rider” couplet of “China Cat Sunflower’ and “I Know You Rider.” “China Cat” saw wonderful exchanges with Weir and Kimock exchanging knowing glances and smiles that underlined their respect and friendship. “Rider” sent the crowd over the top with Tolling’s incredibly blistering violin work taking the song’s speed and then another house light moment as the crowd all sang along with “the sun shine gonna shine on my back door some day” and then the traditional “I wish I was a headlight!” shoutout.
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| Bobby Weir & Wolf Bros and friends @ the Guild Theatre (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
Before starting “Playing In The Band,” Weir made an admission to the crowd. “I’m not used to doing this, but I have to sit down because I abused my legs in the gym this morning and I don’t have confidence that they want to hold me up.” After already playing for well over two hours, no one would have faulted the 75-year old Weir for calling the night, but he was still just getting started. Another chair was brought out for Kimock to be at the same level as Weir and a stool came forth for Don Was. “F you guys!” Lane, ever-ready for sarcasm said from his drum kit “I guess maybe I will stand up.” From their chairs, Weir and Kimock delivered a true to form “Playing In The Band” before launching into a very dark and smoky version of “Dark Star” that saw Kimock on pedal steel take the song and crowd into another dimension.
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| Don Was @ the Guild Theatre (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
The band took a turn into The Beatles’ catalog with “Tomorrow Never Knows” before Weir decided he was not going to sit down for “Standing On The Moon.” The longtime Bay Area favorite off the immensely popular “In The Dark” album brought out huge cheers around its reference to “somewhere in San Francisco on a back porch in July.” The audience roared along with the band as they launching into “Going Down The Road Feelin’ Bad” with the entire house dancing and singing along.
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| Bob Weir's guitars in front of Jay Lane's drum kit @ the Guild Theatre (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
By the time Weir and his Bros finished out night four with the encore cover of Dylan’s “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue,” they had delivered nearly three and a half hours of music of the finest form in a beautiful, intimate venue in front of a crowd that showed their enjoyment and appreciation for every minute of it. Whatever may come after Dead & Company, I would wholeheartedly sign up for a new bus with this lineup. Combining excellence in energy, musicianship – along with the superior sound and visual experience, this show could have easily filled a venue 20 times the size of The Guild. For the lucky ones who scored tickets to any of the shows, the Bobby Weir & Wolf Bros Trio more than exceeded the lofty hopes of his most diehard fans.
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