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| Dead & Company @ Oracle Park (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
It was the beginning of the end for the touring version of Dead & Company as they took the stage at Oracle Park in San Francisco for the first of three sold-out end of the Final Tour shows. John Mayer gave a hug to keyboardist Jeff Chimenti. Bobby Weir gave a brief bow and drummer Mickey Hart waved his gloved hands wildly to the crowd.
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| Bob Weir & Mickey Hart of Dead & Company @ Oracle Park (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
With the greetings out of the way, the band launched into a hard-driving version of “Not Fade Away” and the crowd roared with both appreciation and anticipation of the weekend’s shows to come. Mayer energetically bounced along as Chimenti hit the big organ intro notes and Hart, drummer Jay Lane and bassist Oteil Burbridge packed a wallop into their rhythm section. The sun still shone bright, but the day had brought the famous San Francisco wind chill and all the members except for Lane wore long sleeves (despite the chill in the air, Chimenti still donned his ever-present shorts on his bench.) The song began with the jam extended longer and wilder than usual before the first vocal was even shouted out.
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| John Mayer, Jay Lane & Bob Weir of Dead & Company @ Oracle Park (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
As with most Dead & Company shows the general admission field level was jammed full of people. Deadheads have a habit of being able to turn tickets from just about anywhere into somehow gathering field access and that effect seemed clearly at play with a very tight bunch in the middle fronting the stage all the way back to the soundboard. To the left of the stage though, nearly 200 Twirlers were practicing their moves with ample room to groove sans the need for stage sight-lines.
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| Dead & Company @ Oracle Park (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
“Not Fade Away” flowed smoothly into “Shakedown Street” with the band taking the song into a deep groove pocket that took hold of all the song’s funkiness vs. a more disco take. “Cold Rain and Snow” brought Mayer’s guitar and vocals out front to shine and was a welcome tip of the hat to the San Francisco’s July weather as the wind picked up. “Ramble on Rose” was delivered at its most rollicking best. Up in the Club Level, the floor shook underneath the pressure of the dancing spectators and up in the top left field corner of Oracle, a dozen twirlers spread out and took advantage of the freedom of space in one of the few sections that was not sold due to no stage view. The crowd sang along lusty to an old favorite and dusk started to set in – allowing the first set stage lighting to have a bit more effective and give a small tease of what was to come.
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| Dead & Company @ Oracle Park (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
“Brown Eyed Women” followed, as many balloons bounced around the various levels of the stadium – at times picked up by the wind and taken up in defiance of gravity a level or two. Mayer began the song with his deepest picking emphasis (the song often straddles both the Dead’s country and harder rock sides). Chimenti unleashed an absolutely furious piano solo – hammering the keys for emphasis as Lane and Hart provided deep thunder in support. Lane, who became an official member at the start of the tour with the departure of original Grateful Dead drummer Bill Kreutzmann from the band, has taken his many years of playing in various versions of the Dead and brought both a jazzy and hard-charging rock drumming to this year’s tour. His mastery of the catalogue and ability to add his own elements was on full display Friday night and his ever-animated expressions and body language add a distinct element of fun that was higher on this night than any of the other Bay Area appearances I could recall.
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| Dead & Company @ Oracle Park (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
“New Speedway Boogie” detailing the tragedy and aftermath of the infamous Altamont concert came next and the band did a cool transition of letting the chorus of “One way or another” hover in the air for just a second before going right into “Wharf Rat”. Weir delivered a deep touching version of the mournful tale of sorrow from the docks while the band spun the music around and over the scene creating a psychedelic canvas for Weir to paint with Robert Hunter’s lyrics. As always, the crowd reacted with vigor to Weir’s uttering of the song’s most defiant phrases:
Half of my lifeI spent doin’ time for some other f#cker’s crime
The other half found me stumbling ‘round on Burgundy wine”
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| John Mayer, Jay Lane & Bob Weir of Dead & Company @ Oracle Park (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
About an hour after the first set had begun, it was ended with a good time “Don’t Ease Me In” – a traditional singalong set closer on this tour. Mayer started out leading and teed it up nicely for Chimenti to take wonderful with an extended and wild solo on the organ. Finally, Lane laid down a huge drum roll conclusion to send the audience to a half-hour break.
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| John Mayer, Jay Lane & Bob Weir of Dead & Company @ Oracle Park (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
The band emerged attired in colder weather gear – some donning tour merch to fight off the cold – even Chimenti submitted to wearing pants. But warmer clothing was by no means a surrender to the chilly weather. Instead, the band delivered a second set that will be of legend. Mayer engaged in the classic intro of “China Cat Sunflower” while Weir brought forward his most biting and screeching rhythm guitar. As Mayer launched into his solo and with darkness now fully set in, the band’s stunning light show took center stage – illuminating not just the band in uniquely beautiful colors and patterns, but also flooding the entire stadium and crowd at many times. If you didn’t see it live, I would suggest watching the video below to check it out (a great interview with John Mayer with the Dead community’s beloved David Gans and Gary Lambert precedes the return to the stage at the 32 minute mark):
The beloved “China > Rider” pairing was engaged as Dead & Company delivered a rousing version of “I Know You Rider” that had the crowd’s arm raised and reaching to the northward to shout and singalong with “I wish I was a headlight, on a north bound train!” The lighting technicians provided just the right amount of pop on the crowd to maximize the energy they shared back toward the stage. Toward the end, the band showed everyone’s vocals in fine form on the song’s concluding unaccompanied harmony.
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| Dead & Company @ Oracle Park (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
“He’s Gone” provided the last moment of calm as the band flowed from there into a crushing version of “Scarlet Begonias” with Mayer absolutely attacking the solo before heading into an epic back and forth with Chimenti on piano. From “Begonias” on, Mayer seemed to take an approach of “I may never play this song again with these people.” Dead & Company has provided a very visible transformation of Mayer seeming to overly show off his talents in the first 2015 shows to a perfect fit who both supported the collective while also shining as the brightest light in the band. On this night though, all cuffs were off and Mayer demonstrated his ability to take the framework and deliver huge fireworks that fit in perfectly.
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| Dead & Company @ Oracle Park (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
“Begonias” led to the traditional “Scarlet-Fire” couplet and brought Burbridge front and center to sing “Fire on the Mountain.” Interestingly for deeper fans: the setlist posted online appeared to have been tweaked to put Burbridge on vocals, but was perhaps just evidence of a typo being corrected. You would be hard-pressed to find a human being who carries a more positive vibe than Burbridge. Despite battling persistent back issues for the last few tours (bass is not a lightweight instrument), Burbridge is a never-ending source of smiles, looks of awe toward his fellow players and unique dancing on the right side of the stage. As he sang “Fire” the screen visuals were manipulated to give the appearance of flames engulfing everyone involved and indeed the stage itself almost seemed to burst into flame. It was the most stunning visual display of the night.
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| Dead & Company @ Oracle Park (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
Mickey Hart had saved a very special version of “Drums” and “Space” for this concert. Focused on the Golden Gate Bridge – and supported with incredible animation and historical imagery on the big screen – Hart leveraged actual sounds he had recorded on the bridge throughout the presentation. Of thirty Dead & Company concerts I have attended, it was the greatest “Drums-Space” I had ever witnessed. Thought this was a band winding down their tour, they continued to explore wild new directions. On Friday’s "Space," the audience was treated to a one-of-a-kind mashup of “Dark Star,” “Big River” and “Cumberland Blues” with the band seamlessly going back and forth across the three songs – never fully entering them and never completely stepping away. It was incredibly unique to experience in person and the fact that none of the songs was next, but rather “Standing on the Moon” was perhaps the greatest surprise.
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| Dead & Company @ Oracle Park (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
Listening to “Standing on the Moon” in San Francisco in July (an exact place and time referenced in the song) is the kind of community shared experience that only the best music can provide. The song always poses a harsh test for Weir’s voice and on this night, he aced it with his vocals remaining strong, confident and clear throughout. As the 11pm curfew approached four hours after the performance began, the band moved into a version of “Casey Jones” that saw Mayer unleashed with a gigantic solo that extended well beyond any past confines and saw jaws drop throughout the crowd. “US Blues” was delivered in a powerful and fast-paced style with the red, white and blue graphics extending into the entire stadium. Given the time limit, there was no exit and encore, but rather Weir took the lead to deliver a touching take on Bob Dylan’s “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” to close out the night as images of departed members of the Dead family filled the screens to cheers of appreciation from the crowd.
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| Dead & Company @ Oracle Park (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
There are two more nights of this tour Saturday and Sunday and then this phase in the Dead history comes to an end. If you are wavering on whether to attend, the answer is “Yes.” This was a band and concert experience that keeps evolving but is also at the absolute height of quality!
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