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| Bob Weir & Wolf Bros with the Stanford Symphony Orchestra @ the Frost Amphitheater (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
The wizardry of Bobby Weir was on full display as he cast his latest musical spell on the Bay Area by adding the Stanford Symphony Orchestra to his Wolf Bros and Wolfpack lineup for a breathtaking Sunday night concert at Stanford’s Frost Amphitheater. Birthed from an idea that began with a request to do a benefit for the Marin Symphony over a decade ago, Weir and co-conspirator composer Giancarlo Aquilanti readied some of the most treasured songs of the Grateful Dead songbook for a grand symphonic expression. Having previously performed the reworked and reinvigorated compositions with the National Symphony in Washington DC and the Atlanta Symphony, Sunday marked their West Coast premiere.
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| Bob Weir & Wolf Bros with the Stanford Symphony Orchestra @ the Frost Amphitheater (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
Perhaps no better venue could have been selected than the Frost. It was a home gig for Aquilanti – Stanford’s Director of Music Theory Program and Music Director for the Wind Symphony – and Weir was just miles away from his boyhood home in nearby Menlo Park. The last October weekend night at the outdoor venue harkened back to the traditional weekend of Neil Young’s beloved Bridge School benefit concerts at Shoreline for several decades. As it did for those concerts, the night started out warm and comfortable, but saw the Fall effect as the temperature dropped more than 20 degrees from the start of the concert to the end. Of course, with this being a Bobby Weir concert that meant a concert that started at 6:30 went all the way to the 10pm curfew (and shhhh…. maybe a few minutes beyond). Given that Weir and the orchestra took only about a twenty-minute break, the concert clocked in at over 3 hours of playing time.
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| Bob Weir & Wolf Bros with the Stanford Symphony Orchestra @ the Frost Amphitheater (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
The evening began right on time at 6:30pm with the orchestra taking their seats and putting the crowd in the mood as conductor Paul Philips led them in delivering a ten-minute overture that saw brief snippets of many beloved Dead favorites. Then Weir, the Wolf Bros and Wolfpack took to the stage. Drummer Jay Lane and bassist/producer/record label president Don Was formed the original Wolf Brothers trio that was quickly added to with Dead & Company / Further keyboardist Jeff Chimenti and slide guitarist Barry Sless. Weir – who has continually looked to both strip down and expand the Dead sound over the last decade - also brought on the string and brass section of Mads Tolling, Adam Theis, Alex Kelly, Brian Switzer and Sheldon Brown and labeled them the Wolfpack. On this night, the group of 10 players was joined onstage by nearly 100 other players -- all of which were Stanford students.
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| Bob Weir & Wolf Bros with the Stanford Symphony Orchestra @ the Frost Amphitheater (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
Conductor Phillips welcomed Weir by introducing his many achievements culminating with “and quarterback of the Tamalpais Chiefs” – a reference to Bobby’s Mill Valley flag football team that he captained back in the day. “Jack Straw” started out the main set with its slow and soft beginning that grew in both energy and power throughout the song. If there was to be any criticism of the night it would be for the sound in the early going. The symphony sound seemed to be pulled forward and enveloping the music of Weir & the Wolf Bros. While having Weir’s signature guitar work too low in the mix was a loss, it made for unique, strongly symphonic presentations of the first set starters – particularly “Playing in the Band” and “Uncle John’s Band.” By the time the traditional “Sailor-Saint” couplet of the heartaching “Lost Sailor” and the rapturous celebration of “Saint of Circumstance” was underway, it felt like the songs had always been meant for this treatment. Weir the Wizard and his companions had the capacity crowd both mesmerized and celebrating with all aisle restraint having been lovingly compromised by twirlers and fans aiming for a better view.
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| Bob Weir & Wolf Bros with the Stanford Symphony Orchestra @ the Frost Amphitheater (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
It would be impossible to heap too much praise on the masterful lighting technicians that continue to provide visual magic to Weir’s stage performance. Given the sun being completely set this late in the season, magnificent lighting illuminated the stonework behind the stage on either side of a black backdrop and lights shone in the trees that flank the sides of the bowl. Set one was brought to a strong close with the symphony premiere of the “Weather Report Suite” and then an energizing “Let It Grow.” Unlike his usual “We’ll see you in just a bit” intros to the set break, on Sunday Weir and the cast of 100 had the lights come up and took a brief bow before exiting the stage. As a result, there were quite a few questioning murmurs of “Is That It?” as people searched for confirmation that there would be a second set. But Weir had no plans on an early exit.
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| Bob Weir & Wolf Bros with the Stanford Symphony Orchestra @ the Frost Amphitheater (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
The ensemble returned to the stage barely twenty minutes later and launched into “Shakedown Street” with the sound mix clearly adjusted to better feature Weir’s guitar and the core band members. “Shakedown” saw several moments where the band stopped to allow various sections of the orchestra to take over before falling back into their traditional playing. Another classic Dead couplet of “China-Rider” followed. The orchestration of "China Cat Sunflower" – supported by red and white swirling lights seemed to add volumes of depth to the song with spectacular feature moments finishing out the song with the strings taking it up to its highest peaks before the horns and percussion brought the transition over to “I Know You Rider” that Bobby launched full blast from the opening lyric. The audience gasped and roared as the always energizing song was taking in new directions and expanded beyond any of its normal confines until reaching a huge crescendo. Shouts of “Thank you Bobby” came from the audience as the song garnered the loudest roar of the night.
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| Bob Weir & Wolf Bros with the Stanford Symphony Orchestra @ the Frost Amphitheater (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
The strings blended in behind the band on the psychedelic classic “Dark Star” as horns, triangles and inventive percussion added in before Weir’s guitar work returned to the front and center. Unlike its normal transition into another song, here “Dark Star” was landed to an apparent close before the band started up with “The Other One” – which featured a long intro that threw many in the crowd off the trail several times before the song was fully engaged. One of the fun components of any Dead-related performance is to watch the audience playing “Name that tune” during the introductions to songs. The more experienced Deadheads are rarely thrown off the scent once they have a whiff of the song, while more inexperienced audience members might throw out nearly a handful of guesses as to what song is coming. On this night, the deftly delivered false starts and fakes in the intro by Weir and his extended collection had at least four different waves of recognition from the crowd before the final roar as Jay Lane kicked the song completely out of anonymity with thunderous drumming and the rest of the band fell in. “The Other One” featured terrific horn and string solos by the Wolfpack.
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| Bob Weir & Wolf Bros with the Stanford Symphony Orchestra @ the Frost Amphitheater (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
Weir then told the more than a decade-old origin story of his journey into the symphony. He promised that in the coming years there will be “much more of this to come” and expressed that his desire was to get an entire orchestra to improvise in sections. “They say it’s impossible,” he told the crowd, “But we’re going to do it because these kids don’t know what can’t be done.” He introduced and thanked Aquilanti as the crowd lustily applauded in appreciation. The rest of the Wolf Bros and Wolfpack then exited the stage leaving Weir standing center stage with the entirety of the orchestra around him. Weir then set down his guitar and stood behind the microphone with his thumbs hooked into his pants pockets. It was the perfect way to deliver one of the most stirring and mournful “Days Between” I can recall. All the haunting, mourning and regrets of the song were brought to life and cast throughout the amphitheater as Weir sang softly and vulnerably while supported by the symphony. It was the most special and unique moment of the night – an unforgettable twist and instant classic for all of those who were there.
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| Bob Weir, Giancarlo Aquilanti, and Paul Philips @ the Frost Amphitheater (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
The full band then returned and brought the evening to a close with a masterful, deeply expressive version of the full “Terrapin Station Suite”. The orchestra launched into “Lady with a Fan” (after what seemed a brief false start by the band) and then a huge “Terrapin Station” was undertaken going nearly 20 minutes and then was completed by “Terrapin Transit,” “At a Siding” and “Terrapin Flyer.” Delivered as a complete package, in a beautiful setting and with the vast expansion of an orchestra behind it, the work took on a far grander scale. As the 10 pm curfew approached, a reprise was launched with “Dark Star verse 2” leading into “Uncle John’s Band” and finally into a triumphant “Playing in the Band” ending. As the clock moved past 10, Weir looked at his watch and with a mischievous look in his eyes appeared to contemplate picking things back up for another song but seemed to be dissuaded. He shrugged his shoulders and held up his hands to the crowd and then Weir, Aquilanti and Philips locked hands to take a triumphant bow to the loud and lusty cheers of an audience that had been dazzled by Weir’s latest trick.
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