Dead & Company: The Grateful Dead Is Resurrected (Again), This Time With John Mayer *

Ah, a wishful memory on my part. I guess I was lucky enough to have not heard it live since 95. Let Bobby be Bobby but there is nothing interesting left to that song for me anymore.

 

Looking at the setlist and reading some thoughts on last night's Deer Creek show, I feel even more excited for the Wrigley shows this weekend. While kind of a bummer for those Deer Creek folks, it bodes well for the songs being saved for the weekend.

 

I would be very optimistic about Wrigley. Just be ready for every song to start in a Dylan like “is this what I think it is?” style and then get heady at the end.

 

I watched/listened to 4 complete shows from the tour, and the set opener videos for the rest. I'm hardly someone sitting at home complaining. If you find my unhappiness with the tempo of some songs "nitpicking", so be it. Going forward I'll only post that everything is awesome all the time.

 

Oh no, not my point at all. I was speaking generally and not specifically about you. I appreciate your thoughts as being honest and informed.

I was at a record store on Tuesday, just finishing a long conversation with the owner that was political in nature, he is a head and I said “we can't even get heads to agree about John Mayer, I don’t see how politics will ever get normal.” Some nutty guy on the other side of the shop was eaves dropping and straight up started yelling at me about how much dead and co. suck. I mean being very rude and loud. I asked if he had seen them or listened and this made him more angry, the answer was no and it was because he hates Mayer’s solo album and he makes “weird faces” and Jerry never made weird faces. Sees the whole thing as a sell out. I could tell he was a little different, went to bunch of shows in the 80’s and picked up some habits that made him unemployable and not so swift on the uptake, classic tour casualty. I just walked out of the store and as I did he just kept going. Lots of passion.

 

I own one John Mayer song, purchased from the iTunes store specifically to use in a mini-course called "Stand and Be Counted: A History of Protest Music". I used Mayer's "Waiting on the World to Change" as an example of everything protest music is NOT about. So I can't say I was excited when this little gathering came about. But as far as his role in Dead & Company is concerened, I don't have a single complaint.

 

I will whole-heartedly endorse two John Mayer things (there are others that I can tolerate, but these are the ones I come back to):


This live album with Steve Jordan and Pino Palladio.


This sweet yacht rock single he released last year, "New Light".

 

I was almost completely unaware of John before he joined dead and co. I remember him from a funny sketch from the Dave chapell show and I heard that song about daughters or something. I did buy his new album when it came out and man, that’s as far from what he does in dead and co. as it gets. I do think without him Dead and co. Would just be another version of rat dog doing all grateful dead songs.

 

Anyone know the start and (approx) end time of the Wrigley show?

No opener correct?

 

I was just coming to ask the same question about show time.

There is no opener.

 

Friday night it started a little after 7pm and finished a few minutes before 11pm (which I believe is the curfew).

 

The "Other One -> 1/2 Step" opener was really nice last night.

And "To Lay Me Down" is right in Bob's current wheelhouse.

 

I probably shouldn't admit this in public -- but I actually quite enjoy that video, inherent stupidity and all.

 

Yeah, that's one of Jerry's slowest tunes. Bob could even speed it up and it's still slow

 

setlist. fm says that JM played pedal steel on it, but from the brief look I got before the "freeview" faded, I think it was more accurately a lap steel. Close enough.

 

I’m for them trying new things........but when I saw them try to play “One More Saturday Night” as a swinging jazz tune with tempo changes in the middle (CitiField a few years ago?).......it didn’t work too well.

 

It’s not going to work out every time you take a chance buts it’s still better to take chanches.

 

Saturday night at Wrigley was excellent.
Overall tempos were not dragging.

Bobby was pretty animated early on.
The opener was a little strange (as were other sequences). Terrapin started directly into the lyrics with no instrumental opening. Well played with a decent jam.
Sugar Mag next had Bobby pulling his 80s-90s Rock Star act, which was fun to see.

He switched to acoustic for a few songs, ending with Mama Tried and the strangest bit of the night. After the song, he went and picked up his electric and after a brief pause, they played the closing chorus of Mama Tried again before closing with Lovelight.

Set 2 started with a jam that turned into Spanish Jam. Chimenti kept quoting it through most of the second set. Spanish went into Scarlet, which was slow but not bad.
Help on the Way worked well with a slower tempo. Kind of a 1976 feel. Slipknot was the musical highlight of the night with a really good jam that got away from the theme.

Drums/space were short and interesting throughout. Space moved quickly into another Spanish Jam and then the second verse of The Other One. Nothing spectacular there. Standing on the Moon was nice and Sunshine Daydream was a fun closer.
Ripple and One More Saturday Night were the encores.

This was an excellent show, probably the second best that I’ve seen with this band.
Last summer at Alpine left a bad taste in my mouth. What I heard from the Phil/Bob tour and the Wolf Brothers didn’t do it for me. I was feeling like Bobby was done for me. That was a sad thought. Last night sucked me back in!

 

The Wrigley shows were great and the whole summer tour has seemed like a turning point for the band, or maybe I’m just finally getting it.

Dead and Co fave definitely NOT been my thing for all the reasons people have already stated. I have a completely open mind and John Mayer has consistently underwhelmed to our right annoyed me (I know I’m in the minority here) but the jams, the set list pacing, and indeed the guitar solos have really rounded into form. Mayer has finally (mostly) subdued the blues playing that sometimes bubbles up and didn’t quite fit with the Dead. In its place is a searching sound that is so essential to the best of the Dead. I just wish Oteil would sing more because he is almost certainly the best vocalist in the band.

 

A guy behind me was wearing a Let Oteil Sing shirt. I couldn't agree more. When he came in on the second verse of High Time (really nicely played) the crowd roared. He really should be singing more of the ballads. Having him trade verses is a good compromise.

 

Both nights were really fun, but Saturday night was definitely the MVP of the stand. Stellar all-around and the crowd popping for Oteil singing was among many highlights. I don't have enough time for a full rundown, but posnera's Saturday thoughts were pretty much dead on. I had a blast.

Between those two shows and the Phish stream last night, I'm dragging a little this morning, but the music is ringing in my brain.

 

Both nights sounded great to me, second set first night was really hot. The odd placements of the songs the second night seemed a bit arbitrary. Starting a show with Terrapin is cool if they are going to get after it but if it's just going to be a short/straight forward playing of the song, save it for the the second set. It also seemed like they are a bit clunky on the transitions when they do these wacky song sequences. I think I counted like 4 or 5 false ending, they finish a song, the audience starts applauding and then they play the last 90 seconds again.

The thing that is really standing out to me is the the overall creativity. John is doing some very interesting things in the instrumental sections of the longer songs. I think it was in rider he had a riff, a jam or a fill that was completely new to any other version I've ever heard and it's as fit as if it had always been there. Some very complicated and jazzy stuff, from the Love Supreme back in California or what felt like a deep dive into Sketches of Spain aver the weekend. He's found a nice way of adding his own voice into these instrumentals while staying between the lines of the song. He and Jeff for that matter.

 

It seems like whenever John walks over to the piano and he and Jeff make lengthy eye contact, something good and creative is going to happen.

 

Indeed, those two are amazing in this band. I'm not a huge Oteil fan, mostly because he isn't Phil, but there were some points where he had some real grunt to his playing. I'm coming around (slowly) on his singing, I thought he did a nice job on Scarlet. He is having so much fun on stage it's hard to criticize the guy. Painting his face and tripping balls like hes on spring break.

 

You mean "Fire", I assume?