On Friday night, Dead & Company continued their summer tour with their first of two New York City performances scheduled for this weekend. The all-star group continued to carry on the legacy of the Grateful Dead’s music to begin their stay at Citi Field in Queens, NY. The professional baseball stadium is home to the New York Mets, and with the team’s dismal record this season, Bob Weir, Billy Kreutzmann, Mickey Hart, John Mayer, Oteil Burbridge, and Jeff Chimenti provided perhaps the most excitement that fans will see at Citi Field this year.

The sextet opened with a slow and steady “Shakedown Street”, an homage to the vendors and grilled cheese entrepreneurs who were still closing up their shops in the parking lot. Bob Weir and John Mayer exchanged vocal leads on the titular track from the Dead’s 10th studio album, released in 1978. Mayer led the vocal vanguard through a sizzling rendition of “Alabama Getaway” from Go To Heaven.

Dead & Company – “Shakedown Street” [Pro-Shot]

[Video: Nugs.net]

The opening piano notes to “Loser” foreshadowed the beautifully moving Robert Hunter tune with Bob Weir on vocals and Chimenti destroying the keys. Keeping it sentimental, the band moved into a stirring version of Tampa Red’s “It Hurts Me Too” which featured a bluesy John Mayer on vocals. A scorching “Me and My Uncle” followed with Bob Weir, on acoustic guitar, using his distinctive charisma to personify the biting, satirical lyrics originally written John Phillips from The Mamas & the Papas during a heavy drinking session with Judy Collins, Stephen Stills, and Neil Young.

The band transitioned into a flawless “Sugaree”, with Mayer and Weir both sharing lead vocal duties on the Garcia/Hunter tune. The musicians executed the heartfelt and merciful tone like a soldier performing a coup de grace. In its customary position on the setlist, “The Music Never Stopped” was lined up to close the set in its usual ironic fashion. However, the band tacked on an added track, Rob Wasserman‘s “Easy Answers”, to finish the first set.

After a break, the musicians returned to the stage to perform an introductory jam on John Coltrane’s “A Love Supreme” before leading into the first half of Weir’s infamous original, “The Other One”. Weir led the musicians with his vocals and gesticulations, earnestly claiming the rights to his song before helping steer the ship into “Estimated Prophet”. The introductory notes of “Althea” emulated through the stadium next, prompting the spectators to really shake it loose and show off their best foot shuffles. The song prompted Mayer to explore the depths of Jerry Garcia’s guitar work, linking up with Chimenti and Burbridge to push the jam to some thrilling places. Mayer remained at the helm for a billowing “Lady with a Fan” before Bobby retook control of this cosmic spaceship for a gallivant through the galaxies with the intense culmination of the “Terrapin Station” opus.

Dead & Company – “A Love Supreme” > “The Other One” (verse 1) > “Estimated Prophet” [Pro-Shot]

[Video: nugs.net]

Billy Kreutzmann and Mickey Hart berated their drum kits with help from Oteil while the rest of the band leisurely moseyed off stage. In true Grateful Dead tradition, this percussive battle went on for several minutes before Mickey began their exploration of the interstellar depths of “Space”. As the rest of the band rejoined the musical madness, the musicians once again touched on “A Love Supreme” before diving back into the chaotic melodies of “The Other One” to finish what they had started earlier in the set.

Hardly allowing the dust to settle, the band performed a beautifully despondent version of Hunter and Garcia’s ode, “Days Between”. David Dodd said it best in his Greatest Stories Ever Told series: “I don’t know whether to weep with joy at the beauty of the vision or with sadness at the impassable chasm of time between the golden past and the often painful present.” The song’s overarching themes captured a sorrow and longing that can seldom be expressed through words, but the band, with Weir on vocals, did a damn good job expressing the inexplicably temporal beauty of humanity.
The band took a quick break before crushing an energetic version of “U.S. Blues.” The song presented a sardonically patriotic take on their life as counterculture icons in which Jerry Garcia proclaims himself as Uncle Sam. The frenzied audience became uproarious when the musicians left the stage for the conclusion of the second set.

A lone encore ended the night leaving everyone in attendance wanting more. A solemn yet celebratory “Goin’ Down the Road Feelin’ Bad” had everyone—Weir, Mayer, Burbridge, Chimenti, and the entire audience—singing along to the old traditional tune. During the song, a photo of recently-departed longtime Dead roadie and production manager Chris Charucki was displayed on the video feed, prompting cheers from the audience and lending added emotional weight to the evening’s appropriate final number. Weir even donned a Misfits shirt for the number in Charucki’s honor.

Dead & Company – Goin’ Down The Road Feelin Bad

[Video: banfibill]

Below, you can view a gallery of photos from night one at Citi Field courtesy of Eric Gettler Photography. Dead & Company continues their 2018 summer tour with their second of two performances at Citi Field tonight, Saturday, June 16th. For a full list of upcoming dates, head here.

Setlist: Dead & Company | Citi Field | New York, NY | 6/15/18

Set One: Shakedown Street, Alabama Getaway, Loser, It Hurts Me Too, Me And My Uncle^^, Sugaree, The Music Never Stopped > Easy Answers

Set Two: A Love Supreme > The Other One* > Estimated Prophet > Althea > Terrapin Station > Drums**/Space > The Other One^ > Days Between, U.S. Blues

Encore: Goin’ Down The Road Feelin’ Bad

*verse one

^verse two

**with Oteil Burbridge

^^Bob Weir on acoustic guitar