As Americans on the mainland prepare to give thanks this Thursday, Bill Kreutzmann assembled a dream team spanning multiple generations of jamband talent on his home island of Kauai, Hawaii for the appropriately named Mahalo Dead three-night run.
“Mahalo” is a Hawaiian word meaning both thanks and grateful, making the event name doubly suitable for the Thanksgiving holiday and as a play on Grateful Dead—and at 78, Kreutzmann has plenty to be thankful/grateful for. Not only is the drummer and Grateful Dead co-founder still vivacious enough to perform three two-set shows in a weekend, but he is beloved enough to gather a gaggle of young top-tier players and fans eager to join in the celebration.
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After a few days of rehearsal and a laugh-filled session of goat yoga, Kreutzmann and his all-star band said aloha on Friday with two sets of inspired jamming on classics from the Grateful Dead songbook. Joined by guitarist Daniel Donato (Cosmic Country), bassist Reed Mathis (Billy & The Kids), keyboardist Adam MacDougall (Circles Around The Sun), percussionist Jason Hann (The String Cheese Incident), guitarist Jake Brownstein (Eggy), and late addition Kanika Moore (Doom Flamingo), Kreutzmann opened the series with “Box of Rain” in honor of his recently departed bandmate Phil Lesh. That touching tribute kicked off a set that also included the sought-after pairing of “Help on the Way” > “Slipknot”, a cheerful “Run for the Roses”, and an adventurous sequence of “China Doll” > “Mind Left Body Jam” > “Morning Dew”.
That was only the start, though, as night one continued with a second set that included a playful cover of Vampire Weekend‘s “Sunflower”, which emerged out of “China Cat Sunflower” (resulting in a setlist that read “China Cat” > “Sunflower” jam), and Bob Dylan‘s “The Man In Me”, in addition to GD staples like “Estimated Prophet”, “I Know You Rider”, “It Must Have Been The Roses”, “US Blues”, and “Touch of Grey”.
The excitement continued on Saturday with more stellar jams and Deadhead favorites including “Bird Song”, “Me and Bobby McGee”, “Mama Tried”, “Shakedown Street”, and more.
Check out photos and fan-shot videos from the first two nights of Bill Kreutzmann’s Mahalo Dead below and click here to stream full audio courtesy of gratefuldead123. The run concludes tonight, and you know what they say about Sunday shows…
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Mahalo Dead – “Shining Star” – 11/22/24
[Video: keaton6921]
Mahalo Dead – “US Blues” – 11/22/24
[Video: keaton6921]
Mahalo Dead – “Shakedown Street” – 11/23/24
[Video: keaton6921]
Mahalo Dead – “Mama Tried” – 11/23/24
[Video: keaton6921]
Mahalo Dead – “Me And Bobby McGee” – 11/23/24
[Video: keaton6921]
Mahalo Dead – “Bird Song” – 11/23/24
[Video: keaton6921]
Setlist: Mahalo Dead | Porter Pavilion | Kilauea, HI | 11/22/24
Set 1: Box of Rain, Help on the Way -> Slipknot, Run for the Roses, China Doll -> Mind Left Body Jam -> Morning Dew
Set 2: Shining Star, China Cat -> Sunflower* jam -> The Man In Me**, Estimated Prophet, I Know You Rider, It Must Have Been The Roses, US Blues, Touch of Grey
*Vampire Weekend
**Bob Dylan)