After beginning his long strange trip with the Grateful Dead as a teenager more than 50 years ago, Bob Weir celebrated his 75th birthday last night at The Warfield in San Francisco with Wolf Bros. Falling on the final evening of the band’s three-night run, the show included a ceremony with cake and roses led by Natascha and Chloe Weir, plus two debuts from the band and a surprise sit-in from Ramblin’ Jack Elliot.
Bob Weir & Wolf Bros—Jay Lane (drums), Don Was (bass), and Jeff Chimenti (keyboards)—were once again joined by frequent Weir collaborators Matthew Kelly (Ratdog, Bobby and the Midnites) on harmonica and Barry Sless on pedal steel throughout the night, with The Wolfpack providing accompaniment on select tunes.
The band opened the show with the biblical tale of “Samson and Delilah” before relaxing into “Ramble On Rose”. The first surprises of the night then arrived as Weir and company delivered their public debut of “Big Boss Man” and then welcomed Ramblin’ Jack Elliot to sit in on Jimmie Rodgers‘ “Mule Skinner Blues (Blue Yodel No. 8)”. Weir prefaced the collaboration with a story about meeting Ramblin’ Jack at a Lightning Hopkins show in Berkeley. After getting rejected at the door, the enterprising young Weir snuck in by climbing a drain pipe up to the roof and jumping in the skylight. With more than 90 years under his belt, Ramblin’ Jack offered reassurance that even at 75, Bob Weir is far from being too old to move a crowd.
Bob Weir & Wolf Bros – “Samson And Delilah” [Pro-Shot] – 10/16/22
After seeming to start Bob Dylan‘s “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall”, Weir stopped and said, “Let’s play that later,” before going into the thematically similar “Looks Like Rain”. Wolf Bros then played “Victim or the Crime” for the first time ever, segueing into “The Other One” at the end of the song. Singing just the opening verse about first getting on the bus with Neal Cassady, Weir left “The Other One” unfinished and transitioned to “Cassidy”, another song dedicated to “Cowboy Neal”, to close the set.
Roses were distributed to the audience during intermission, and when the band returned after set break, Bob’s wife Natascha and daughter Chloe led the crowd in singing “Happy Birthday” while presenting a cake to Bob. The Wolfpack then joined the band for the pairing of “China Cat Sunflower” and “I Know You Rider” before leaving the stage for Bob to play “Peggy O” on acoustic guitar. Bob then used Jerry Garcia‘s famous Alligator Stratocaster as The Wolfpack returned to provide accompaniment on “New Speedway Boogie”. The band transitioned back to “The Other One” and finished the tune before wrapping up the set with a reflective “Days Between” and a reminder that Bob’s love will “Not Fade Away”.
Bob Weir & Wolf Bros – “Happy Birthday”, “China Cat Sunflower” > “I Know You Rider” [Pro-Shot] – 10/16/22
Returning for the encore, Bob led the crowd in singing “Happy Birthday” once again, this time for his Dead & Company bandmate John Mayer, with whom he shares a birthday. He then led the band through “Shakedown Street” as the final song of the weekend. Scott McKenzie‘s “San Francisco (Be Sure To Wear Flowers In Your Hair)” played on the house speakers as the lights came up and the crowd filed out of the venue.
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Check out a gallery of photos from Bob Weir & Wolf Bros at The Warfield courtesy of Bolt of Sunshine below.
Setlist: Bob Weir & Wolf Bros | The Warfield | San Francisco | 10/16/22
Set One: Samson and Delilah, Ramble On Rose, Big Boss Man (Jimmy Reed) [1], Mule Skinner Blues (Blue Yodel No. 8) (Jimmie Rodgers) [2], Looks Like Rain, Victim or the Crime [3] > The Other One [4] > Cassidy
Set Two: Happy Birthday to You [5], China Cat Sunflower > I Know You Rider, Peggy-O, New Speedway Boogie > Eternity > The Other One (Reprise), Days Between, Not Fade Away (The Crickets)
Encore: Happy Birthday to You [6], Shakedown Street
[1] Wolf Bros public debut
[2] w/ Ramblin Jack Elliott
[3] Wolf Bros debut
[4] First verse only
[5] For Bobby, with cake
[6] For John Mayer, who shared Bobby’s birthday
