Bob Weir & Wolf Bros returned to Radio City Music Hall on Sunday for another celebration of Ace. The second of two concerts commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Grateful Dead guitarist/vocalist’s 1972 solo album featured guest appearances from John Mayer, Tyler Childers, and Brittney Spencer.
Though Sunday’s concert convened to celebrate Weir’s half-century-old compositions, he began the show with a solo performance of “She Knows What I’m Thinkin'”. Partially debuted on March 26th in Durham, NC, Sunday marked the first full performance of the new Weir tune.
The singer-songwriter then welcomed the original Wolf Bros trio of Don Was (bass) and Jay Lane (drums) in addition to The Wolf Pack string and horn section for “Fever”. Weir had not covered the Eddie Coolie song since March 4th, 2020 in Asheville, NC, per Setlist.fm.
Missing pieces Jeff Chimenti (keys) and Barry Sless (pedal steel) then joined to bring the Wolf Bros ensemble to full force, putting the weight of their instrumentation behind “Jack Straw”.
Bob Weir & Wolf Bros – “She Knows What I’m Thinkin'”, “Fever” (Eddie Coolie), “Jack Straw” – 4/3/22
Prior to putting on side one of Ace with “Greatest Story Ever Told” for the second straight night—a novel practice in Weir’s world—Bobby let the audience in on the plan.
“We’re going to do something we don’t normally do,” Bobby addressed the crowd. “We’re gonna, as advertised I guess, we’re gonna do the songs on the Ace record again tonight.” Before proceeding, however, he polled the audience asking by show of hands who likes that idea. Despite the resounding applause, he still asked who wouldn’t like that—at which point drummer Jay Lane raised his hand before coyly pulling it back down.
“This is gonna go over better than I thought,” Weir quipped. Tyler Childers arrived as the first special guest of the evening, once again lending a hand to “Greatest Story Ever Told” as he did the night before.
After Childers departed, Weir dished out his travelin’ tune “Black Throated Wind” before once again welcoming Brittney Spencer for “Walk In The Sunshine”. Spencer departed for a fittingly improvised “Playing In The Band” before returning once more for “Looks Like Rain”. Weir then took the NYC crowd down south with the “Mexicali Blues” prior to a misdated performance of “One More Saturday Night” and finally “Cassidy”.
Returning for set two, Weir and Childers shared Merle Haggard‘s cowboy tune “Mama Tried”, subbing it into the slot filled by Hank Williams‘ “You Win Again” the night prior. Thus concluded Childers’ onstage contributions for Sunday evening.
A run through Bobby “Blue” Bland‘s “Turn On Your Love Light” preceded the “Terrapin Station” suite, which Weir debuted with The Wolf Pack last summer during his four-night run through Colorado. With the full force of the string and wind section behind him, the bandleader was able to bring out the complete effect of the suite’s compositional prowess in a way not seen since the 1978 studio album of the same name.
Bob Weir & Wolf Bros – “Mama Tried” (Merle Haggard) (w/ Tyler Childers), “Turn On Your Lovelight” (Bobby “Blue” Bland), “Terrapin Station Suite” – 4/3/22
Related: Grateful Dead Studio Albums Ranked Worst To Best
A traditional Sunday performance of “Samson & Delilah” followed with the help of Brittney Spencer. A call to the dugout then sent Brittney offstage and brought out the closer, John Mayer. The Dead & Company guitarist/singer remained onstage for the rest of the show, where the dueling guitars plus the presence of Sless and The Wolf Pack created something in the uncharted territory between Dead & Co, Wolf Bros, and the great unknown.
Starting off with “Sugar Magnolia”, Mayer helped ignite a second set movement of segues that wound through “Scarlet Begonias” and a mighty “The Other One”. The rollicking rhythm of Weir’s autobiographical tale of bus stops of smoking craters of minds then led into the serene post-apocalyptic stillness of “Morning Dew”. The second set finally ended on a roar with the “Sunshine Daydream” coda to the earlier “Sugar Magnolia”.
Weir, his Bros, The Wolf Pack, and JohnBo then filed out for an encore of Buddy Holly‘s “Not Fade Away” to close out the weekend run.
Weir is off the road until May 1st for a special co-headlining show with the reunion of Mickey Hart‘s Planet Drum at Frost Amphitheater in Palo Alto, CA. For tickets and a full list of tour dates click here. Scroll down for a collection of fan-shot videos from Bob Weir & Wolf Bros at Radio City on Sunday courtesy of sgibson818 and a gallery of photos courtesy of Jay Blakesberg.
Setlist: Bob Weir & Wolf Bros | Radio City Music Hall | New York, NY | 4/3/22
Set One: She Knows What I’m Thinkin’ [1], Fever (Eddie Coolie) [2] [3], Jack Straw [4], Greatest Story Ever Told [4] [5], Black Throated Wind [4], Walk In The Sunshine [6], Playing In The Band [4], Looks Like Rain [4] [6], Mexicali Blues [4], One More Saturday Night [4], Cassidy [4]
Set Two: Mama Tried (Merle Haggard) [5], Turn On Your Lovelight (Bobby “Blue” Bland) [4], Terrapin Station Suite [4], Samson & Delilah (Traditional) [4] [6], Sugar Magnolia [4] [7] > Scarlet Begonias [4] [7] > The Other One [4] [7] > Morning Dew [4] [7], Sunshine Daydream [4] [7]
Encore: Not Fade Away (Buddy Holly & The Crickets) [4] [7]
[1] First full performance
[2] Trio & Wolf Pack
[3] LTP 3/4/20
[4] w/ The Wolf Pack
[5] w/ Tyler Childers
[6] w/ Brittney Spencer
[7] w/ John Mayer
