Bob Weir has found himself a new hotspot at The Guild Theatre in Menlo Park, CA. Last month, the Grateful Dead singer/guitarist joined The Terrapin Family Band for a pre-Thanksgiving show and then last week returned to lend Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats a hand during a four-song encore.

Thursday’s concert at the 500-capacity theater, a massive underplay for Rateliff, served as a benefit concert for The Marigold Project. The artist’s charitable arm invests in community and nonprofit organizations devoted to racial, social, and economic justice.

After rifling through a 16-song set that spanned the group’s four-album discography, the band returned to the dim stage to introduce “our good friend, Bobby Weir.” The budding friendship between Weir and Rateliff has continued to blossom since Weir welcomed the Denver singer-songwriter during his Wolf Bros tour finale at Mission Ballroom in November.  

The four-song encore began with one of Bob’s quintessential cowboy tunes, John Phillips‘ “Me & My Uncle”. The Grateful Dead co-founder took his moment in the spotlight to rip an extended fuzzy guitar solo before Nathaniel let the crowd know they were going to be there a little while longer.

Bob Dylan‘s “Slow Train Coming” came next, with Rateliff delivering a respectful impression of Dylan’s late-1970s voice as he and Weir passed verses back and forth. Thursday marked Weir’s first performance of the 1979 track since November 11th, 2008 with RatDog, per Jambands.com.

Picking up the mood from Zimmerman’s faithful ballad, The Night Sweats kicked into a roaring take on The Band‘s “The Shape I’m In”. Weir had not performed the song since March 6th, 2017 with Phil Lesh & The Terrapin Family Band.

Finally, the marathon encore closed out with a lengthy take on one of Weir’s signature Dead songs, “The Other One”. The big-band feel of The Night Sweats’ deep bench lent itself idyllically to the rhythmically dense jam vehicle, with the band giving the song the space to stretch out to a comfortable 11 minutes.

Check out pro-shot videos of Bob Weir with Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats in Menlo Park.

Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats, Bob Weir – “Me & My Uncle” (John Phillips) [Pro-Shot] – 12/1/22

Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats, Bob Weir – “Slow Train Coming” (Bob Dylan) [Pro-Shot] – 12/1/22

Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats, Bob Weir – “The Shape I’m In” (The Band) [Pro-Shot] – 12/1/22

Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats, Bob Weir – “The Other One” [Pro-Shot] – 12/1/22

Setlist: Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats | The Guild Theatre | Menlo Park, CA | 12/1/22

Set: Look It Here, You Worry Me, I’m on Your Side, I’ll Be Damned, Survivor, Baby I Lost My Way, (But I’m Going Home), A Little Honey, Love Me Till I’m Gone, Horn Section Instrumental, Face Down in the Moment, Hey Mama, Coolin’ Out, Intro, I Need Never Get Old, S.O.B., Love Don’t

Enc.: Me and My Uncle*, Slow Train Coming*^, The Shape I’m In*#, The Other One*

Notes:

* With Bobby Weir

^ Bob Dylan cover. Weir bust out, last played Nov. 11, 2008 with RatDog

# The Band cover. Weir bust out, last played March 6, 2017 with Phil Lesh & The Terrapin Family Band