Bob Weir has announced that this week’s Weir Wednesday will feature a rebroadcast of his show with members of The National and Walter Martin. Until now, Weir’s recurring webcast series has stayed confined to Wolf Bros shows.
The concert itself comes from March 24th, 2012 and was filmed live at Weir’s TRI Studios. Weir established the San Rafael studio back in 2011 to put on live streams and record concerts, but it has since fallen dormant. During a previous edition of the Shakedown Stream pre-show chat, however, Weir expressed interest in getting the facility back up and running given the current prevalence of live streams.
The show, dubbed ‘The Bridge Session’, featured Weir alongside members of The National and Martin playing through a variety of Grateful Dead classics, as well as borrowing from The National catalog. ‘The Bridge Session’ was sponsored by HeadCount and the video directed was by Justin Kreutzmann, son of founding Dead drummer Bill Kreutzmann, giving the whole session a homey feel. While the show was dominated by Grateful Dead songs and kicked off with a rare standalone “Help On The Way”, the musicians immediately threw viewers for a loop with Cass McCombs‘s “Love Thine Enemy” in the two slot.
With Fare Thee Well and Dead & Company still years away, ‘The Bridge Session’ gave audiences a look at Weir joining up with younger musicians. Sure, he had recruited (then) ringers like Steve Kimock or Jimmy Herring for various post-Jerry Garcia projects, but this paved the way for Weir playing with younger musicians who are not already within the jam scene. It also showed audiences the fact that many bands, not just those who rip 20 minute live songs, can have a sincere appreciation for the Dead’s music. In a public and tangible way, ‘The Bridge Session’ helped pave the way for John Mayer straddling the pop genre to jump ship to the world of the Dead.
Watch this week’s Weir Wednesday broadcast on Wednesday, May 20th, beginning at 8:30 ET via the video player below.
Bob Weir, The National, Walter Martin – TRI Studios – 3/24/12