Fresh off the debut of their NPR “Tiny Desk Concert” and a weekend run of shows in Florida, Bob Weir and Wolf Bros kept their 2020 winter tour running at full speed with a performance at the Durham Performing Arts Center (DPAC) in Durham, NC on Tuesday night.
The band’s North Carolina performance heard the trio visit more tunes out of the Bob Dylan catalog, mixed in with their stripped-down interpretations of songs made famous by Weir’s years of service to America in the Grateful Dead.
Tuesday’s 17-song performance opened with “Hell in a Bucket”, the uptempo anthem co-written by Weir, John Perry Barlow and Brent Mydland which started appearing in the Dead’s live arsenal beginning in the mid-1980s. The set continued with “Loser” and “Mama Tried” before returning to Weir’s solo catalog with “Gonesville” from 2016’s Blue Mountain. The trio continued with their first of three Dylan covers of the night with “When I Paint My Masterpiece”, followed by “Bombs Away” from Weir’s 1978 solo album.
The first set came to a close following the performances of “Row Jimmy” and “Throwing Stones”, with the latter making a point to nod to the “Super Tuesday” voting day in states across the country on Tuesday with Weir’s lyrics, “And the politicians throwing stones/So the kids, they dance, they shake their bones/’Cause it’s all too clear we’re on our own.”
Watch the band’s opening numbers from Tuesday’s first set below.
Bob Weir and Wolf Bros – “Hell in a Bucket”, “Loser” – 3/3/20
[Video: Charlie Barzola]
Following set break, the band returned to the stage to open the second half of the show with their take on Little Feat‘s “Easy to Slip”. The band then took fans on a non-stop run of Dead classics starting with “Shakedown Street” which flowed right into “He’s Gone”, “Playing in the Band”, and “Bird Song”, before returning to Dylanland for “All Along the Watchtower” and finally wrapping with the relaxed vibes of “Stella Blue”. The band then closed the set with “Not Fade Away” before ultimately returning to end the show with an encore cover of Dylan’s “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue”.
The winter run of Bob Weir and Wolf Bros tour dates continues on Wednesday with a performance at the Thomas Wolfe Auditorium in Asheville, NC. Head to Weir’s website for the full listing of upcoming tour dates and ticket info.
Setlist: Bob Weir and Wolf Bros | Durham Performing Arts Center | Durham, NC | 3/3/20
Set One: Hell in a Bucket, Loser, Mama Tried (Merle Haggard cover), Gonesville, When I Paint My Masterpiece (Bob Dylan cover), Bombs Away, Row Jimmy, Throwing Stones
Set Two: Easy to Slip (Little Feat cover), Shakedown Street > He’s Gone > Playing in the Band > Bird Song > All Along the Watchtower (Bob Dylan cover) > Stella Blue, Not Fade Away (The Crickets cover)
Encore: It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue (Bob Dylan cover)