On Saturday night, October 13th, Save The Redwoods League hosted a very special benefit at San Francisco’s August Hall, scheduled to include a performance by a special “grateful” band billed as Bob Weir, Mickey Hart And Friends with Special Guest John Mayer. While the billing was something of a misdirect, the actual band that came to play was anchored by Weir, Don Was, and Jay Lane—the members of Bob Weir and Wolf Bros, who will commence their inaugural tour this week.
The trio began the show with Bob Dylan‘s “When I Paint My Masterpiece” followed by “Only A River”, a selection from Weir’s 2016 solo LP, Blue Mountain. A pair of Grateful Dead favorites were up next in “Friend of the Devil” and “Loose Lucy”. Next, the band welcomed John Mayer to the stage to help them through a rendition of “Althea”, one of the songs to which the Dead & Company guitarist has taken most naturally throughout his relatively recent dive into the world of the Grateful Dead. From there, Mickey Hart joined in for his scheduled appearance, helping the band round out their set as a five-piece with “Easy Answers” and “Not Fade Away”.
You can check out some clips from the unofficial debut of Bob Weir and Wolf Bros at the Save The Redwoods League benefit below:
Bob Weir and Wolf Bros w/ John Mayer – “Easy Answers”
[Video: Dear Marie BR, Richard Smith]
Setlist: Bob Weir and Wolf Bros | August Hall | San Francisco, CA | 10/13/18
Set: When I Paint My Masterpiece, Only A River, Friend Of The Devil, Loose Lucy, Althea*, Easy Answers*^, Not Fade Away*^
*with John Mayer
While this marked the first time Weir, Was, and Lane shared the stage as a trio since the announcement of the coming Wolf Bros tour, Weir and Was have been preparing with various “warmup gigs” in the last couple weeks, including a set at Pathway To Paris with Alex Koford on drums last month. Weir also sat in with Was during his Don Was & Friends set at last weekend’s Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival in Golden Gate Park.
You can check out a full list of the upcoming Bob Weir and Wolf Bros dates below. For more information, head to Bobby’s website.