Bob Weir and Wolf Bros’ ongoing winter tour continued rocking its way through the southeast U.S. with a performance at the Tennessee Theatre in Knoxville, TN on Friday night. The trio eased their Tennessee fans into the weekend with a two-set performance which saw the band explore a pair of rare and lesser-known tunes out of the Weir & Wasserman songbook.
The show opened with a one-two punch of “Cassidy” into RatDog‘s “Odessa”, followed by a take on John Phillips‘ “Me and My Uncle”. The band continued the first set with “Only A River” and a geographically-appropriate “Tennessee Jed”, and then delivered a cover of Bob Dylan‘s “Maggie’s Farm” followed by “I Need A Miracle” and “Let It Grow” to close the opening set.
Watch part of the band’s “Tennessee Jed” performance from Friday’s show below.
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The band returned to the stage to open the second set with “The Winners”, a song co-written by Weir who used the poetic writings of Rudyard Kipling as inspiration. Weir played the song numerous times over the years during solo shows after the disbandment of the Grateful Dead.
The show continued with a pair of familiar Dead tunes in “New Speedway Boogie” and “Franklin’s Tower” before the trio delivered another Wier rarity in “Eternity”, which was co-penned by the guitarist alongside Willie Dixon during the creative sessions for Rob Wasserman‘s Trios album in 1993. The Dead would also go on to play the song on occasion in the last few years of their existence. The music flowed right into “The Other One” before the set came to a close with “Wharf Rat” and “Sugar Magnolia”. The show’s one-song encore was that of “Casey Jones” to send fans off into the night.
The band will travel to the disaster-stricken city of Nashville, TN on Saturday, where the performance at The Ryman Auditorium. Proceeds from Saturday’s show will go towards the disaster relief to help the ongoing cleanup process from a pair of tornadoes that ravaged Nashville and parts of central Tennessee earlier this week.
Head to Weir’s website for tickets and tour info.
Setlist: Bob Weir and Wolf Bros | Tennessee Theatre | Knoxville, TN | 3/6/20
Set One: Cassidy > Odessa, Me and My Uncle (John Phillips), Only a River, Tennessee Jed, Maggie’s Farm (Bob Dylan cover), I Need A Miracle, Let It Grow
Set Two: The Winners, New Speedway Boogie > Franklin’s Tower, Eternity > The Other One, Wharf Rat, Sugar Magnolia
Encore: Casey Jones