After five days and nights on the beach, Dead Ahead Fest came to a close with one more (Monday) night of Grateful Dead music. The second-annual festival’s marquee band once again included Grateful Dead guitarist Bob Weir, country badass Sturgill Simpson, Goose guitarist Rick Mitarotonda, bassist Don Was, and Weir’s Dead & Company bandmates Oteil Burbridge, Jeff Chimenti, and Jay Lane, plus a guest appearance from Brittney Spencer.
Kicking off the show with the Dead’s holy trinity “Help on the Way” > “Slipknot!” > “Franklin’s Tower”, Mitarotonda got his first turn on vocals as he rolled the way the dew on the trifecta’s closing song. Monday was surely a surreal day for the Goose guitarist, as that morning his band announced its headlining debut at Madison Square Garden, then hours later he was onstage with one of the forefathers of the jam band civilization. For his part, Mitarotonda acted like he’d been there (he had, after all) and charted some of the evening’s deepest improvisation with his technically proficient playing.
After Weir helmed the evening’s one and only cover, Bob Dylan‘s “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall”, Simpson got his first turn on lead vocals for “Brown-Eyed Women”. The singer-songwriter was fresh off his own three-hour headlining performance the previous evening, adding up to four straight nights of playing. By the evening’s end, the week’s endurance competition caught up to Simpson as he could be seen stretching his back throughout the performance and ultimately rode out the encore seated on a piece of equipment.
There was still plenty of game left to be played, however, as Weir once again looked skyward for his own “Looks Like Rain”—with help from Brittney Spencer, who sang the same song with Bobby at Radio City Music Hall in 2022. While the majority of the Dead & Co apparatus was present onstage at Dead Ahead, guitarist John Mayer‘s absence was sorely felt as Weir closed the first set with “Althea”, which has become the pop star-turned Jerry Garcia stand-in’s signature song over the band’s ten-year history.
Coming back for its final set at Dead Ahead, the band dove in with a disappointingly brief “Playing in the Band”, opting instead to pull the parachute cord and land across the Rio Grand-eo at a Rick-sung “Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo”. Keeping the musical train moving, the band kept “Truckin'” ahead of a rhythmic breakdown by Lane, Was, and Burbridge. Normally the place for the traditional “Drums”, the double-bass lineup was utilized to its fullest potential for this unique spin on the time-honored live Grateful Dead rite. Descending from the spacey instrumental improv, Weir hung around the stratosphere a bit longer with “Standing on the Moon” before returning to Earth where “Casey Jones” came barrelling down the tracks to close the set.
Taking the Moon Palace stage one last time, a serene “Brokedown Palace” started the encore as Simpson took a seat onstage and stopped playing guitar. Burbridge, too, relinquished his instrument as he focused on adding vocals to the multi-part harmony before “Touch of Grey” closed out another successful Dead Ahead Fest in Mexico.
Check out some videos from the Dead Ahead closer and listen to full-show audio on Internet Archive. Up next for Weir and Dead & Company is the band’s return to Las Vegas’ Sphere for another residency. Find tickets on Ticketmaster. Revisit Live For Live Music‘s coverage of nights one and two of Dead Ahead in Mexico.
Dead Ahead — “Help On The Way” > “Slipknot!” > “Franklin’s Tower” — 1/13/25
[Video: GRUNZY CHANNEL]
Setlist: Dead Ahead | Dead Ahead Festival | Moon Palace Hotel | Cancún, Mexico | 1/13/25
Set One: Help on the Way > Slipknot! > Franklin’s Tower [1], A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall (Bob Dylan), Brown-Eyed Women [2], Looks Like Rain [3], Althea
Set Two: Playing in the Band > Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo [1] > Truckin’ > Drums & Bass > Standing on the Moon, Casey Jones [3]
Encore: Brokedown Palace, Touch of Grey [3]
[1] Rick on lead vocals
[2] Sturgill on lead vocals
[3] w/ Brittney Spencer