Last night, after a night off following their performance at SPAC on Tuesday, Dead & Company continued their summer tour at Bristow, VA’s Jiffy Lube Live. While Tuesday’s concert noticeably dragged a little after the previous weekend’s grade-A Fenway Park performances, the band beat their Boston hangover and delivered an excellent, creatively adventurous show in Bristow.

The show began with a languid but meaty “Shakedown Street,” a song that’s emblematic of many fans’ hesitance to buy into this current incarnation of the Dead. There’s no way around it–Dead & Co plays it slow. That’s not how most Deadheads are used to hearing it, and the truth of the matter is that’s not going to change. But once you give a listen to the improvisation that came out of it on Thursday (below), and you’ll see that a ride down Shakedown is still worth taking, even with its new lower speed limit.

“Shakedown” moved into “Uncle John’s Band,” with the band’s own John leading a beautiful, textured rendition, trading fluttering major key runs with keyboardist Jeff Chimenti. The Workingman’s Dead favorite also got the improv treatment, as the band expertly toyed with the tune’s rhythm and dynamics. “Minglewood Blues” came next, giving Jeff a chance to show off his chops as Oteil Burbridge‘s driving bass line kept the engine purring and Bob Weir mustered his best highwayman howl.

The first “Althea” since night one at Folsom Field followed. Mayer does some of his best Dead & Co work leading this classic Garcia/Hunter tune, which had been part of his solo band’s live repertoire since well before he became involved with the Dead family. The band then closed out set one with a subtly bouncing “Peggy-O” and a pair of sing-alongs in “Bertha” and “Women Are Smarter.” You can watch fan-shot footage of “Althea” below, courtesy of YouTube user Tom Libera:

After a fine first set, Weir, Mayer, Chimenti, Burbridge, and drummers Bill Kreutzmann and Mickey Hart returned to the stage revitalized, with all six musicians connecting and communicating effortlessly. You beed not look much farther than the typed-out setlist the band posted on their Facebook page following the show to see that Dead & Co was letting the music steer the ship in Bristow, as they scrapped most of their planned second set in favor of simply letting it flow:

After a set-opening “Playing In The Band,” the band kept on chugging along with a Weir-led “New Speedway Boogie” and a particularly twangy “He’s Gone.” While Mayer and Weir traded singing duties on the wistful tune, it was John’s thoroughly impressive vocal flourishes and searing blues riffing that made the song shine so brightly. “He’s Gone” eventually gave way to “Fire On The Mountain,” which was once again led by Burbridge on lead vocals, who seems to have officially taken over the tune’s singing duties from Mayer after handling the last two renditions (including last weekend in Boston).

After ceding the spotlight to the Rhythm Devils for the ensuing “Drums” > “Space,” the band returned to the stage and slid into a misty rendition of John Coltrane‘s “A Love Supreme” (marking the instrumental’s first appearance in the Dead & Company setting) before landing on a dreamy reading of Bob Dylan‘s “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall.” “Hard Rain” eventually found its way back to the “Playing In The Band” theme for a reprise of the set opener before an emphatic “Throwing Stones” > “U.S. Blues” one-two punch brought the set to a close.

When the band returned for their encore, they dove right back into “U.S. Blues”–one last chance to sing about the summertime and appreciate their ongoing nationwide run–before resolving into “Liberty,” making for a particularly patriotic ending to a show that exuded a down-home, highway-bound, adventurous American spirit throughout.

With a solid performance in Bristow, the band dispelled any notions that they had lost a step after SPAC and affirmed the excitement for their return to New York’s Citi Field tomorrow, Saturday, June 24th. For a full list of upcoming tour dates, head to the Dead & Company website.

You can listen to full audio of the performance below via archive.org user TaperJeff, and enjoy a gallery of photos from the show courtesy of photographer Mark Raker below:

You can also see official pro-shot video of the show’s first three songs (via nugs.tv), as well as crowd-shot videos of “Peggy-O” and “Playing In The Band” > “New Speedway Boogie,” (via YouTube user Tom Libera) below:

Pro-shot “Shakedown Street”/”Uncle John’s Band”/”Minglewood Blues”

“Peggy-O”

“Playing In The Band”/”New Speedway Boogie”

SETLIST: Dead & Company | Jiffy Lube Live | Bristow, VA | 6/22/17

Set One: Shakedown Street > Uncle John’s Band, Minglewood Blues, Althea, Peggy-O, Bertha > Women Are Smarter

Set Two: Playin’ In The Band > New Speedway Boogie > He’s Gone > Fire On The Mountain > Drums > Space > A Love Supreme > A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall > Playin’ In The Band (Reprise) > Throwing Stones > U.S. Blues

Encore: U.S. Blues (Reprise) > Liberty

[Cover Photo via Mark Raker]