More than a quarter century since the Grateful Dead last played a three-night run at The Forum, the Bob Weir, Bill Kreutzmann, Mickey Hart-lead Dead & Company ensemble continued their New Year’s run last night in Inglewood, delivering yet another memorable performance chalked full of Dead classics.
Things got off to a hot start with a Bob Weir special performance “New Minglewood Blues,” with renditions of “Here Comes Sunshine” and an appropriately placed “West L.A. Fadeaway” to follow, guitar player John Mayer handling the vocals on both. After versions of “Althea” and “Loser,” Dead & Company raced down the home stretch of the first set with a great “Bertha” > “Bird Song” combo.
Set two got off to a hot and heavy start and did not waver in it’s intensity. Beginning with “Playing in the Band,” Dead & Company wove an awesome web of music during their second stanza, acrobatically connecting and transitioning from song to song as “Viola Lee Blues” turned into “Shakedown Street” and then to the classic one-two of “China Cat Sunflower” > “I Know You Rider.”
After the Rhythm Devils went to work on their “Drums” section, the set concluded with a heavy-hitting trio of tunes, “The Other One,” “Wharf Rat,” and “Turn On Your Lovelight,” with an acoustic rendition of “Friend of the Devil” serving as the show’s encore. It’s amazing to see how far this group has come together over the past few months. We will be forever grateful.
Dead & Company plays their final show of 2015, tonight at The Forum in Inglewood, CA.
Setlist: Dead & Company, The Forum, Inglewood, CA – 12/30/15
Set I: New Minglewood Blues, Here Comes Sunshine, West L.A. Fadeaway, Althea, Loser, Bertha > Bird Song
Set II: Playing in the Band > Viola Lee Blues > Shakedown Street > China Cat Sunflower > I Know You Rider > Drums > Space > The Other One, Wharf Rat, Turn On Your Lovelight
Encore: Friend Of The Devil
Full gallery of photos via Steve Rose can be seen below:
