Texas has remained one of the most colorful states in the US from the time it joined the union in 1845 and rejoined in 1865 after the Civil War. If it were to secede now, it’d be the 10th largest economy in the world and the sixth largest oil producer in the world. Texas was based on the Caddo word Tejas, meaning “friends” or “allies”. And while Texas has long conjured up images of prairies, cowboys, windmills, tornados and wheat fields, Texas was whacked hard twice last century by the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl. However, Texas transitioned into an urban, industrialized state in the mid-20th century, fueled in no small part by the oil industry and–no city reflected the state’s new image to the world more than Dallas from the late 70s onwards, via the glitzy portrayals of the city in the TV series of the same name and the success of the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys.
While Dallas-Fort Worth is now the 4th largest city in the United States, the city (and Texas in general), never quite hosted as many Grateful Dead shows as one might have expected, and the post-GD iterations of the band have also remained light on the visits to the state. For an excellently-researched piece on why this was the case, click here. (TL/DR: long mileage for traveling fans and loss of promoter relationships, but not heavy-handed law enforcement.)
Arriving at the American Airlines Center an hour before showtime found a strangely quiet scene outside, with no real parking lot scene to speak of and no lines to get in at any door. At 6:30 there were only a couple thousand people inside a most, and at that point it was looking like a very bad night for the promoter. But somehow an additional 10,000 people from nearby skyscrapers and bars made their way into the arena over the next hour, and it was business as usual after all. “Shakedown Street” served as a most fitting opener given the location and the late-arriving crowd; it felt just right with all the glitz and glamour outside. Rhythm guitarist and band leader Bob Weir knocked out the vocals on a solid version that allowed the band and crowd to relax and get comfortable over the space of its 12 minutes.
Watch the set one opener below, courtesy of the band.
“Brown-Eyed Women” immediately took the set’s vibe from downtown to way outside town, and lead guitarist John Mayer’s delivery of the homespun lyrics also took on a decidedly different feel in Texas, though this was missed by the dozens of late arrivals and various other well-oiled folks carrying on on loud conversations that would quickly be shushed at Shoreline. Fortunately, the hotly-anticipated appearance of unofficial local anthem “Deep Elem Blues” came early and served to get the entire arena fully involved with the music–there were loud singalongs on every chorus and a corresponding drop in crowd chatter. The band had fun with it too, as the song ran for nearly ten minutes while band members traded verses and smiles, with bassist Oteil Burbridge’s turn at the microphone garnering the loudest cheer. “Friend Of The Devil” followed, in fast-version, electric form, and it continued the rustic, country-tinged vibe, as did a spirited trot through the Marty Robbins classic “El Paso”, the first of the tour. This song has been a staple in Bob Weir’s repertoire throughout his life, and he was visibly enjoying its performance.
After a brief tease of “Ramble On Rose”, the band instead went for the reggae-infused groove of “They Love Each Other”, and while it was well-played it felt a bit out of place given what had preceded it. However, things quickly moved on with “The Music Never Stopped” returning to its normal Grateful Dead-era placement as a first-set closer, and the song proceeded normally enough and the jazzy jam in 6/8 gathered an enjoyable bit of steam before Bob led the change back into the song’s main riff and closing jam.
But then a funny thing happened on the way to intermission. Bob started playing chords that were clearly sparking a transition into another song. Another minute or so passed before Bob started singing, and amidst people asking each other what song it was, “Easy Answers” became the 8th breakout on the fall tour. This Weir song, from the Grateful Dead’s final era, wasn’t one that many saw coming, and even with co-writing help from Robert Hunter, Vince Welnick, and Bob Bralove, the song divided fans from its inception at Giants Stadium in June 1993. However, something felt different and more comfortable about it in the Dead & Company setting here, partly due to John and Oteil being virtuoso musicians who can nimbly negotiate the most of Weir’s complex arrangements. Tonight the band took their time exploring the song’s possibilities and at times it almost a felt like it was a public rehearsal, but that’s fun to watch too and this song may find its wings in the Dead & Company setting. The band detoured back into “The Music Never Stopped” to finish off the set, stretching things out to a full 75 minutes before Bob announced the break.
The second set was all about the Garcia/Hunter catalog, with a couple songs from young upstarts Lennon/McCartney and some whippersnapper named Bob Dylan. As was so often the case when the Grateful Dead played areas where country and western music is predominant, the first set was a vehicle to ease people into things via songs that are recognizable and palatable to locals and first timers. Then once everyone is comfortable and warmed up, the second set became the vehicle to blast the crowd into deep space. Dead & Company did exactly that tonight, with the use of four consecutive monoliths of the Garcia/Hunter song catalog.
“Here Comes Sunshine” is another song that fits John Mayer’s sound and style unusually well, and its upbeat, optimistic lyrics felt like a continuation of the rural, rustic vibe. Like the “Shakedown Street” opener in the first set, it was light and airy and enjoyable, but it was essentially a ten-minute plus warmup for what happened next.
Watch the set two opener below, courtesy of the band.
Bob strummed a few quiet stealth chords to lead the band into “Scarlet Begonias”, and once the crowd recognized the song, a huge cheer went up and the energy level spiked instantly. The band clearly heard it, felt it, and responded in kind, delivering an equally energetic version of the song. Bob belted out the verses and John’s mid-song solo was pure fire, as it inspired Bob to signal for an extra go-round while he struck his current-day star pose and nailed those only-Weir power chords. The jam into “Fire On The Mountain” was relatively short, but as has been the case since Oteil began singing Fire, the song has new life and new energy. John’s solos went way off into rock n roll fireworks territory, to the point where one flurry of guitar gunslinger moves in the song’s final solo actually made Bob stop playing for a few seconds to look over at John’s fret hand with a “what is that boy DOING?” look on his face, which was priceless.
Upward momentum continued with “Eyes Of The World”, which was the highlight of the night. John’s solo after the first verse had much more of a rock ‘n’ roll feel as opposed to a jazz feel, and he was out in front of things while staying in the pocket. However, John and keyboardist Jeff Chimenti’s I’ll-see-you-and-raise-you duet after the second verse was the peak moment of the show, and the sight of the two of them grinning as they went back and forth recalled visions of Jerry Garcia and Brent Mydland doing the very same thing on Grateful Dead stages. Meanwhile Oteil, whose bass was curiously lower in the mix for much of the night, took his usual bass solo after the final verse, and at one point his fingers on both hands were flying so quickly it almost looked like two five-legged spiders trying to out-dance each other.
After a rousing cheer of appreciation, drummers Bill Kreutzmann and Mickey Hart were given the stage for their nightly Drums excursion, and they read the mood of the show well and skillfully opted for an unusually subtle and reflective journey that relied heavily on electronics and felt almost calm and meditative after the peaks of the previous 45 minutes. As he is known to do, Oteil came out at the end and joined them amidst the racks of drums for the last few minutes of the passage. Once Mickey gently raked the beam and then the frontline musicians returned for Space, they too offered up a non-traditional, almost structured version, while Oteil played a repeating bass line with a gentle tempo that served as an anchor for what everyone else was doing. John in particular came up with some nice riffing and noodling to help generate one of the better Drums/Space segments of the tour.
Space began “Dear Prudence”, the first non-Garcia Hunter song of the set, but given that it was one of John Lennon’s most psychedelic songs, it slotted in nicely. This also has contained a searing solo from John that generated a bigger peak than normal, given that Dead & Company renderings usually opt for a spacey, more ethereal approach. And then it was straight back to the Garcia/Hunter catalog with “The Wheel”, with this version set apart by Jeff’s powerful, Hornsby-esque piano chords during the mid-song break–once again providing extra power to a song that’s usually rendered more delicately. The set closed with “Casey Jones”, one of the “hits” from the Garcia/Hunter catalog. The energy continued and the crowd sang along, but then the closing choruses caught fire to the point where John stopped singing and just started soloing wildly. Bob looked over and knew a good thing when he saw it, and sight of both of them jumping up and down together, Mayer style, in-unison, was the knockout punch and showed a band who was clearly having a great time doing what they do.
The “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door” encore was relaxing and brought the crowd back down to earth, and even if it’s not from the Garcia/Hunter catalog, there was never a time when Bob Dylan’s songs were far away from Jerry Garcia. John channeled Garcia’s style with his solo, where the notes just tumbled out of the guitar in that loose, easy manner.
All in all, it was a Texas-sized trip, from the city to the country to deep space and back home again.
Listen to the full audio below, courtesy of Taper_Friendly:
Check out the full setlist below, as well as the gallery provided by photographer Erik Kabik.
Setlist: Dead & Company | American Airlines Center | Dallas, TX | 12/1/17
I: Shakedown Street, Brown-Eyed Women, Deep Elem Blues, Friend of the Devil, El Paso, They Love Each Other, The Music Never Stopped > Easy Answers > The Music Never Stopped
II: Here Comes Sunshine, Scarlet Begonias, Fire on the Mountain, Eyes of the World, Drums, Space, Dear Prudence, The Wheel / Stay, Casey Jones
E: Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door
