On Tuesday night, following a fantastic two-night stand at New York’s Citi Field, Dead & Company headed to Darien Lake Performing Arts Center in Darien Center, NY for the twelfth show of their ongoing summer tour.

The band took the stage and dove straight into “Cold Rain and Snow”, Oteil Burbridge and Bob Weir nailing their vocal harmonies as John Mayer sang lead to get the set moving at a slow and steady pace. An even-keeled “Tennessee Jed” followed, giving Jeff Chimenti yet another chance to shine with his piano flourishes and continue his strong campaign for tour MVP.

Dead & Company – “Cold Rain and Snow”

[Video: Nugs.tv]

Next, they picked up the pace for a fun rendition of “Dire Wolf” that followed, before taking a beat to prepare for “Queen Jane Approximately”, Dead & Company’s first rendition of the Bob Dylan deep cut since 2016. Oteil stepped to the mic next for a soothing “If I Had The World To Give”. The set continued chugging along with a “Here Comes Sunshine” that saw the band stretch out a little for the first time on the evening, followed by the smokey blues of Willie Dixon‘s “Little Red Rooster”, another tour debut. While the first set was relatively unremarkable as a whole, the “Let It Grow” that brought it to a close stood on its own merits. Mayer dextrously expanded upon the late Jerry Garcia‘s musical thought processes throughout as he led the band through a thrilling extended jam to end the frame.

“Iko, Iko” kicked off set two with a light-footed swing before the opening notes to classic jam vehicle “Dark Star” prompted a roar of excitement from the crowd. After Weir completed the song’s first verse, the band wound through space on an extended exploration before steering into “Truckin'”. The tour debut of “Smokestack Lightning” tagged along on the end of the brief “Truckin'” jam, offering one more chance for Bobby to showcase his bluesman swagger before helping direct the band back into “Dark Star” for the song’s second verse along with an extra helping of ambient improv.

Dead & Company – “Iko, Iko” [Pro-Shot]

[Video: Nugs.tv]

Mayer retook the reigns for the “Deal” that followed, pushing it to a thrilling rock peak before backing out slowly to turn the stage over to Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann for “Drums/Space”. The second “Wharf Rat” of the tour surfaced smoothly out of “Space”, allowing the band one last improvisational outing before a hot “Casey Jones” brought the set to a close. A straightforward cover of Warren Zevon’s “Werewolves of London”, the first of the tour, served as the encore, giving the audience one last chance to howl along before heading home.

While this show may not have reached the heights of the band’s two-night New York City stadium stand over the weekend, there were surely several moments worth reliving (“Let It Grow”, “Dark Star”, “Deal”, and a few others stand out). Another performance tonight at the beloved and beautiful Blossom Music Center in Cuyahoga Falls, OH, looms, promising to provide the musical fireworks that may have been lacking at Darien Lake.  Just keep truckin’ on…

For a full list of upcoming Dead & Company shows, head here.

Setlist: Dead & Company | Darien Lake Performing Arts Center | Darien Center, NY | 6/19/18

Set One: Cold Rain and Snow, Tennesse Jed, Dire Wolf, Queen Jane Approximately, If I Had the World to Give, Here Comes Sunshine, Little Red Rooster, Let It Grow

Set Two: Iko Iko, Dark Star* > Truckin’ > Smokestack Lightning > Dark Star^ > Deal > Drums/Space > Wharf Rat, Casey Jones

Encore: Werewolves of London

*Verse 1

^Verse 2

You can listen to a full soundboard recording of the show via Nugs.net.