Dead & Company played their first rendition of “Mr. Charlie” when they returned to one of America’s most beautiful venues—Washington State’s Gorge Ampitheatre—on Friday evening. John Mayer handled lead vocals on the tune, which you can see a clip of below.
The early Dead staple, penned by founding keyboardist Ron “Pigpen” McKernan and lyricist Robert Hunter in 1971, made its appearance during the middle of the night’s first set. That first set featured plenty of other favorites, including an opening “Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo” that gave way to “Bertha,” and a “Crazy Fingers”/“Cumberland Blues” combo that closed things out.
Set two got started with an expansive “Playing In The Band” that took some interesting turns before abruptly arriving at “Eyes Of the World”. The set also featured a big “Terrapin Station” that preceded the night’s iteration of “Drums”/“Space” before the band moved on “New Speedway Boogie”. The set then wrapped up with a “Black Peter” that moved on to a reprise of “Playing In The Band”, with the group returning for a final “U.S. Blues” to end the show.
As usual, Dead & Company promoted their nugs.tv webcast with quality videos of both of Friday’s set-openers. Check out the “Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo” and “Playing In The Band” below.
Dead & Company – “Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo”
[Video: nugs.tv]
Dead & Company – “Playing In The Band”
[Video: nugs.tv]
Setlist: Dead & Company | The Gorge | George, WA | 6/29/2018
Set One: Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo > Bertha, Tennessee Jed, Mr. Charlie*, Loser, Crazy Fingers > Cumberland Blues
Set Tw0: Playing In The Band > Eyes Of The World, Comes A Time, Terrapin Station > Drums > Space > New Speedway Boogie, Black Peter > Playing In Ihe Band Reprise
Encore: U.S. Blues
*Debut