On Friday night, Dead & Company kicked off their highly anticipated, tour-closing two night run at Boulder, Colorado’s Folsom Field. While technical issues caused the show to get off to a somewhat slow start, the Grateful Dead-inspired six-piece more than made up for it with their explosive second set, featuring fan-favorite classics like “St. Stephen”, “Terrapin Station”, and “Throwing Stones” as well as beloved covers of The Band and Bob Dylan.
With doors scheduled for 5 p.m., fans began queueing early in the day under the hot Colorado sun, only to have the soundcheck run late past doors—security was not given the go-ahead to let non-VIP fans access the building until nearly 5:45. None the less, with doors open, after perusing the nearby Shakedown Street, fans filled the Colorado University – Boulder campus arena quickly, filing to seats or down to the field to stake out territory.
When Dead & Company finally did take the stage, once again, bassist Oteil Burbridge and keyboardist Jeff Chimenti had switched their traditional places, with Oteil on the far right (audience) next to Bob Weir and Jeff on the far left (audience) next to John Mayer. For the first set, it seemed as though it took a little while for the band to fully settle into the performance—there may have also been some issues with the mix during the first few songs as well, with the drummers and Oteil turned down very low.
The show opening “Iko Iko” was an energizing choice, with Bob Weir leading the song’s vocals and the crowd in a call-and-response, though the song was fairly truncated, as was the John Mayer-led “Cold Rain & Snow”, which followed. “Cold Rain & Snow” was a particularly groovy rendition, with the band giving a rockin’ edge to the famed traditional murder ballad and taking a little space to expand in contrast to the fairly standard, though fun “Iko Iko”.
“Iko Iko”
[Video: nugs.tv]
“Cold Rain & Snow”
[Video: gratefulweb]
Up next, Bob Weir led the band through his own “Black-Throated Wind”, which he penned with the recently deceased John Perry Barlow for his debut 1972 solo album, Ace. With the first set fully underway, Weir’s vocals were initially shaky, only augmenting the unsettled feeling of the performance thus far; however, throughout the song, Weir and company became steadily more confident and the song ended powerfully.
Highlighting the difficulties of locking into the performance, ahead of “Bertha”, the band took a long pause—long enough that Bob Weir joked to the audience, “This is a little song we call ‘Dead Air’.” With Mayer leading “Bertha”, the fan-favorite tune similarly got off to a rocky start. Screeching feedback plagued various points at the beginning of the song, taking away from the song selection that was supposed to lift up the crowd. However, Deadheads obviously had no complaints, gleefully dancing through the technical difficulties in the ever-packed stadium.
Midway through “Bertha”, it seemed as though the sound issues were conquered, and the band, ever-determined, pulled together, settling in a steady and spacious rendition of the tune. The song housed one of the first truly extended jams of the evening following a handful of brisk numbers, and John Mayer offered up a crisp guitar solo that led to the song’s triumphant climax.
A rapid transition slowly built, to great effect, into the familiar theme of “Greatest Story Ever Told”, with Bob Weir taking the vocal lead on the song. Similarly energetic, the song’s uplifting, melodic bridge was a high point of the number before the group gave the reigns over to Oteil, who sang the heartfelt ballad “Comes A Time” with sincerity—as always, Oteil’s lead elicited a huge response from the crowd, who seem eager as ever for Dead & Company to “Let Oteil Sing.”
“Comes A Time”
[Video: gratefulweb]
Bob Weir championed the band through “Lost Sailor”, a mournful song with rumbling instrumentation. Increasingly across their summer tour, it seems as though the band has been experimenting with their transitions across songs, and the band deftly navigated into its traditional song pairing, “Saint Of Circumstance”. Psychedelic and extended with a longing tone for resolution, the improvisations during this combo were a major highlight of the first set, boding well for fans left underwhelmed by the first set’s start.
Dead & Company closed off the first set with a celebratory rendition of “Deal”, with vocals led by John Mayer. Picking up the pace, the song boasted an explosive organ solo from Jeff Chimenti that enthralled the crowd from the start. Mayer, working off Chimenti’s energy, laid into his guitar, helping build the song to an elated peak, earning huge cheers from the crowd. After the chorus’ refrain, Mayer and Chimenti again showcased their joint powerful energy, sharing the lead as the band amped up the crowd, only to strip the song down— in complexity and volume—and begin building up again. Underpinned by Oteil’s rhythmic, galloping bass, the bassist held together the song’s bouncing groove, expertly weaving around John Mayer’s guitar while Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann offered up noteworthy percussive interplay to end the set.
“Deal”
[Video: gratefulweb]
While the start of set one left some things to be desired, Dead & Company returned for set two dialed in and ready to go. The group opened with a cover of The Band‘s “The Weight”, a song off the group’s 1968 debut album, Music From Big Pink. Slow and patient to start, the group saw Weir, Mayer, Oteil, and Chimenti share leads on verses for the song—similar to the band’s second set opener during the band’s Alpine Valley run closer. With Mayer expertly handling the high parts, Bob Weir used the song to show off his own falsetto, with the crowd hollering their approval. Dead & Company ended “The Weight” with a four-part, call-and-response vocal jam on the line “Put your load”—a crowd-pleasing finish to the set’s first song.
“The Weight”
[Video: nugs.tv]
From there, Dead & Company moved into “Lady With A Fan”, sung by John Mayer, starting off the beginning of the famed “Terrapin Suite”. Predictably, the laidback and easy intro riff eventually led into the Bob Weir-sung “Terrapin Station”, which saw John Mayer and Jeff Chimenti for a gorgeous, dramatic shared instrumental lead. With the crowd already dialed in, given the first two standout song selections, Dead & Company then offered up “St. Stephen”, yet another crowd favorite that saw explosive solos across the board.
“Terrapin Station”
[Video: Tom Spano]
Complex improvisations led the band through “William Tell Bridge”, which was used to expertly transition into “The Eleven”. With Bob Weir handling the vocals, the song was dynamic, and Bob Weir hit the sustained notes with vitality, before stepping aside to let John Mayer lay out a number rapid-fire guitar solos—frequently turning to Chimenti, who returned the energy in full—that kept the audience’s attention rapt.
From there, the majority of the band departed, allowing time for the Rhythm Devils to take the lead on the “Drums” portion of the night. For Dead & Company’s first night at Folsom Field, bassist Oteil Burbridge joined the two drummers for their tribal-infused and rumbling drum improvisation. Grinding electronic sounds paired with shimmering over-effects made for a danceable drums portion, though once Oteil left, the sound opened up significantly. The segment’s highlight was the ridiculous antics of Mickey Hart, who finished off the portion by licking The Beam multiple times, to cheers and laughs from the crowd.
“Drums/Space”
[Video: starman2112 rush]
With the band reemerging, the “Space” section of the night easily settled into a dark groove, highlighted by Oteil. Less abstract and more dance-oriented than some “Space” sections, the propulsive extended improvisation slowly built into a cover of Bob Dylan‘s “All Along The Watchtower”, which predictably saw stellar guitar solos from John Mayer, who rose to challenge and seemed to channel Jimi Hendrix, given the famed guitarist’s renowned cover of the Dylan tune. Up next was “Black Peter”, a bluesy number that saw Bob Weir using a slide and offering up his own soulful and gritty vocals for the rendition.
Given HeadCount‘s initiative to register music lovers to vote and Dead & Company’s strong endorsement of the non-profit, the band closed the show with three semi-political numbers. While many fans disagree that the Grateful Dead was ever “political,” the iconic jam act’s body of work stands to differ, with songs that were highly political, though not necessarily explicitly partisan, in the way that politics in the U.S. so heavily are today.
Bob Weir and John Perry Barlow’s “Throwing Stones” close the second set, and the fan-favorite tune was a triumphant end to the night, with the crowd singing along and cheering during the chorus. The band’s lighting designer emphasized the commentary on American politics by projecting American flag graphics behind the band throughout.
After closing the show with “Throwing Stones”, the band returned with Jerry Garcia and Robert Hunter‘s “Liberty”, with the crowd going wild during the chorus. While the second set’s closer served as more of denouncement of corrupt politicians—noting that politicians have abandoned the people and “we’re on our own”—”Liberty” similarly picked up on the themes of independence from politics, but with a different take, instead acknowledging that its a political freedom and choice to be left alone and “find my own way home.”
However, ending the night in full and offering Dead & Company’s second encore of the night, the band closed out the show with a jubilant rendition of “U.S. Blues”. While continuing the theme of politically tinged songs over the prior two songs, the song also was an apt choice for the start of the band’s summer tour closer, with the lyrics “Summertime done come and gone, my oh my,” resonating with the audience who’s seen the band almost finish off another tour in 2018.
Setlist: Dead & Company | Folsom Field | Boulder, CO | 7/13/2018
Set One: Iko Iko, Cold Rain and Snow, Black-Throated Wind, Bertha, Greatest Story Ever Told, Comes A Time, Lost Sailor > Saint of Circumstance, Deal
Set Two: The Weight (The Band cover), Terrapin Station, Saint Stephen > William Tell Bridge > The Eleven > Drums > Space > All Along The Watchtower (Bob Dylan cover), Black Peter, Throwing Stones
Encore: Liberty, U.S. Blues