Dead & Company continued its fall tour on Monday night at Ak-Chin Pavilion in Phoenix, AZ, happily rejoined by drummer Bill Kreutzmann who missed all four shows in Colorado last week due to a non-Covid related illness. The band announced late last week that Kreutzmann would be on hand for the rest of the tour following his absence at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Morrison and Fiddler’s Green Amphitheatre in Greenwood Village.

Related: Dead & Company Wraps Four-Night Colorado Run Sans Bill Kreutzmann [Videos]

Dead & Company opened the show with the traditional “Cold Rain and Snow”, which appeared as a show opener for the first time since August 18th at Jiffy Lube Live in Bristow, VA. Kreutzmann immediately made his presence felt as John Mayer provided his sanguine vocals and clean leads during a short solo before Bob Weir took over vocals on the Robert Hunter/Jerry Garcia track, “Loser”, which made its way into a setlist for the first time on this fall tour.

Dead & Company – “Cold Rain and Snow” [Pro-Shot] – 10/25/21

JonBo took over lead vocals once again for the first-of-two Workingman’s Dead songs of the night, “Dire Wolf”. A short jam section saw Jeff Chimenti spread his wings across the keys before giving way to Mayer’s leads, bringing the band quickly back to the last chorus and into “Lost Sailor”. “Lost Sailor” saw itself paired with its “Saint of Circumstance” counterpart for a segment that stretched for over 16 minutes and also appeared for the first time on this fall tour leg. The Weir/John Perry Barlow songs saw a seamless transition as the first turned more upbeat with “Saint of Circumstance”.

Mickey Hart surely seemed happy to have his partner Kreutzmann back in the rhythm section as the band moved into the uptempo, Mayer-sung “Big Railroad Blues”. Short and sweet, the blues standard led to the first fall tour iteration of “China Doll”, which allowed bassist Oteil Burbridge the opportunity to hop on the mic for the first time of the evening. The From the Mars Hotel classic led to the biggest jam of the first frame, a set-closing rendition of “Let It Grow”. Weir’s vocals started the song as usual, before leading to a flowing, slowly building jam that highlighted a locked-in rhythm section, Weir’s rhythm guitar, and Chimenti and Mayer’s lead lines.

After a short break, Dead & Company returned refreshed and ready to tackle another set head-on. Opening up the second set with “Jack Straw” for only the second time in 25 shows, Weir shared vocal duties with the crowd on the song’s opening line “We can share the women, we can share the wine.” Mayer added some backing vocals on the first verse before the tempo kicked up a bit and he took over lead vocals on the second. As usual, they traded vocals throughout the song, which included a healthy jam section and led to staple Go to Heaven track, “Althea”.

Dead & Company – “Jack Straw” [Pro-Shot] – 10/25/21

The Mayer-sung “Althea” led to Weir’s “Scarlet Begonias”, which interestingly segued to “Touch of Grey” before finding its home with Burbridge’s vocal work on “Fire on the Mountain”. Both “Scarlet Begonias” and “Fire on the Mountain” exceeded ten minutes, and when combined with “Touch of Grey” made up the meat of set two.

As the band progressed towards the second half of set two, Kreutzmann readied himself for a sorely missed “Drums” > “Space”. While fill-in drummer Jay Lane certainly held his own in Colorado, Kreutzmann didn’t miss a beat, working in congruence with Hart throughout the cosmic exploration.

A romp through a final Workingman’s Dead track, “Casey Jones” saw Bobby and Mayer trade vocals once again before Weir handled a lengthy, 15-minute “Black Peter”. The bluesy track heard some slide action from Weir and interjections from Chimenti’s keyboard before slipping into a jam dominated by leads from Mayer. Weir finished the song with some scruffy vocals and brought about a set-closing “U.S. Blues”. The upbeat staple rocked on for six minutes, leaving the crowd wanting more.

After a short pause in the action, Weir, Mayer, Burbridge, Chimenti, Hart, and Kreutzmann came back for one more, a take on Bob Dylan‘s “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door”. Handling an acoustic guitar for this one, Weir started in on the song’s iconic melody before Mayer joined on his electric PRS Silver Sky. The two traded vocals throughout the song as the Pheonix crowd sang along and worked in some fitting applauses.

Dead & Company – “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door” – 10/25/21

[Video: Eric Nelson]

Dead & Company tour continues tomorrow, October 27th, with a show at Chula Vista, CA’s North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre, before three shows at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, CA (10/29–10/31).

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

Setlist: Dead & Company | Ak-Chin Pavilion | Phoenix, AZ | 10/25/21

Set One: Cold Rain and Snow (traditional), Loser, Dire Wolf, Lost Sailor > Saint of Circumstance, Big Railroad Blues, China Doll, Let It Grow

Set Two: Jack Straw, Althea > Scarlet Begonias > Touch of Grey > Fire on the Mountain > Drums > Space > Casey Jones > Black Peter > U.S. Blues

Encore: Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door (Bob Dylan)