Dead & Company continues to build momentum ahead of their 2019 summer tour by gradually sharing official audio and video footage from the band’s 2017 fall  and 2018 winter tours. So far, the band has released pro-shot videos of “Deep Elem Blues”, “If I Had The World to Give“, “Eyes Of The World“, and “Iko Iko“. Dead & Company continues their video vault rollout with the release of “Greatest Story Ever Told”, played during the first set from their performance on 11/28/2017 at Charlotte, NC’s Spectrum Center.

Coming out of a slower segment midway through the first set, Dead & Co. kicked things up a notch with the Bob Weir-led “Greatest Story Ever Told”. The six-piece took their time with a breezy extended-intro, anchored by drummers Bill Kreutzmann and Mickey Hart, as well as bassist Oteil Burbridge. John Mayer worked through a gritty opening guitar solo, before Weir stepped up to the mic, dropping into the vocals. Mayer and keyboardist Jeff Chimenti locked into some high-octane interplay midway through the song, and carried out that energy through the remainder of the jam. The show also featured Dead & Company’s debut cover of The Band’s “The Weight”, placed in the second set opening slot.

SiriusXM’s Gary Lambert also continues to provide thought-provoking liner notes to go with the release of every video and audio performance, as part of the band’s latest fan-friendly initiative. As he notes about this week’s video selection,

It started as “The Pump Song” on Mickey Hart’s first solo album (1972’s “Rolling Thunder”), because its rhythm track was based (in an ingenious bit of what might be called proto-sampling) on the sound of a water pump on Mickey’s ranch. But once Bob Weir added some changes to the groove Mickey had found and lyricist Robert Hunter contributed a cinematic storyline that was part cowboy movie/part sci-fi/part biblical epic, it became something else again, and a highlight of many a show by the Grateful Dead and its musical successors. This version features a nice, lengthy jam leading up to the song and some fiery soloing by John Mayer and Jeff Chimenti.

Watch pro-shot video of Dead & Company’s take on “Greatest Story Ever Told” from Charlotte below:

Dead & Company – “Greatest Story Ever Told” (Pro-Shot Video)

[Video: Dead & Company]

Dead & Company fans should keep their eyes peeled on the band’s social media accounts, as more videos and audio recordings are expected to arrive in the upcoming weeks.

Setlist: Dead & Company | Spectrum Center | Charlotte, NC | 11/28/2017 

Set One: Hell in a Bucket, Bertha, Peggy-O, When I Paint My Masterpiece, Greatest Story Ever Told, Ship of Fools, Mississippi Half-Step > Let It Grow

Set Two: The Weight, Playin in the Band > Uncle John’s Band > Lady with a Fan > Terrapin > Drums > Space > Standing on the Moon > I Need a Miracle > GDTRFB

Encore: Black Muddy River > Playin in the Band (reprise)
(First “The Weight”)