Last night, Dead & Company took to Wrigley Field in Chicago, Illinois, kicking off their final run of their summer tour. After two years on the road, this most recent tour has seen the group grow by leaps and bounds, with the second half of this past tour assuaging doubts held by some Deadheads about the six-piece Grateful Dead ensemble. Since starting their tour over Memorial Day Weekend at the end of May, over the past month or so, it’s been hard to deny that Dead & Company has been increasingly hitting their stride. John Mayer, Oteil Burbridge, and Jeff Chimenti consistently shine each show, holding their own alongside Bob Weir, Bill Kreutzman, and Mickey Hart. Perhaps the second set of last night’s show can be read as the pinnacle of the tour thus far and as a true testament to what the group can do together, offering fans a truly stellar show ahead of their final show of the summer tonight.

To open the show, Dead & Company came out with “The Music Never Stopped,” making for a triumphant way to kick off the show ahead of the ever-popular “Bertha” led by Mayer on vocals. With the first set only housing six numbers, there was plenty of room for the group to expand on the jams of each song, with the final combination of “Let It Grow” into an acoustic “Uncle John’s Band” being a highlight of the night in addition to a groovy rendition of “Sugaree” sung by Mayer. The group’s rendition of “Uncle John’s Band” ended the first set, and up until its final minute, showed the group dialed in on their acoustics. Hilariously true to the song’s final lyrics “How does the song go?”, as the song came to its close, “Uncle John’s Band” seemingly fell apart for its a capella close — Bob Weir stepped up to the mic and stated “We’ll be back in a little bit, and maybe we’ll have figured it out by then,” to end the set on an abrupt note.

Music Never Stopped [Starts around 18:30]

Figure it out they did for the second set, with the final set of night one at Wrigley offering a near perfect setlist and truly showing off what Dead & Company is capable as a unit. “Shakedown Street” was slinky and tight, “Dark Star” and “St. Stephen” were both appropriately exploited as the jam vehicles they are, and the final “China Doll” of the tour only reiterated the musicianship of Oteil Burbridge and how much we love it when they let the bassist sing. Coming out of the classic “Terrapin Station,” Dead & Company gave “Uncle John’s Band” another shot for its reprise, with the second rendition of the song faring decidedly better the second time around. After “Drums” — which saw Burbridge again join the percussionists as has been a trend throughout the tour — and “Space,” the group eventually crawled into “Standing On The Moon,” ending the non-stop string of songs that took up the majority of the second set. With the final combination of “Help on the Way,” “Slipknot!”, and “Franklin’s Tower,” the group accelerated to the close of the set, later coming out with a celebratory encore of “Ripple” and “U.S. Blues” to close the show.

Shakedown Street [Starts around 15:00]

You can check out the setlist from last night’s Dead & Company performance below. You can also relive some of last night’s magic in the stellar photo gallery below, provided by Phierce Photo.

Setlist: Dead & Company | Wrigley Field | Chicago, IL | 6/30/2017

Set One: The Music Never Stopped, Bertha, Me And My Uncle, Sugaree, Let It Grow > Uncle John’s Band

Set Two: Shakedown Street > Dark Star > St. Stephen > China Doll > Lady With A Fan > Terrapin Station > Uncle John’s Band Reprise > Drums > Space > Twist > Standing On The Moon,  Help On The Way > Slipknot! > Franklin’s Tower

Encore: Ripple, U.S. Blues