On Friday night, Dead & Company continued their 2019 summer tour with their first of two performances at Chicago, IL’s historic Wrigley Field.

The Grateful Dead spin-off band—comprised of Bob Weir, Bill Kreutzmann, Mickey Hart, John Mayer, Oteil Burbridge, and Jeff Chimenti—opened up their first set with “The Other One”, charging through the song’s first verse with tenacity straight out of the gates. Moving out of the first verse of “The Other One”, the band smoothly coasted into “Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodleoo”, with Mayer and Weir trading off lead vocal duties. Dead & Company moved forward with the Robert Hunter/Jerry Garcia penned “To Lay Me Down”, which featured Mayer on steel guitar and was played for the first time by the band. With Weir on acoustic guitar and handling vocal duties, Mayer provided a lush sonic landscape on the sacred steel, backed by some tender licks from Chimenti on his grand piano.

Mayer stepped up to the mic to lead his bandmates through “Brown Eyed Women” before moving out of the song’s main theme with a series of electric guitar solos. Dead & Company continued on with a solid take on “Ramble On Rose”, which was followed up by Tampa Red’s “It Hurts Me Too”, appropriately paying homage to the Chicago bluesman in the Windy City. Following “Bird Song”, the sextet brought their first set to a close with a rockin’ take on “Jack Straw”.

Dead & Company – Wrigley Field (Set One Opener) – 6/14/2019

[Video: Dead & Company]

Dead & Company – “To Lay Me Down”

[Video: Something Like Mayer]

Following a brief setbreak, Dead & Company returned to open their set with the traditional pairing of “China Cat Sunflower” into “I Know You Rider”. The band was firing off on all cylinders, with Mayer and Chimenti trading off some fierce solos, backed by Kreutzmann, Hart, and Burbridge’s hard-hitting rhythm section. The band moved forward with a moving rendition of “Althea”, as John Mayer stepped up to the plate to handle lead vocals. The highlight of the night came next, as Dead & Company worked through a scorching segue of “St. Stephen” > “William Tell Bridge” > “The Eleven”. Following the customary “Drums/Space” segment of the night, the full band returned to close out their heater of a second set with a pairing of “Days Between” into “Not Fadeway”. Dead & Company returned to deliver a lone encore of Bob Dylan‘s “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door”.

Dead & Company – Wrigley Field (Set Two Opener) – 6/14/2019

[Video: Dead & Company]

Tonight (Saturday), Dead & Company returns to Chicago’s Wrigley Field for their second and final show of the weekend. For a full list of the band’s upcoming tour dates and ticketing information, head to Dead & Company’s website.

Setlist: Dead & Company | Wrigley Field | Chicago, IL | 6/14/2019

Set One: The Other One > Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodleoo, To Lay Me Down, Brown Eyed Women, Ramble On Rose, It Hurts Me Too, Bird Song, Jack Straw

Set Two: China Cat Sunflower > I Know You Rider, Althea, St. Stephen > William Tell Bridge > The Eleven > Drums/Space > Days Between > Not Fadeaway

Encore: Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door