Birthday boy Bob Weir turned 69 last night, right at the tail end of a three-night run throughout the New York area. Weir has been performing along his “Campfire Tour,” bringing new music from his Blue Mountain album to fans across the country – mixed in with classics from the Grateful Dead repertoire, of course. With a backing band that includes Steve Kimock, Bryan Devendorf, Scott Devendorf, Jon Shaw, and Josh Kaufman, the group made their way to New York for three great performances over the course of last weekend.
The run started at the Kings Theatre, the newly renovated venue in the heart of Brooklyn, NY. Weir set up shop there for two nights, opening each show with a selection of solo acoustic numbers before bringing out his band. Leslie Mendelson was on hand for all three of these performances, lending her vocal style to Weir’s welcomed drawl. The first night saw Weir treat fans to an acoustic “Loose Lucy” amid a great first set of Blue Mountain originals, and play GD classics like “Brown Eyed Women,” “Cassidy,” “Standing On The Moon,” and an encore rendition of “Friend Of The Devil.”
A full audio stream from 10/14/16 can be found below, courtesy of taper Scott Medeiros.
The Kings Theatre run continued on Saturday October 15th, as Weir opened with “Hell In A Bucket” and played favorites throughout the evening, like “El Paso,” “Me and My Uncle,” “Bird Song,” “The Other One,” “Stella Blue,” “Jack Straw” and so many more. The show closed with a rendition of Roy Orbison’s “Blue Bayou,” followed by a sing-along version of “I Know You Rider.” Watch a handful of videos from the night, streaming below.
Finally, Weir and his band made their way out to Port Chester, NY, riding over to the beautiful Capitol Theatre for a true birthday celebration. Venue owner Peter Shapiro personally delivered a birthday cake to Bob Weir, leading the crowd in a celebratory “Happy Birthday” sing-a-long. Weir then opened the show with a version of “One More Saturday Night,” for some reason played on a Sunday, before going into “Peggy-O” and Nobel laureate Bob Dylan’s “When I Paint My Masterpiece.” The show featured a number of Dead favorites as well, like “West L.A. Fadeaway,” “Eyes Of The World,” “Uncle John’s Band,” “Morning Dew,” and the second set closer, “Not Fade Away.” Love is real. To close out the three-night run, Weir emerged for a rendition of his new song “Ki Yi Bossie,” followed by a beautiful “Brokedown Palace” to end the night.
Fortunately, thanks to the free nugs.tv stream of the performance, we can share full pro-shot video of this run closer. Watch below.
Weir continues his Campfire Tour this Wednesday, October 19th, at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, TN. You can see all three setlists from Bobby’s birthday weekend below. All photos in this article appear courtesy of Bahram Foroughi Photography.
