Dead & Company, the retooled continuation of the Grateful Dead featuring original members Bob Weir, Billy Kreutzmann, and Mickey Hart and new additions John Mayer, Oteil Burbridge, and Jeff Chimenti, is preparing to open its summer tour tonight. Entering its fourth year as an ensemble after coming together in fall 2015, the group seems to have truly settled into its lineup, opening up, taking more risks, and getting looser in its improvisations.
Late last night, ahead of tonight’s tour opener at Xfinity Center in Mansfield, Massachusetts, John Mayer posted a heartfelt note to his Instagram account, expressing his love for the Grateful Dead and his respect for its founding fathers. “I wish I was going to a Grateful Dead concert tomorrow. I wish I was dancing with my friends while we listened to Jerry and the band play,” he wrote. “But it’s the honor of a lifetime to convert my love for this music into the further telling of this beautiful, timeless story with some of its brilliant authors.” Read the full note, followed by lyrics from “Lady With A Fan”, the opening segment of Jerry Garcia/Robert Hunter-penned opus, “Terrapin Station”, which Mayer typically sings with Dead & Co:
The night before a new Dead&Co tour is always deeply felt. I wish I was going to a Grateful Dead concert tomorrow. I wish I was dancing with my friends while we listened to Jerry and the band play. But it’s the honor of a lifetime to convert my love for this music into the further telling of this beautiful, timeless story with some of its brilliant authors. I’m like anyone else who was ever moved by this music, who was discovered by it, and not the other way around. My love for the Grateful Dead is immense, but not extraordinary. I am in that crowd, just represented from the stage. And I think of Jerry Garcia and his intentions with every song we play. I’m only there so that on my best of nights, you might get to him.
———
“The storyteller makes no choice
soon you will not hear his voice
his job is to shed light
and not to master”
⚡♥⚡
Tonight, Dead & Company will kick off its highly anticipated summer tour with a performance at Xfinity Center in Mansfield, Massachusetts, before hitting a two-night stand at BB&T Pavilion in Camden, New Jersey, on June 1st and 2nd. From there, the group will begin their summer tour in earnest, with an extensive listing of dates that span through July 13th and 14th, when the band will hit Folsom Field for their annual two-night run in Boulder, Colorado. Additionally, each ticket bought for an upcoming Dead & Company show this tour will unlock an audio recording of the show.
In celebration of the beginning of Dead & Company’s annual summer tour, nugs.tv will broadcast the entirety of the group’s Xfinity Center show on tonight, May 30th, for free. The free webcast begins at 7 p.m. ET. Tune in this tonight, May 30th, at 7 p.m. to celebrate the start of Dead & Company’s summer tour, and we’ll see you out there!
And if you haven’t already, check out John Mayer’s latest music video for “New Light” here.