Before the Grateful Dead’s 50th anniversary Fare Thee Well shows, in 2015, John Mayer was still being vetted to come on tour with some of the former members of the Grateful Dead — specifically Bob Weir, Bill Kreutzmann, and Mickey Hart — as a part of Dead & Company. As evidenced by this weekend’s smokin’ Dead & Co run in Boulder, we all know that John Mayer clearly passed the try-out process with flying colors. However, there was a time when these rumors seemed borderline ridiculous to many. After Billboard reported the rumors that John Mayer was considering being tapped for the tour, Deadheads were frenzied looking for clues to confirm these speculations.
Ahead of the official Dead & Company announcement, one major clue was John Mayer’s performance with Phil Lesh & Friends at Terrapin Crossroads in San Rafael, California, exactly two years ago on June 12th, 2015. Mayer joined the Grateful Dead bassist at his venue for Phil Lesh & Friends 1977 tribute show, which honored the Cornell ’77 show at Barton Hall on May 8th, 1977. Mayer’s addition to the line-up was a surprise, with the guitarist originally left off the initial billing for the tribute. However, Mayer stuck around for the entirety of the performance to play lead guitar (though without adding vocals), joining guitarists Stu Allen and Scott Metzger, keyboardist Scott Guberman, drummers Pete Lavezzoli and Alex Koford and vocalist Jeannette Ferber. You can watch the full performance below.
Setlist: Phil Lesh & Friends | Terrapin Crossroads | San Rafael, CA | 6/12/2015
Set One: New Minglewood Blues, Loser, El Paso, They Love Each Other, Jack Straw, Deal, Lazy Lightnin’, Supplication, Brown Eyed Women, Mama Tried, Row Jimmy, Dancin’ in the Streets
Set Two: Scarlet Begonias > Fire on the Mountain, Estimated Prophet, St. Stephen > Not Fade Away > St. Stephen, Morning Dew
Encore: One More Saturday Night