This past weekend, Dead & Company performed another annual three-night Playing in the Sand vacation event in Mexico! This year, it took place in Cancun's Moon Palace The Grand on January 16, 18, and 19 - the destination event featured a special curated set each of the three days, not one the same.

The first night they threw in a wild card by opening up with "Not Fade Away" - usually a staple closer for the band. They left it unfinished as they eased seamlessly into "Hell in a Bucket." They blew minds with a 17-minute improvisational cover of Jerry Garcia's "Bird Song" then ended the first set with a 15-minute version of "Let it Grow." The second set included a performance of "Standing on the Moon" and resounding cheers as Bobby Weir belted the “Gulf Of Mexico” lyric. They encored with Bob Dylan's "The Weight."

See the setlist:

The second night saw the band playing a slew of Dead hits including "Shakedown Street," "High Time," "Sugaree," and "New Speedway Boogie." They appropriately worked in "Spanish Jam" and before "Drums" and "Space," Oteil Burbridge impressed the masses with a bass solo. They encored with "One More Saturday Night."

See the setlist:

The third and final night was heavily reliant on songs written by Robert Hunter/Garcia, doing classics like "Uncle John's Band," "They Love Each Other," "Terrapin Station," a 20+ minute rendition of "Scarlet Begonias," "Fire on the Mountain," "He's Gone," "China Cat Sunflower," and more. They concluded the event with TWO encores - "Ripple" and then closing out the weekend how they started - with "Not Fade Away."

See the setlist:

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UPDATE 2/2/2021

You can now stream all three Playing in the Sand 2020 shows, find out where: