"We attract a certain kind of person who requires a little adventure in their lives. You can watch the faces over the years. The front row stays the same age."
That statement by founding Grateful Dead member Bob Weir speaks to the legacy of his iconic former rock band. His Grateful Dead cover band/rock supergroup, Dead & Company, have found immense success with old and new fans alike since their formation in 2015.
The current lineup consists of three of the Grateful Dead's surviving core four: Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzman and Bob Weir, joined by Oteil Burbridge (Allman Brothers Band), Jeff Chimenti (RatDog) and John Mayer.
The summer trek kicked off May 31 at the Shoreline Amphitheater in Silicon Valley and is scheduled to close July 6 at Folsom Field in Boulder, Colorado.
Go cue up our Setlist Playlist on Spotify to hear what the band have been jamming out to on tour, and keep reading for a closer look at some of the songs that have made the cut.
"Brown-Eyed Women"
This Grateful Dead classic was actually never recorded on a studio album. It does, in fact, have a home in the band's Europe '72 album and was played live a whopping 340 times. Since Dead & Co. have picked it up, they've tacked on another 35 times (and counting).
Although the title is copyrighted as "Brown-Eyed Woman," Robert Hunter actually wrote and intended it to be called "Brown-Eyed Women," as that's the way Jerry Garcia really sang it.
"China Cat Sunflower"
Legend has it, Robert Hunter wrote "China Cat Sunflower" while tripping. He said:
"I had a cat sitting on my belly, and was in a rather hypersensitive state, and I followed this cat out to – I believe it was Neptune – and there were rainbows across Neptune, and cats marching across the rainbow. This cat took me in all these cat places; there’s some essence of that in the song."
The song is full of psychedelic imagery and pop culture references (Lewis Carroll's "Alice in Wonderland," Japanese kimonos, Krazy Kat and Edith Sitwell's poem, "Trio for Two Cats and a Trombone").
"Casey Jones"
This song off 1970's Workingman's Dead is the Dead's take on the legendary railroad engineer of the same name who did indeed leave Memphis' Central Station at a quarter to nine, ignored a signal to stop and died.
The Dead first performed this song on June 20, 1969 at the Fillmore East in New York. Dead & co. first played it November 5, 2015 at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.
"Eyes of the World"
This track from the 1990 Grateful Dead album Without a Net has become a fan-favorite over the years, having been played live over 400 times (381 times by the Dead themselves; 31 by Dead & Company).
Some believe the song stemmed from a thematic jam– known by fans as the "Tighten Up Jam"– which was frequently played during "Dark Star" and "Dancing in the Streets" between 1969 and 1971. Some also note the similarity between the song and the Bob Weir-led Kingfish song "Hypnotize."
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Dead & Co. still have a few shows left before wrapping up their summer tour, so head over to Live Nation to grab your tickets and check out the rest of their tour dates below!
Dead & Company 2019 Summer Tour dates:
06/26 -- Bristow, VA @ Jiffy Lube Live
06/28 -- Charlotte, NC @ PNC Music Pavilion
06/29 -- Atlanta, GA @ Cellairis Amphitheatre at Lakewood
07/02 -- Dallas, TX @ Dos Equis Pavilion
07/05 -- Boulder, CO @ Folsom Field
07/06 -- Boulder, CO @ Folsom Field
