The Beacon Theatre in New York City was the perfect setting for Dead & Co's Bob Weir and Wolf Bros to wrap up their month-long tour. This tour has been an exciting mix of Grateful Dead jams, Dead Head dance parties, and of course special guests.
Closing night featured a slew of guests to help Weir, Don Was, and Jay Lane give an unforgettable grande finale to the tour. The first guest to join them on stage was guitarist Steve Kimock toward the end of "Easy Answers" and "The Music Never Stopped" reprise that followed.
Saxophonist Kenny Brooks and trumpeter Reggie Pitman were the next guests to bless the stage. They popped up during "Black-Throated Wind." Kimock joined back for "Odessa," and from there, bassist Tal Wilkenfeld made her second appearance on the tour to jam out on the Grateful Dead fan-favorite, "Scarlet Begonias."
The second set fired off with Ratdog's "Even So," a ballad that Weir said "hardly anyone ever does... for good reason." Brooks and Pitman were horn section mainstays during the entire second half, and Kimock joined back in on "The Other One," and stayed through the encore. The encore featured "Ripple" and "Brokedown Palace." See the full setlist below.
Other guests that joined the band on the duration of the tour included Mikaela Davis, a young harpist who jammed on the encore songs in Syracuse on November 8th, including a phenomenal cover of Neil Young & Crazy Horse's "Down By The River." Joe Russo's Almost Dead guitarist Tom Hamilton joined the band in Philadelphia; country superstars Margo Price, John Oates and Buddy Miller sat-in with the band in Nashville; guitarist Warren Haynes helped out during their show in Port Chester, New York; and Jane Addiction's Perry Farrell helped out with vocals in Los Angeles, which you can read all about in our review.
In true Dead fashion, each night's setlist was a clean slate, with hardly any back-to-back repeats from the nights before. "Peggy-O," "Cassidy" and "Ripple" were constants through the tour, but everything else was a mixed bag. Grateful Dead faves like "Friend of the Devil," "Dark Star," and "Scarlet Begonias" were performed a handful of times. Deep cuts from Weir's own solo catalog were songs like "Blue Mountain" and "Playing in the Band."
The generosity from Dead culture was made evident last night when Weir made a statement that proceeds from their last two shows would be donated to those affected by the California wildfires.
Bob Weir has one solo concert left before the year is over, a New Years Eve jam rock extravaganza in the best place to have a jam festival... KAUAI, HAWAII! It's called Rising Up to Paradise, head to his website for more info!
