Dead & Company GD60 at Golden Gate Park Polo Fields — Concert Review
Dead & Company GD60 at Golden Gate Park Polo Fields — Concert Review
For the past thirty-five years, this ragtag group of freaks, hippies, and a band called the Grateful Dead and its various counterparts has followed me to the ends of this country. Yet somehow, I had never made it to California, let alone San Francisco. I’ve read the stories about the Dead at Menlo Park and Palo Alto, and seen the videos of Haight-Ashbury and the free shows in Golden Gate Park. I always meant to visit San Francisco, but had never made it there. When Dead & Company announced a three-night run in Golden Gate Park, I knew I had to be there.
I also play in a Dead cover band, Terrapin Moon, which had a previously scheduled show on night one, so I had to miss the first night. On the flight to San Francisco I ran into others headed to the show, and heard numerous reports that the first night was a disappointing performance. “The band sounded rough. Bobby’s singing was weak and playing was off. It may be time for him to call it quits.” Of course with improvisational music, you have your good nights and bad nights. Apparently, Friday night was not one of their finer moments.
Brian Halley
I arrived at Golden Gate Park in time for the opener Sturgill Simpson. The Polo Fields are huge. I’ve seen the photos, and it looks kind of like a football stadium. In reality, the field contains seven full sized soccer fields, and is used throughout the Summer for Soccer practices and games. Polo is rarely played there.
The second night’s opener was “In The Midnight Hour;” a song that was sung by Pigpen, and not performed by the Grateful Dead since 1968. I did not have high expectations, from the reports of night one. Bobby sounded hoarse, and his voice cracked throughout the song. The band’s playing was very tentative, and the song overall seemed uninspired. Oh well, I was happy just to be there and experience probably my only time I will ever see Bobby perform in San Francisco. They followed this with a pretty standard “Bertha.”
“Bertha” segued into “Jack Straw”, with some absolutely gorgeous interplay between Jeff Chimenti and John Mayer. The song began with a gentle melancholy, and built into raging inferno. OK. They have my attention now. They follow with a “Dear Mr. Fantasy” / “Hey Jude” combo. Chimenti wails on the Hammond B3 solo, and the whole audience is singing at the top of their voices for “Hey Jude.” Next up was “Passenger,” one of my favorite Phil Lesh songs typically performed by Bobby. This version seemed a little sloppy and was a disappointment.
Redemption came with a solid “Brown-Eyed Women.” Dead & Company usually take this one to new levels and tonight was no exception. Mayer’s solo kept building and building until he whipped the audience into a frenzy. The crowd response was huge, and the band was feeding off the energy from the crowd. The set closer was “(Walk Me Out In the) Morning Dew” with guest Sturgill Simpson singing. Simpson added a Southern rock feel to the song, which reminded me of the Allmans’ version. I do love the Allman Brothers, but felt this version would have been better without Simpson.
Butch Weaver
Set two began with “Uncle John’s Band,” the highlight of the night. The jam was very experimental and jazz oriented. The band strayed far from the usual structure of the song, and demonstrated the genius of being able to make music on the fly. Jeff Chimenti never ceases to amaze me with his creative ability. By the time the chorus came back around, the audience was so lost in the music, we forgot what song they were playing.
They followed this with a solid “Help on the Way” / “Slipknot” / “Franklin’s Tower.” I saw an interview where Mayer talks about how “Slipknot” is the one song that causes him anxiety before they play it. If you are a musician, you know what he means. Everyone struggles with this song, and almost no one gets it right. Of course they nailed it. I’ve rarely seen Mayer make mistakes. I don’t think he plays with the soulfulness that Jerry did, but he definitely has the chops! “Franklin’s Tower” always gets the audience up dancing.
Then came “St. Stephen.” I never saw this one performed live by the Grateful Dead. They had stopped playing it, because Jerry felt it was too structured. I always found this odd, because the jam leaves a lot of room to improvise, and reminds me of some of the Allman Brothers’ jams. It seemed that this version was headed toward “The Eleven” but alas it was not to be, and the song morphed into a standard drums and space. Kind of a trancy, droning drums and space, and reminded me of the “secret set” performed by Phish at Mondegreen.
Brian Halley
Chimenti led us into some melodic piano soloing which turned into a ghostly sounding Spanish jam, which was fitting as the fog rolled in off the ocean. This evolved into “Days Between,” the reason we were all here this weekend. I am thrilled that Dead & Company have kept this song alive, as I feel it is Jerry’s masterpiece. Tonight’s performance unfortunately wasn’t the best. The band played some strangely angular things, and it seemed more disjointed than usual. Bobby’s voice wasn’t up to par.
Next was a solid “Truckin’.” Dead & Co. does play this one a notch slower than the Grateful Dead used to. The lyrics are a mouthful, and I think Bobby slowed this one down, because he may not be comfortable singing it like he used to. Still the band brought down the house, and Mayer’s solo was exactly what was needed. They followed up with a “Cold Rain and Snow,” an unusual choice so late in the show, but a not bad version.
They closed the night with “Brokedown Palace,” a great choice to close the night. We were ready for a good Jerry ballad after a very energetic show, and a lot of dancing. The show far exceeded my expectations, and numerous people around me commented that this show was far superior to the first night, and that the band had proven they still are a force to be reckoned with. There was no encore on night two.
I spent the early part of the following day visiting some of the venues the Grateful Dead played and saw the Grateful Dead’s house at 710 Ashbury, Janis Joplin’s house, and the Jefferson Airplane’s house. I played the part of the tourist in the Haight-Ashbury district, and spent the afternoon at China Beach enjoying the ocean. I got to the show in time to see the Trey Anastasio Band, whom I’d only seen once before. They definitely got the audience on their feet, and were well received.
Brian Halley
The final night began with a “Let The Good Times Roll” opener. Not one of my favorite Bobby covers, but a good version. It gave the band a chance to check their instruments and vocals. Afterwards they kicked into “China Cat Sunflower,” and from the start Bobby appeared flustered and dropped his pick. Mayer wasted no time in stooping down to grab Bobby’s pick. They started picking up steam, and by the time they reached the transition to “I Know You Rider” the band was really kicking into high gear. They had the audience jumping and singing along, and the performance was met with cheers erupting from the crowd.
They followed up with “They Love Each Other,” which I commented to my friend standing next to me that I never understood the love for this song. He replied “It’s a couples song, for the lovebirds to slow dance to.” OK, makes sense. I don’t dislike it; it has some nice vocal parts. At the end of the song, Mayer absolutely shredded the solo. I stand corrected; it was a highlight of the night.
Overall, these were two of the best Dead & Company shows that I have seen. Bobby and Mickey got to take a bow at the end, and who knows if we’ll get another chance to see them again?
Next came “Shakedown Street.” I always felt that the Grateful Dead usually played this too fast. It’s not really disco, it’s more of a funk song, and funk isn’t fast. It should have a nice leisurely groove, like going for a stroll, and the band nailed it with this one. Throughout the weekend, I noticed Oteil hinting at Stevie Wonder’s song “Too High,” and this time it was obvious that is what he is playing. His bass tone had a good solid growl on this one, which was perfect for the song. The set ended with “Deal,” always a good rocker and crowd pleaser.
Set two began with Trey Anastasio joining them onstage. Trey sang lead vocals on “Scarlet Begonias.” I had hoped he would get to play something less predictable, but it was great to see all three guitar players onstage together. The segue into “Fire on the Mountain” allowed Trey and Mayer to experiment with playing together. Initially, they seemed timid and not wanting to step on each other’s toes. However following “Fire,” we saw them locked in and feeding off of each other, trading licks and harmonizing with each other. Their expressions showed that they were both completely geeked to be playing onstage together, and there was an obvious air of mutual respect.
Mickey Hart treated us to a “Fire on the Mountain” rap. I’m always surprised to find that people are unaware that Mickey co-wrote “Fire on the Mountain.” It was originally titled “Happiness is Drumming” which was performed on rare occasion initially with the rap; later appearing as an instrumental on the Mickey Hart solo album Diga, the lyrics were added for the version on Shakedown Street in 1978.
Then we got the Robbie Robertson song “Broken Arrow.” Grahame Lesh joined them onstage, playing his dad’s bass ‘Big Brown.’ Grahame joined the band onstage on several occasions over the course of the weekend. Bobby and Mayer led off the song with vocal harmonies on the chorus, and treated us to a moving rendition of a song that became a trademark song for Phil in the later years of the Grateful Dead. They dove right into “Hell in a Bucket,” and Bobby was firing on all cylinders. This performance was Bobby’s finest performance of the weekend, with his playing and singing particularly strong.
Next up, “Cumberland Blues.” When I hear people making snarky “Dead and Slo” comments, I argue that some of the songs are played a bit faster than the Grateful Dead usually did. This is one of them, and they came rip-roaring out of the gate at breakneck speed. I’ve heard versions where Oteil will kick in double time until the whole thing seems to be coming apart at the seams. This version went rollicking right into drums. My favorite versions of “Drums” and “Space” are when they get really weird and spacy. This one was fairly melodic and dreamy, but nice to chill out and take a break.
Out of “Drums” and “Space” we got a “Standing on the Moon;” a great tribute to Jerry, and one of Bobby’s better renditions of a Jerry ballad. Bobby’s singing is solid and he hits all the high notes at the end with no problem. Bobby is showing his age now; at times his vocals were not as strong as they once were. He moves slowly, and he seems to be getting cramps in his hands. His guitar playing isn’t what it once was. Thankfully he has an amazing band to back him up and keep the songs sounding strong and fresh.
Brian Halley
Next, Mayer led the band and crowd into “Sugaree.” Everyone always loves “Sugaree,” and the audience is singing along. It’s a well-written song, with a catchy chorus, but the most important part of the song is the solos. If the solos fall flat, the crowd loses interest. Mayer understands this, and the key is to take your time and build and build until by the time the vocals come back around, you’ve shaken the roof off.
They closed the set with a rocking “Sugar Magnolia.” Bobby’s voice was pretty hoarse on this one, but he belted it out anyways. It was hard to notice over the roar of the crowd, as “Sugar Mag” always draws a huge response from the audience. Dead and Company always tags their own trademark ending that reminds me of “The Greatest Story Ever Told.” I always enjoy hearing the changes that Dead and Co. have made to the songs that make them uniquely their own. They finished the night with a run of the mill “Touch of Grey” encore.
Overall, these were two of the best Dead & Company shows that I have seen. Bobby and Mickey got to take a bow at the end, and who knows if we’ll get another chance to see them again? I had a great time at the shows and in San Francisco, and even got to spend some time at Muir Woods National Monument. My flight home got delayed and I was also able to make a side trip to Magoo’s Pizza Parlor where the band played their first gig, and Dana Morgan’s Music Store where Jerry, Bobby and Pigpen first met. The trip was sort of my own Mecca, with no blues for Allah.
– Butch Weaver
Butch Weaver is a long-time Deadhead, rock music aficionado, prominent Dayton Ohio bassist musician, previous music reviewer for the Dayton Daily News and first-time Psychedelic Scene contributor
Related links:
Gallery
Recent Articles
