Jam band supergroup Dead & Company make their summer tour stop at the land of chocolate, Hershey Park, on August 28. With them as always, following is their eclectic, eccentric, and electric fanbase: the Deadheads, as colorful as their kaleidoscopic visions can take them. The fanbase is incredibly kind, tight knit, dedicated, and functions as a self sustaining community that follows the band.
The band started the night with “The Music Never Stopped,” a good way to get things going. “Touch of Grey” proved to be a most apropriate song, one whose message we can all relate to in the midst of a worldwide health pandemic. Mayer shines on “Tennessee Jed” with some fancy chicken picking and long time superstar vocals on “Mr.Charlie.” The band wrapped up the first set with an incredible “Cassidy,” featuring iconic Weir vocal parts and a fast, fun, everyone sing a long “Don’t Ease Me In” to end the set.
The second set blasted off with a psychedelic “Here Comes Sunshine”, featuring Mayer leading everyone into the sun, vocally and theoretically speaking ofcourse. Now Bobby gets to shine on vocals as the band goes into an epic “Estimated Prophet”. Dancing shoes are coming on and the band pulls of several extended, even for Grateful Dead standards, improvised sections on a massive “Eyes of The World”. Mayer gets to shine on vocals again with “Althea”. And now comes time for the rhythm devils as the rest of the band leaves.
After “Space” Dead & Co went into an unexpected Miles Davis cover of “Milestones,” a most psychedelic and sonically unexpected spectacle. They switch gears into “Going Down The Road Feeling Bad” and quickly again into “Death Don’t Have No Mercy.” This featured a somber Weir on vocals, really belting out about death and loss. And to close out the set, a most apropriate “One More Saturday Night” played with all the vigor and groove a Saturday night show should have.
Bobby declares that there is a strict curfew in play so they’ll skip the formalities of getting off stage and get right to the encore which was a thumping sing along, “Quinn the Eskimo.”
Dead and Company – Hershey Park Stadium, Hershey, PA – August 28, 2021
Set 1: The Music Never Stopped -> Easy Answers -> The Music Never Stopped, Touch of Grey, Tennessee Jed, Mr. Charlie, Black Throated Wind, Cassidy, Don’t Ease Me In
Set 2: Here Comes Sunshine > Estimated Prophet > Eyes of the World > Althea > Drums > Space > Milesstones > Going Down the Road Feeling Bad > Death Don’t Have No Mercy > One More Saturday Night
For their fourth and final show in the Empire State, Dead and Company made their annual stop at Saratoga Performing Arts Center, hallowed ground for seeing the Grateful Dead in the 1980s. And much like the Dead shows at SPAC in the 80s, the venue was as packed as ever, hosting a sold out crowd of 25,103 – a few short of the record set by the Dead in 1985.
On Friday, August 27, Deadheads of all ages – grandparents bringing their grandkids, parents going with friends, college kids meeting up with uncles and aunts, or just locals looking for a night of classic American music – filled in every corner of SPAC, and in this era of social distancing, the crowd at times felt like there were more than 25 thousand in attendance. Early entry was a smart move this night, as COVID-19 vaccine checks as well as ticket/security checks slowed entry down for many. If you’re attending a sold out show at SPAC this summer, the best move you can make is go in early and avoid the rush.
photo by Conor McMahon
Once inside, the Saratoga Springs crowd was as boisterous and congenial as you’d expect at a Dead and Company show, let alone a Phil and Friends, Ratdog, Billy and the Kids, Joe Russo’s Almost Dead, Dark Star Orchestra, or any other Grateful Dead side-project/tribute band. That’s what makes these shows so appealing to so many – you get that same wonderful vibe from those around you, all of whom are there for the music and allow themselves respite from the daily grind.
That collective release was felt when Dead and Company dropped into “Shakedown Street” to open a show, a resounding statement that tonight was going to be a barnburner. With Bob Weir wearing ‘Bobby Shorts,’ and Oteil Burbridge donning Section 119 shorts, even the band knew it would be a hot one. The “Bertha” that followed maintained the momentum out of “Shakedown,” which wound down so Weir could play a couple of acoustic numbers, the beautiful “Peggy-O” and “Me and My Uncle,” both of which were tour debuts.
photo by Conor McMahon, Oteil’s shorts by Section 119
Would be captain John Mayer took over vocals for “They Love Each Other,” and on “West L.A. Fadeaway” successfully pushed for a second jam with the help of Jeff Chimenti on keys. The set closing “Bird Song” was played at such a slow tempo it took Weir six minutes to get to the lyrics, while he and Mayer struggled for direction throughout the rest, clocking in at 22 minutes for the longest song of the night.
Set 2 opened up with “Let the Good Times Roll,” evoking memories of the show opener on “Downhill From Here,” and driving the bus towards “Scarlet Begonias,” which was paced at times as it meandered over 13-minutes. Surprisingly, “Help on the Way” arrived when “Fire on the Mountain” was expected, cranking up the energy once again, and diving into a “Slipknot” that was exploratory courtesy of John and Oteil, and is well worth a listen below. When “Fire” finally arrived, it lit the crowd up in a haze for 10 minutes, before an exodus of fans made their move towards the back of the lawn or parking lots with the onset of “Drums.” Oteil joined Rhythm Devils Bill and Mickey for the a tribal interlude, followed by Mickey getting to work on The Beam for “Space.”
Upon the band’s full return to the stage, “Cumberland Blues” brought the crowd back to their feet, then giving them a chance to rest during “Days Between,” the final tour debut of the night. “Not Fade Away” would close the set, bringing Buddy Holly’s lyrics to echo across SPA State Park and beyond. To balance out “NFA,” an encore of “Black Muddy River,” while soulful, zapped the energy that had been flowing all night.
While an up and down show tempo-wise, Dead and Company were energetic and polished throughout. It would be difficult to find a fan of the Grateful Dead who didn’t enjoy this performance at SPAC, or elsewhere on this tour, one that comes at a needed time for the fans after many months without live music.
Set 1: Shakedown Street > Bertha, Peggy-O, Me and My Uncle, They Love Each Other > West L.A. Fadeaway, Bird Song
Set 2: Let the Good Times Roll, Scarlet Begonias > Help on the Way > Slipknot! > Fire on the Mountain > Drums/Space > Cumberland Blues > Days Between > Not Fade Away
Dead and Company continued their Empire State run on Wednesday, August 25 at Darien Lake Performing Arts Center, with the amusement park behind the venue giving the performance an county fair vibe. John Mayer sported a pair of headphones after noticing a slight ringing in his ears post show in Bethel Woods and wanted to protect his hearing. The headphones also allowed him to hear the band better and in turn, play in the band better.
photo by Josh Davis
Mayer immediately lit up the show with opener “Viola Lee Blues.” In a Tales from the Golden Road conversation with NYS Music, Mayer said he loved bringing his approach to the Grateful Dead’s mixolydian blues catalog. “A song like ‘Viola Lee Blues’ I can really pull the Hendrix thing to it. It’s not that different.” Thus, “Viola Lee Blues” jammed and was weaved into both sets. Mayer stayed out front vocally on “Cold Rain and Snow” that hit inland from Lake Ontario to cool off the summer crowd. Bob Weir got on the mic for “Feel Like A Stranger” to remind the crowd that it’s “gonna be a long long crazy silky night” with Oteil Burbridge really fueling the funk level. He told NYS Music earlier this year “Well I mean there is so much funk in the Grateful Dead’s music. The Jerry Bands’ music. It’s just like there for the picking. So I just lean into it” Oteil and John really bring a new energy to this celebrated catalog and traded lead vocals on a swaying “Ship of Fools.”
The New York western plain vibe continued with “Friend of the Devil” that had Jeff Chimenti leading with saloon style piano – Chimenti has been playing with Bobby in “Ratdog” for a reason for over 20 years. Bob Weir started howling vocally on “Loose Lucy,” with a tone that night very in the moment and full of raw emotion. Mayer got another stab at the mixolydian blues to close the set with “New Speedway Boogie”. Mayer said of the musical concept in Dead and Co., “It’s very ascending and descending that’s what’s allows people to ride it”
photo by Josh Davis
The second set started with a nod to the western terrain of Darien, with “Truckin’” (up to Buffalo), followed by the first song Dead and Company ever played as a group, naturally, “Playing in the Band.” A beyond welcoming composition for Mayer, Burbridge, and Chimenti who joined the 3 core members on this musical journey six years ago. Burbridge said in an interview with NYS Music in Miami about the band’s first gig: “That was a harrowing night. That was a trip. That beginning time. But when Bill Walton says you’re good, you stop worrying.”
The ensemble then unfolded a “China Cat Sunflower” into a “I Know You Rider” that shone the light back on Weir’s vocals, taking on the spirit animal of an old wolf howling under the night tent at Darien. This sole survivor momentum lead into the band’s tribute to Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts who passed earlier this week with a cover of “The Last Time”. Again Bob Weir lead the pack in the moment, “This could be the last time, I don’t know.” Billy and Mickey’s “Drums” segment opened up some chakras with their vibrations, and the band returned for “Space.” After orbiting it was time to bring the children home with “Uncle John’s Band” The final song of the evening brought great imagery to a late August night with “Wharf Rats” and the band came full circle by closing the show with a reprise of “Playing in the Band.”
The encore was truly chilling as they covered Bob Dylan’s “Knocking on Heavens Door.” Although Bobby and John both sported cut off tees like Guns & Roses, this was truly their take on this song, a very heavy way to end a show. A night of music like this brings all your feelings to the surface. Jerry Garcia once said of music’s effects “I don’t know why. It’s the same reason why you like some kind of music and not others. There’s something about it YOU like. Ultimately I don’t find it’s in my best interests to try and analyze it. Since it’s fundamentally emotional.”
Dead and Company – Darien Lake Amphitheater, Darien Center, NY – 8/25/21
Set 1: Viola Lee Blues > Cold Rain and Snow, Feel Like a Stranger, Ship of Fools, Friend of the Devil, Loose Lucy > New Speedway Boogie
Set 2: Truckin’ > Playing In The Band > Viola Lee Blues > China Cat Sunflower > I Know You Rider > The Last Time* > Drums/Space > Uncle John’s Band > Wharf Rat > Playing In The Band (Reprise)
A New York Welcome at Citi Field – Review/Photos by Steve Malinski
It was otherwise just a typically warm summer NYC evening to usher in this past Friday night when Dead and Company took the stage at Citi Field. After some strange times in the two-year gap since their last stop in NYC (and some Covid-19 checks before entering), however, the music restored a sense of normalcy and familiarity with experiencing a large-scale concert.
Just as if Dead & Co. hadn’t skipped a beat since their 2019 tour, they took the stage without an ounce of rust from their pandemic downtime. As they shuffled into the first set with “Good Times,” John Mayer commanded the mic, signaling the core role he has developed in this iteration of the Grateful Dead family. Bob Weir stepped up to the plate sharing the lead with Mayer on vocals throughout the night, rallying the Queens crowd for the New York City line in “Ramble on Rose.” The youngest surviving member of the original Grateful Dead lineup, Weir was nimble on his feet as he enjoyed crafting the rhythms just as much as the crowd relished the sound.
Set two took a trip to the late 1970s-era Dead setlists, featuring the classic pairing of “China Cat Sunflower/I Know You Rider” and fluidity from the start to finish of the set. The night was capped off on a high note with an energetic “U.S. Blues” and an encore covering The Band’s “The Weight,” featuring a trade of choruses between Jeff Chimenti, Mayer, Weir, and Oteil Burbridge.
Dead and Company Citi Field – Flushing, NY 8/20/21
Set 1: Let the Good Times Roll, Bertha, Good Lovin’ -> Big Railroad Blues, Ramble On Rose, They Love Each Other, Cassidy -> Casey Jones
Set 2: Eyes of the World -> Uncle John’s Band -> China Doll -> China Cat Sunflower -> I Know You Rider -> Drums/Space -> Spanish Jam -> Althea, Stella Blue, U.S. Blues
Dead and Company Recreate 1969’s Woodstock Performance at Bethel Woods – Review by Matt Romano, Photos by Steve Malinski
It’s true, The music never stopped for the Grateful Dead. It’s newest reincarnation as Dead and Company continued its trip through the Empire State at Bethel Woods Performing Arts Center on Monday, August 23. The band played on a stage set among the rolling hills of the original 1969 Woodstock festival. A sense of delight was in the air for all those on the adjacent path of the site towards the stage for this year’s festivities.
They opened with “Hell in a Bucket,” this time enjoying the ride. Jeff Chimenti immediately stepped out as he would the whole night on the keyboards. The band really seems to play off Jeff and the musical ideas he passes onstage. John Mayer especially picks up on the mixolydian blues concept Pigpen started in the ‘60s by taking lead on “Easy Wind.” This track is ideal for Mayer’s blues background and the words, “Easy wind going ‘cross the Bayou today. There’s a whole lotta women. Out on the streets in a red today.”
Mayer also stepped out in front for “Brown Eyed Women,” singing as humbly as Jerry sang about Delilah Jones. The band then drifted off into the seas to end the first set. A “Row Jimmy” out in the mist led to a “Lost Sailor,” and they came back to shore with a “Saint Of Circumstance.”
Tigers in trance deserve a second chance. That’s what the band was able to get on the other side of the hill from their Woodstock ‘69 performance. The Grateful Dead may have been one of the more famous performers at Woodstock, but their set didn’t exactly knock it out of the park. They played from 10:30 pm to midnight on the second day, but their entire performance was filled with technical difficulties. The band was even subject to electric shock on stage although that truly could have been them representing their infamous logo.
But on this night on the other side of the hill, Bob Weir said at the start of the second set, “Now 50-some years ago right here, we tried this next little sequence and it didn’t go so well. It didn’t work so we’re gonna try it again.” With that, Dead and Company, in all their glory, recreated the five song setlist from the 1969 festival that includes covers by Merle Haggard and Bobby Blue Bland: “St Stephen,” “Mama Tried,” “Dark Star,” “High Time,” “Turn on your Lovelight.”
Weir, who was 22 during the original Woodstock, sang Merle’s “Mama Tried” with the same howl in 2021 that he had in 1969. “I turn 21 in prison doing life without parole. No one could steer me right but Mama tried.” Bobby Bland’s “Lovelight” percolated throughout the set with John Mayer, who is no gravity stranger, wanting to be where the light is. The old memory set faded into a “Drums/Space” jam that featured a new “bass” segment from Oteil Burbridge – who has joined the Rhythm Devils on Halloween at Madison Square Garden – took his own featured piece. He was left on stage solo with only pure bass notes to the crowd’s ears. The band joined Oteil on his sky journey for “Space” While up there, they decide to return to the Garcia classic “Standing on the Moon,” to remind of summer tours past. Bob Weir and John Mayer then brought out the acoustics to send everyone back on the tree lined paths with “Ripple.”
You certainly could feel Jerry’s spirit in the same rolling Catskill hills that his music happily haunts. His music helped Dead and Company continue to set the bar high for likely their only recreation of this old performance. “It’s not enough to be the best at what you do. You must be perceived as the ONLY one who does what you do”
Dead and Company hit Darien lake Wednesday night, then head to Saratoga Springs on Friday.
On your way to SPAC, don’t forget that Stewart’s Shops is your ice cream shop! With over 345 shops in 31 counties across New York and southern Vermont, the convenience store chain is known for their fresh & local dairy products. With dozens of choices at the cone counter, you’re bound to find something you love! Try a shake, sundae, or cone today, What’s Your Flavor?
Dead and Company Bethel Woods Performing Arts Center – Bethel, NY 8/23/21
Set 1: Hell in a Bucket, Easy Wind, Loser, Brown-Eyed Women, Throwing Stones, Row Jimmy, Lost Sailor -> Saint of Circumstance
Set 2: St. Stephen -> Mama Tried -> Dark Star -> High Time -> Turn On Your Love Light, Drums/Space/Oteil Bass Solo -> Deal -> Standing on the Moon -> Turn On Your Love Light
John Mayer just released his new solo record Sob Rock, produced by Don Was and released on Columbia Records and Tapes.
Mayer also announced a 2022 Sob Rock Tour starting at the Times Union Center in Albany, NY on February 17. This marks the fourth world tour he has started in the Capital Region of New York In 2015, he played his first Dead and Company Show there. In 2017, he started his Search for Everything Tour at the arena, and Mayer also started his last solo summer tour in Albany on July 19 2019.
John Mayer’s musical journey over the past twenty years is a classic rock and roll dream. Growing up, Mayer never had a doubt about what he wanted to be. His bedroom in the 1980s was adorned with Stevie Ray Vaughn posters. At this time, he was inspired by Buddy Guy’s “Damn Right I got the Blues.” Mayer is one of the last artists to amplify his sound to the masses through original radio and TV circuits, years before the social-media/stream world of exposure.
In 2002, he played at Onondaga County War Memorial on his first solo American tour the same fall Bob Weir and Jeff Chimenti’s Ratdog played Syracuse’s Landmark Theater down the street. 20 years later they are Mayer’s band mates with Oteil Burbridge, Bill Kreutzman, and Mickey Hart on tour as Dead and Company, with four dates in New York scheduled for this August.
Dead and Company Fall Tour opener Albany 2015
In between this time, Mayer’s life was a continuum of battle studies majoring in heartbreak warfare in cities like New York. Who says he can’t get stoned and call a girl he used to know? Halfway to the moon, his vocal cords needed a recharge, which led to him living off the grid in Montana. A poolside chance encounter with the Grateful Dead’s Althea on satellite radio helped Mayer carve out another new sound. He then debuted his psychedelic chops on solo albums Wildfire and Paradise Valley before joining Dead and Co.
Mayer kept his blues roots alive by inducting Stevie Ray Vaughn in to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Mayer and Gary Clark Jr helped pay musical tribute at the ceremony. Mayer also kept his English blues roots atone for performances with The Rolling Stones and joining Eric Clapton for his 70th birthday at Madison Square Garden. He reunited with producer and drummer Steve Jordan to help bring back the John Mayer Trio with Pino Palladino. Dont’t forget Pino’s groove on Don Henley’s 80’s anthem “Boys of Summer”. He recruited D’Angelo guitarist Isiah Sharkey for the his recent solo tours as well. Mayer also dabbled after midnight at the LOCKN festival with Lettuce for Jerry Garcia Band Tribute.
Mayer’s first record fresh off the heels of growing up, however, has an ironic connection to his most recent. Romanticizing years ago on the track “83” off Room for Squares with lyrics like Oh, if only my life was more like 1983. All these things would be more like they were at the start of me. I’d plot a course to the source of the purest little part of me.
John Mayer Search for Everything Tour Albany 2017
Sob Rock is a nod to this era of Mayer’s life experience until now, the simplicity of any given 1980s summer day before we all had to grow up. “Why you no love me?” Is a great example of this angle “They are the most brutal lyrics I’ve written. Musically you’re on a sailboat, but lyrically it’s intense. ‘Why you no love me?’ I’ve spoken those words in relationships and it is the child learning that language. Maybe it takes 43 years to ask it?”
The song’s lyrics, Hurt me once I let it be. Hurt me twice, you’re dead to me, Three times makes you family. Mayer reflects on these words about getting older, “Do not try and create bonds with scar tissue, there are people in our lives who have hurt us enough to join this legacy gang. As you’ get older you learn not to build relationships on the connective tissue of ‘sorry’ hangovers and morning afters. As you get older you say, ‘Be good to me from the start.’
Sometimes nothing feels better for someone than stitching up a wound they made. At 28, that felt like love times a thousand but when you get in your 40’s its sexy to hear someone say, “I would never do that to you” That’s the new language you become attracted to
John Mayer
Musically a Dire Straits tone is found on “Wild Blue” with chilly Knopfler-like vocals. “I’m walking through the wilderness and living off the loneliness. I found myself when I lost you.” Sob Rock is binge watching Stranger Things for its Eighties nostalgia with Carla Francesca in an October past. Mayer wants this album to create memories that you might not have actually had. Can you have memories of things that never happened to you? “For me, I can’t quite see the memory…I’m almost there…it’s my grandmother’s house and Gumby is on TV…is it a dream?…a memory?” Maybe its all a dream I’m having at seventeen, I don’t have tattoos and very soon mother will be calling me and saying come upstairs you got some work to do.
Additionally, two music videos released off the record, “Last Train Home” and “Shot in the Dark,” look like playbacks of recorded VHS tapes off an old Zenith console TV. We cast the same scenes in our social circles. His live performance on the tonight show with Isaiah Sharkey really shows the reflection on the stitches of old love from the road Now the road keeps rolling on forever and the years keep pulling us apart, if its on someone i blame both of us, it shouldn’t matter but it does
His experience with Dead and Company has affected the guitarist in that he wants to hear how the music has affected you. Where did it take you and what has it brought out personally? New York musicians like John McConnell, whose only rest in 20 years was for vocal chord treatment like Mayer, his song “When This, Then That” with the lyrics “So I’ll settle in and relax for a while, I’m a 40 something victim of comfort but I do it with style” is certainly a sound off the new light trail Mayer has bended for all to hike on. At this stage in his life John (Mayer) just wants to be a musical servant. “I’m only here for transportation.”
Key Tracks: Why You No Love Me?, Wild Blue, All I Want is to Be with You
John Mayer 2022 Sob Rock Tour Dates tickets go on sale Friday, July 23 at 11 am ET at JohnMayer.com.
Feb. 17 – Albany, NY – Times Union Center Feb. 18 – Philadelphia, PA – Wells Fargo Center Feb. 20 – New York, NY – Madison Square Garden Feb. 23 – Washington, DC – Capital One Arena Feb. 25 – Pittsburgh, PA – PPG Paints Arena Feb. 27 – Toronto, ON – Scotiabank Arena March 1 – Belmont Park, NY – UBS Arena March 4 – Boston, MA – TD Garden March 11 – Las Vegas, NV – Grand Garden Arena March 13 – Los Angeles, CA – Forum March 15 – Los Angeles, CA – Forum March 18 – San Francisco, CA – Chase Center March 22 – Seattle, WA – Climate Pledge Arena March 25 – Salt Lake City, UT – Vivint Arena March 27 – Denver, CO – Ball Arena April 2 – Sunrise, FL – BB&T Center April 5 – Tampa, FL – Amalie Arena April 8 – Atlanta, GA – State Farm Arena April 11 – Charlotte, NC – Spectrum Center April 13 – Nashville, TN – Bridgestone Arena April 20 – Austin, TX – Moody Center April 23 – Houston, TX – Toyota Center April 24 – Dallas, TX – American Airlines Center April 28 – Chicago, IL – United Center
On the 50th anniversary of 18-20-year-olds granted the right to vote via the 26th Amendment, non-profit voter registration organization HeadCount launched Save The Vote!, an interactive campaign to encourage young Americans and cultural leaders to speak out for voting rights.
Save The Vote! is the first national campaign HeadCount will run specifically on voter rights. It is founded on their core values statement: “Elections should be fair, accessible, and trustworthy.”
Dozens of musicians and cultural leaders will participate, with many directly calling their own elected officials and capturing those moments on social media videos. Lil Dicky, Big Freedia, Dead and Company, Ministry, Michael Franti, Kam Franklin of The Suffers, Shah, and Amy Lee of Evanescence are among the many HeadCount supporters who are using their own platforms to Save the Vote!
The Save The Vote! campaign aims to connect new or first-time activists to their power as citizens by contacting lawmakers about voting rights. Entertainers including Lil Dicky, Big Freedia, Dead & Company, and Amy Lee of Evanescence are among dozens supporting the campaign
The campaign hits on July 1, the same day that a divided Supreme Court ruled to uphold restrictive voting laws in Arizona. That came just days after the For The People Act — a Federal bill to protect voting rights — was stalled by a filibuster in the U.S. Senate. Meanwhile, 389 restrictive bills in 48 states have been introduced by state lawmakers to limit voting rights. Save the Vote! keys in on those state-by-state battles.
“50 years ago, our country gave electoral power to the youth vote at a time when we knew their voices could no longer be silenced,” said Andy Bernstein, HeadCount’s executive director, “and today, we are bringing young Americans and their favorite musicians into the national conversation about voting rights.”
At HeadCount.org/SaveTheVote, users will find a listing of what’s happening in all 50 states. To access that information they first play a little guessing game, predicting where their state ranks in how easy it is to vote. Then — after selecting their state on an interactive map — they’ll learn about pending or recently passed voting legislation in their home state. Visitors can also learn about how voting rights impact specific nonpartisan issues such as Criminal Justice, Racism and Discrimination, Jobs and the Economy, and LGBTQ+ rights.
Save the Vote! marks an extension of HeadCount’s work beyond voter registration and Get Out the Vote activities. Save the Vote! will also be integrated into HeadCount’s hallmark field program, as volunteers speak with concert and festival-goers at events like Peach Fest, Newport Folk Festival, Bonnaroo, Bass Canyon, Louder than Life, Ohana Festival, Lost Lands Festival, and tours by Dead & Company and Dave Matthews Band.
It’s true, the Music Never Stopped, as Dead and Company will head out on the road this summer, their first shows since Playin in the Sand in January 2020. Dead and Company will embark on a 2021 Summer Tour, making four stops in New York State. Citi Field, Bethel Woods, Darien Lake and SPAC will all find multiple generations of Deadheads traversing the state this summer on a mission to get down.
The most recent New York appearance for Dead and Company was their Halloween run at Madison Square Garden in 2019. The Empire State will have an “Easy Wind” blowing across it later this summer, as Dead and Company comes to Citi Field on Friday, August 20, Bethel Woods Center for the Arts on Monday, August 23, Darien Lake Amphitheater on Wednesday, August 25, and Saratoga Performing Arts Center on Friday, August 27.
The Capital Region served as the foundation for Dead and Company’s start with their first performance at Times Union Center in Albany on October 29, 2015. John Mayer and Oteil Burbridge joined the band beyond description for “Playing in the Band” as the first tune to start their journey.
To ensure fans get tickets in their hands directly, Fan Registration is now available here until Sunday, May 16 at 10PM PDT, through Ticketmaster’s Verified Fan program. The Verified Fan Presale begins Wednesday, May 19th at 10 AM local through Thursday, May 20 at 10 PM local venue time. Supplies are limited.
Tickets will go on sale to the general public beginning Friday, May 21 at Noon local venue time through Ticketmaster.
A rainbow over SPAC, June 2019
Dead & Company will continue their work with longtime sustainability partner REVERB. This summer the band has committed to a comprehensive carbon offset program via Reverb’s unCHANGEit Climate Campaign, covering all projected emissions from this year’s tour – including fan travel to and from shows. These Dead & Company tour offsets will immediately fund important projects around the world and here at home that directly fight climate change and greenhouse gas emissions.
Dead and Company Summer 2021 Tour will offer a variety of enhanced experience packages that range in amenities from Loose Lucy’s Lounge access and early venue entry to branded lawn chairs and limited-edition screen-printed posters, paired with premium concert tickets. Travel Packages that bundle concert tickets with local accommodations will also be available. All enhanced offerings and travel packages go on sale May 19 at 10AM local venue time. For full details, visit here.
Jerry Garcia’s words and music get to carry another Summer and Fall Tour across the country. This cast certainly knows how to honor his historic improvisational ability while expressing their own voices on it. They have been given the seal of approval from original crew members and fans a like. Six years later it remains the Dead’s biggest revival. Oteil Burbridge doesn’t feel like a stranger for another tour. “When Bill Walton says you’re good, you quit worrying.”
On your way to SPAC, don’t forget that Stewart’s Shops is your ice cream shop! With over 345 shops in 31 counties across New York and southern Vermont, the convenience store chain is known for their fresh &local dairy products. With dozens of choices at the cone counter, you’re bound to find something you love! Try a shake, sundae, or cone today, What’s Your Flavor?
Dead & Company 2021 Tour
Mon-Aug-16 Raleigh, NC – Coastal Credit Union Music Park
Wed-Aug-18 Bristow, VA – Jiffy Lube Live
Fri-Aug-20 – New York, NY – Citi Field
Sat-Aug-21 Philadelphia, PA – Citizens Bank Park
Mon-Aug-23 Bethel, NY – Bethel Woods Center for the Arts
Wed-Aug-25 Darien, NY – Darien Lake Amphitheater
Fri-Aug-27 Saratoga Springs, NY – Saratoga Performing Arts Center
Sat-Aug-28 Hershey, PA – Hersheypark Stadium
Thu-Sep-02 Mansfield, MA – Xfinity Center
Fri-Sep-03 Mansfield, MA – Xfinity Center
Sun-Sep-05 Hartford, CT – The Xfinity Theatre
Tue-Sep-07 Cuyahoga Falls, OH – Blossom Music Center
Fri-Sep-10 Clarkston, MI – DTE Energy Music Theatre
Sat-Sep-11 Cincinnati, OH – Riverbend Music Center
Mon-Sep-13 Maryland Heights, MO – Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre STL
Wed-Sep-15 Noblesville, IN – Ruoff Music Center
Sep 17-18 Chicago, IL – Wrigley Field
Wed-Oct-06 West Palm Beach, FL – iTHINK Financial Amphitheatre
Thu-Oct-07 Tampa, FL – MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre
Mon-Oct-11 Charlotte, NC – PNC Music Pavilion
Tue-Oct-12 – Atlanta, GA – Cellairis Amphitheatre at Lakewood
Live music is making its way back into our weekend plans. The Oteil Burbridge band featuring Pete Lavezzoli on drums, Tom Guarna on Guitar, and special guest Jason Crosby on keyboards performed for two nights at the North Beach Bandshell in Miami Beach, FL on April 24 and 25. Over two days the quartet had a Grateful Dead heavy setlist, nicely blended with Oteil’s originals and covers of his favorite artists.
The breeze kicked in to start the two night run. They open with a cover by The Weather Report that brought all of the “Elegant People” from the beach. It got the whole crowd immediately grooving. A first set dead classic “Sugaree” start the psychedelic blues for the sun soaked masses. A cover of Jerry Garcia Band “Cats Down Under the Stars” keeps it flowing with Melvin Seals drummer Lavezolli and Oteil locked in ” Cats on the bandstand, give em each a big hand, Anyone who sweats like that must be all right.”
Believe it or not the band follows with another Grateful Dead classic that was played under the Miami Beach haze during soundcheck for “Here Comes Sunshine.” “Hard to find” an end of a first set, the quartet close with “King Solomon’s Marbles” to send everyone looking for their own after they cleared the stage.
The second set started with a beautiful Jerry solo classic “Rubin and Cherise.” The words on the Florida shore singing “the breeze would pause to listen in before going on its way again, Masquerade began when the nightfall finally woke.” Another Jerry tune up next for “Gomorrah” helped “Blow the City off the Map, left nothing there but fire”
Oteil brings you back to Brooklyn Bowl for a “Butter Biscuit” next, then a transition to a Grateful Dead S.O.S. on the beach. “Help on the Way” into “Slipknot” gets another Oteil original weaved in with “Too Many Times” before crescendoing into “Franklins Tower.” It was a funky roll in the dew to close the first set.
Keeping the crowd in a Grateful Dead like glow the band starts the encore so quiet you can hear the ocean. Oteil’s voice on “Stella Blue” reminds you the wave is crashing “In the end there’s still a song, comes crying like the wind, down every lonely street, that’s ever been.” As expected after a Dead heavy show like this you would assume this was the end.
Nope, during the encore the band paid tribute to Sugarloaf with their cover of “Green Eyed Lady.” Its lyrics perhaps another nod to a day on the beach. “Green Eyed Lady windswept lady , moves the night the waves the sand, Green eyed lady…ocean lady.” Out of nowhere, Oteil’s ensemble threw everyone for a loop on their way back to the Miami scene.
After an hour long soundcheck in Miami Beach, Oteil Burbridge took some time to talk with NYS Music
Matthew Romano: I am so glad I got to see the show last night before speaking today. Do you remember the Buddy Miles record that had a cover of Allman Brothers Band tunes “Dont’ Keep Me Wondering” and “Midnight Rider”? I can’t help but hear your same soulful interpretation of these Dead songs.
Oteil Burbridge: Yes I do! I kind of just do it. You can’t do anything to suppress your roots. Not really trying, it just comes out like that. But there was something that really gave me confidence to lean in more on my approach. I don’t know if you’ve heard George Porter sing “Eyes of World”? It’s my favorite “Eyes of the World.” The way he sings it, holy crap, just blew me away seeing that. So I was like yea man do it like you feel it. You know just let it come, let it be what it is.
MR: Well being here in Miami where you just recorded with Page McConnell and Vida Blue for a record we didn’t know what to expect out of your catalog this weekend for a set.
OB: I don’t with Vida Blue material because they are still on the road and we still play. Allman’s aren’t playing, I mean Dead and Company is playing, ya know as slow as we are doing everything. If you notice we do a lot of different versions with this band. We do the the old funkier, sluttier “Loose Lucy” and the faster funky kind of “They Love Each Other,” the long “Eyes” the “Terrapin.” What else? The funky “Bertha.”
OB: So we can just lean in the funk.
MR: I was able to speak with John Mayer on Tales From the Golden Road on Sirius XM and got his angle on bringing his own texture to the Dead and Co. sound. You are in the same boat bringing a whole new edge and vibe to this music that gives it a new form of life.
OB: I mean it just comes out that way. It’s really about being given permission by yourself, the original members, the crowd, and especially the old crew.
OB: Ya know it mattered to me, what AJ thinks, what Jarukie thought. It matters what Derek Featherstone thinks. Ya know all the original crew that’s been here much longer than me. So even to have them and friends approval means the world.
MR: Well how about big Steve Parish who has come Upstate New York to go on his own tour speaking about all his years behind the amps of the Dead for every show?
OB: When you get Parish’s seal of approval, wow. All those guys, Dennis McNally, Bill Walton. When Bill Walton says you’re good, you quit worrying. But John and I have been very lucky to be graced by all those people, the crowd, the original members. I count them as family.
MR: Well being at the first Dead and Company show on October 29, 2015 at Times Union Center (The Old Knickerbocker Arena), it was only appropriate for you and John to open with “Playing in the Band.”
OB: (Laughter) For sure. That was a harrowing night. That was a trip, that beginning time.
MR: Well, I love that 6 years later your able to lead the pack with some funk on this repertoire for two nights on the beach in Spring 2021.
OB: Well i mean there is so much funk in the Grateful Dead’s music. The Jerry Bands’ music. Its just like there for the picking. So i just lean in to it
OB: Thats where I come from, ya know? I come from James Brown and Parliament Funkadelic. Earth Wind and Fire, Stevie, Larry Graham, J.V Collier and James Jamerson.
MR: How about Larry Graham creating the slap bass technique to fill for the drummers spot that was absent
OB: Yeah the drummer didn’t come so he had to bass the drum with his thumb and the snare and hi hat with his slap and the plucking part yeah. Tonight we’re gonna do a tribute to Paul Jackson in Head Hunters that just passed. It was the last tune we did during soundcheck today was “God made me Funky.”
MR: That had me dancing outside and threw me for a loop before I came in to talk to ya. I walked in the room feeling like Cleo McDowell in Coming to America…”I’m not sure what to do…I feel like break dancing.”
OB: (Laughter) For Sure. I’ve seen it at Dead shows, people start popping and locking! This weekend has been the biggest amount of people this band has played for. It was great to see that many bodies in motion again.
Later that night Oteil and Friends played one more Saturday night for an audience on Miami Beach.
The crowd immediately responded to the Oteil instrumental “The Happy Dance” to start the evening. Another highlight of Oteil’s solo catalog came next with “Rooster.” His words nailed it over the old Peacemakers groove, “There’s not much time to get your house in order, you can watch as the darkness grows, keep on trying to disguise yourself, but the ugliness still shows, you better clean it up before the rooster crows…”
Then a Dead heavy first set that included the funked up “Bertha” and “Loose Lucy.” The Dead vibes unfolded at the end of the first set with “China Cat Sunflower” > “China Doll” > “I Know Your Rider.” A set ending fake out with “No More Doubt,” another Oteil and the Peacemakers original. With even deeper lyrics “Call out to the grave, I am a mirror to the clouds, you can rest assure there will be no more worry,” to officially end the set.
After a short break the band opened with two covers, Jaco Pastorius’ “Opus Pocus‘ and Donny Hathaway’s “Magnificent Sanctuary.” These tunes are certainly hand picked by Oteil as they are a major influence on his sound.
Oteil Burbridge in Jaco Pastorius Park, FL
The band then closes the rest of the set with The Grateful Dead catalog where ocean breezes flow. After a funky “They Love Each Other” they launched into “Estimated Prophet” > “Terrapin” > “Morning Dew.” Oteil was quoted on his first vocal take on Dew, “I feel like I’ve been through enough in life to do it justice, I hope you enjoyed it.”
Oteil Burbridge Band Setlist April 24 25
The encore for the two night beach run was a tribute to Paul Jackson of the Head Hunters for “God Made me Funky.” Let’s be glad he is out touring this kind of music in 2021. Oteil helps carry the torch for new comers to the scene. It was Miami Beach resident Chris Collins first show who celebrated his father Bobs birthday Friday night. Bob toured for four years with the Dead.
In between shows you can listen to Oteil’s podcast with great artists. The crew heads to B Chord brewing Company in Virginia on June 4 and 5 for their next two night run. Dead and Company 2021 tour will be kicking off August 16th in Raleigh, North Carolina, and running through Halloween, with a three-night stand at the iconic Hollywood Bowl on October 29th, 30th, & 31st.
