Since early October, Deadheads on the East Coast frantically checked their e-mails for one special message--that said they'd be going to see Dead & Company at Madison Square Garden for free. Grateful Dead veterans Bob Weir, Bill Kreutzmann and Mickey Hart along with John Mayer, Oteil Burbridge and Jeff Chimenti, decided to partner with American Express Unstaged for an exclusive, third gig at New York City's MSG, which was made available for fans at home to stream via a Brett Ratner-directed webcast, Stereogum notes.
Saturday night brought a gathering of fans to see Dead & Co. for their last NYC performance of 2015, just a few gigs behind their original 2-night stint at MSG. The first set, although seemingly abridged, brought a funky opener of "Shakedown Street" before digging into the Dead's discography for the debut of two new tour tracks, "I Need A Miracle," and a Mayer-led "They Love Each Other," Jambase notes.
Weir handled vocals on the gig's opener and "I Need A Miracle" before passing the duty to Mayer for "Cold Rain & Snow" and a shared execution of "Tennessee Jed." Set one rounded out with a rather slowed down "Jack Straw," which brought the group a bit of confusion as they struggled to find their sound, eventually powering through.
The second set rolled out a hit-filled itinerary with "Help On The Way," "Slipknot!" and "Franklin's Tower," similar to the sextet's inaugural gig at Albany's Times Union Center. The one-of-a-kind gig introduced Dead & Company's first take on "St. Stephen," a track in which Mayer's displayed his growing talent with stirring riffs and an impressive yet peculiar jam structure.
Weir staple, "The Other One," proved to be a climax of Saturday's gig with solid vocals that extended to an emotional delivery of "Stella Blue," which saw a unique delivery from The Allman Brothers Band's Oteil Burbridge on bass. The set closed with "Not Fade Away," allowing deadheads to display their finest moves before Dead & Company debuted "Brokedown Palace" as an encore which gathered high emotions and warm embraces between concertgoers.
Dead & Company will storm the stage today (Tuesday) in Worcester for their next fall tour date.
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