Dead & Company
John Mayer, front right, sings lead on ‘Hell in a Bucket’ as original Grateful Dead members Billy Kreutzmann, Mickey Hart, in back, and Bob Weir, front left, lay down the sound that’s spanned over 51 years during Saturday’s Dead & Company show at the Gorge.
GEORGE — If you had walked into the Grateful Dead house in 1967 after the boys played the Monterey Pop Fest and asked if they thought they’d still be playing at the age of 70, they’d of probably said, “Roll me up one of whatever you’re smokin’.”
But there they were with more than a Touch of Grey, Grateful Dead alumni Mickey Hart (72), Billy Kreutzmann (70) and Bob Weir (68) offered a phenomenal setlist Saturday night at The Gorge that would rank high on the list of favorites among Deadheads who have kept the 51-year-old band’s music alive a couple of decades after the death of guitarist Jerry Garcia.
The Dead & Company, tapping the youthful energy of longtime Dead collaborator Jeff Chimenti on keys, Allman Brothers bassist Oteil Burbridge and John Mayer on guitar, hit their stride from the opening number, which happened to be “Touch of Grey.” That recreational marijuana smoke lingered in the air, eventually blowing out over the Columbia River, and an estimated 11,000 Deadheads settled into their groove.
Just the fact that there was a bearded guy with a goat on a leash out front indicated this would be no normal night of music. It was fairly certain his picture went viral on somebody’s Twitter account with the smartphones snapping away. The Live Nation Entertainment guy at the front gate took one look. “That goat’s not coming in,” he said kind of stoically behind wrap-around shades.
Inside, it was business as usual for a band that’s been ripping it up all summer. Paul McCartney joined them at Fenway Park in Boston. Former Grateful Dead member Donna Jean Godchaux joined the boys for most of Dead & Company's festival-closing set at Bonnaroo. Dead & Company threw a free show at The Fillmore in San Francisco on May 23.
Gorge fans were treated to a showcase. Mayer knows “the build,” which was a hallmark of Garcia. A layering of rhythm, animated with bits and pieces of jam that slowly, climbs to a swirling, crescendo. Weir’s whiskey wail is an emblem of the Grateful Dead and amazingly his voice remains virtually unchanged after more than half a century on stage. When joined with the impeccable harmonies of Mayer, Burbridge and Chimenti, the Dead and Company found a harmonic balance that the Grateful Dead rarely reached.
Hart, hands wrapped in white Under Armor gloves, wielded mallets and brushes while Kreutzmann finessed his kit to build the backbone of every jam. Mayer, Burbridge and Chimenti joined the drumming duo with squeeze horns and sticks in the expansive “Drums.”
It’s been a band in transition since Garcia died in 1995, but they’re still able to hit fan favorites like “Dire Wolf,” “Ramble on Rose,” “One More Saturday Night,” and add a new twist when they turn Mayer loose on lead vocals on “Brown Eyed Women” and “Next Time You See Me.”
The second set was a magical as anything they’ve done this summer with “Eyes of the World,” “Cumberland Blues,” “Wharf Rat,” and “Casey Jones,” bringing it to a crescendo. And even then, they took an audience that was nowhere near being danced out and treated them to Bob Dylan’s “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” to bring it all back home.
Touch of Grey or not, Dead & Company are reaching new heights with an age-old sound. The infusion of youthful exuberance with venerable Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Famers made a night on the Columbia River a night to remember.