Dead & Company at Barceló Maya Grand Resort, February 17, 2018

CID Entertainment presents Playing in the Sand, featuring Dead & Company
Beach Stage at Barceló Maya Grand Resort
Carr. Federal Chetumal- Puerto Juárez Km. 266.3, Solidaridad, 77750 Playa del Carmen, Q.R., Mexico
7:30 PM, Saturday, February 17, 2018

Back to the previous event! ☸ Up to the 2018 yearbox! ☸ Up to the 2018 event list! ☸ On to the next event!

[7:35 PM lights down; 7:41 PM band out]

1. [7:43 PM] Shakedown Street »
2. [8:00 PM] Will It Go Round in Circles (JM) »
3. [8:03 PM] Cold, Rain and Snow (JM)
4. [8:13 PM] Loser
5. [8:23 PM] Jack Straw
   [short break for BK & JM to pee]
6. [8:35 PM] Easy Wind (JM) »
7. [8:46 PM] Tennessee Jed »
8. [8:56 PM] Sugaree (JM)
   [JM & BW swap to acoustics]
9. [9:10 PM] Ripple
   [set ends 9:15 PM]

[10:00 PM lights down, band out]

1. [10:01 PM] Viola Lee Blues » [10:04 PM] v1 » jam » [10:07 PM] v2 » jam »
2. [10:09 PM] China Cat Sunflower » [10:15 PM] add MF: vox; JB: tambourine; MI:perc; CY: cowbell; MB: B3 »
3. [10:18 PM] I Know You Rider
   [guests off, false start]
4. [10:35 PM] Comes a Time (OB) »
5. [10:44 PM] Deal (JM)
6. [10:59 PM] drums: all off but the two Rhythm Devils for start » [11:01 PM] add MI » [11:03 PM] add OB » [11:06 PM] drop OB » [11:07 PM] beam » [11:10 PM] BK off, MH goes bonkers on the beam, accompanied by trippy vocal samples via RAMU » [11:12 PM] MI off, MH bowing on beam » [11:13 PM] front line back, OB playing from seated lotus? » MH off; BK back » [11:15 PM] MH back at his trap seat »
7. [11:18 PM] Standing on the Moon »
8. [11:27 PM] the Wheel » [10:35 PM] reggae jam » [10:37 PM] train wreck ending
9. [11:37 PM] Sugar Magnolia
   [set ends 11:46 PM; all off]
   
   Encore
10. [11:47 PM] One More Saturday Night
    [show ends 11:53 PM]

Dead & Company

• Oteil Burbridge: bass, lead and harmony vox;
• Jeff Chimenti: piano, Hammond B-3 organ, keyboards, harmony vox;
• Mickey Hart: drums;
• Bill Kreutzmann: drums;
• John Mayer: guitar, lead and harmony vox;
• Bob Weir: guitar, lead and harmony vox.

• Mike Blankenship: keyboards;
• Jay Bowman: hand percussion;
• Michael Franti: vox;
• Manas Itiene: drums, hand percussion;
• Carl Young: hand percussion.

Saturday night! Between the night off and endless stream of alcohol, the collective consciousness of part of the crowd has veered in an ugly direction tonight: Folks up front are none too happy to see us, don't want to let us pass without complaint, and generally offer the stock eye instead of a brotherly greeting. I take the home and head back ten or twelve yards to the safety of Dispoto's blanket, where we have lots of room, even after the full quota of travelers arrive. Crazy that folks will squeeze themselves in so tightly up front that all they can do is wiggle: How can you enjoy the show if you're packed on top of each other like sardines in a can? I'm glad I recognized that madness and declined to participate!

Shakedown was rendered as a disco dirge: way too slow to please me, so I suffered. At least the jams were interesting! Following a bit of call and response vocals, John Mayer steered things into a short slice of Billy Preston's Will It Go Round in Circles?. Seemed like more than just a tease to me: I wonder if that's corroborated by inclusion on the planned setlist or not. Woulda been tasty to hear them really go off on that musical journey, but even a few minutes was a bit of unexpected fun!

I thought the next two tunes were performed quite well – especially Cold, Rain and Snow, which practically crackled with electricity – but the slower tempo of Loser led to a positively turgid take on Jack Straw. I have a hard time understanding why Bobby thinks we're going to enjoy his half time delivery. Maybe he's listening at a different rate than we are? A mystery for now!

Anyways, Jack Straw was the nadir of the set for me, and my satisfaction level increased with each tune through the rest of the set. Easy Windwas an unexpected treat, and Mayer took the opportunity to lay down some serious blues before the slow shuffle of Tennessee Jed. Sugareewas really sweet despite the morally ambiguous message of the lyrics, and Mayer egged Chimenti on into two positively heroic keyboard solos. The full stop afterwards was unexpected, but the ambiguity was resolved when John and Bobby both swapped over to acoustic guitars: another treat, kids! Unhappily, Bobby's guitar didn't seem quite right – at least to Bobby – and so he swapped back to electric soon after the song started. But when it rains, he pouts, and Bobby didn't like the sound he was getting there either, so he spent a few more minutes messing around with his instrument while the band carried on without him. I should say in defense of Bob that he appeared rather frustrated: maybe we should blame the humid salt air for putting some unexpected tension into the wood? Hopefully he put the incident behind him during break.

The guys seemed pretty charged up when they hit the stage for Set Two. I thought Viola Lee was pretty obvious from the first but if noodling, but then, I'd heard them practicing it during soundcheck, so I suppose that was an easy one! Tonight's version was fun, but I was slightly unhappy that someone steered the bus into China Cat Sunflower before they got to the third verse of Viola. What about that letter? Late in China Cat, Michael Franti bounded onstage with a wireless mic, twirling and dancing in the space between John and Bobby, while the rest of his band spread themselves about and made busy with hand percussion, except for Mike B, who took a seat at the Hammond B-3 organ. The expanded ensembles grooved quite a while on the transition jam, then slid into a rowdy sing-along version of I Know You Rider: nearly everyone around me seemed to be belting out the choruses at the top of their lungs. Much joy!

Add much as I love the tune and look forward to hearing Oteil sing, I want much in the mood for a slow, reflective song like Comes a Time, so I seized the opportunity for a piss break, then weaseled my way back up to the rail upon my return. Was it still crowded? Oh yeah, too much. Did I piss anyone off? Yep, probably more than one. But was there space for me to hug my soulmate and dance a little? Well surprise, surprise, surprise, space happened to grow around us, so I started instead of retreating back to the mid center blanket.

Dealconfirmed the wisdom of that decision: the experience up front is far more intense and immersive: you KNOW that you're responsible for putting out the positive audience vibe when you can see the musicians react to your enthusiasm. And here, briefly, as the show transitioned into drums, my phone conked out, and my notes got kinda scrambled. Whoops! Salt air again?

You can listen to the show for free via one of the sources posted at the Live Music Archive, or go commercial and check out Nugs.net

Big thanks to Ting for taking pictures and putting together the awesome photo gallery!

Back to the previous event! ☸ Up to the 2018 yearbox! ☸ Up to the 2018 event list! ☸ On to the next event!