MLB presents Dead & Company
Wrigley Field
1060 W Addison St, Chicago, IL 60613 USA
6:30 PM, Saturday, July 1, 2017

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[6:44 PM band out]

1. [6:45 PM] Cold, Rain and Snow (JM)
2. [6:53 PM] Jack Straw (BW/JM)
3. [7:06 PM] Tennessee Jed (BW)
4. [7:16 PM] Ship of Fools (JM/OB)
   [JM, BW swap to acoustics]
5. [7:26 PM] Dark Star jam » [7:31 PM] 2nd verse »
6. [7:34 PM] Friend of the Devil (BW/JM)
   [JM, BW swap back to electric guitars]
7. [7:40 PM] Althea (JM)
8. [7:54 PM] Casey Jones (JM/BW)
   [set ends 8:03 PM]

[8:46 PM band out]

1. [8:48 PM] Sugar Magnolia (BW) »
2. [8:55 PM] Dancing in the Street (BW) »
3. [9:08 PM] Playin' in the Band (BW)
4. [9:16 PM] Comes a Time (OB) >
5. [9:25 PM] Scarlet Begonias (BW) »
6. [9:36 PM] Fire on the Mountain (OB) » [9:45 PM] Scarlet Begonias reprise, then BW off » OB, JC, JM off a minute later »
7. [9:46 PM] Drums »
   [9:56 PM brief pause: A little bit of nothing when the drummers leave but the front line isn't back onstage yet]
8. [9:57 PM] Space » [10:03 PM add drummers] »
9. [10:05 PM] the Other One (BW)
10. [10:13 PM] Days Between (BW)
11. [10:25 PM] Not Fade Away » (10:34 PM crowd chant)
    [set ends 10:35 PM]
    
    Encore
12. [10:36 PM] Brokedown Palace
13. [10:43 PM] Sunshine Daydream
    [show ends 10:46 PM, bow and photos, then off at 10:48 PM]

Dead & Company

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

Soundcheck: Morning Dew, Ship of Fools, Scarlet Begonias, Fire in the Mountain (they probably played more, but that's all I could identify from our spot in line outside the park)

The line scene is far less organized today. We arrive around 3:30 PM, but there's no official queue, just a disorganized scrum about 100 yards out from the entrance at the Corner Bar. We start out in 'line' in the shade of a sidewalk tree, where we snarfle half of our Bat 17 dinner sandwiches while trying not to dump the rest of the mess onto the cement. The line contracts little-by-little as anxious heads crowd closer together, and soon we are in the sun in order to maintain our position, drat! Happily, there are enough thick clouds blowing across the sky to keep things below the broiling point. At about 4 PM, the head of the line moves forward across N Sheffield Ave, and we manage to maintain or improve our relative position before they stop the queue outside the outer gates again. The crowd is both merry and restless, and we pass the next half hour chit-chatting and telling tour tales, waiting to enter the grounds of the ballpark.

Eventually someone decides it's OK to let us in, and the big scramble happens. It's surprising to me to note that at least 70% of the folks waiting with us appear to be headed towards the seats or stands instead of the floor. Seems silly to me to get here this early for a reserved seat, but maybe they're excited to maximize the experience? Whatever! Makes it all that much easier for Ting and I to get inside. Upon gaining the field, we find out that CID VIP folks have also been admitted through another entrance, so the rail area isn't nearly so open as I'd been expecting: tough luck! We end up exactly in line with Weir's mic stand, about 12-15' back from the stage. Not too bad, and certainly nothing to cry about! It's amusing to note that the early-arrivals have registered a definite preference for the Mayer-Burbridge side of the floor – that's got to be a musical/visual emphasis choice, because it's definitely NOT going to be shady there as soon as it will be on the Weir-Chimenti side.

So we crash out on the floor and wait. Gerry, the Australian guy I met yesterday, arrives within a minute or two of us, and I invite him to hang out again: might as well be surrounded by friendly people, right? In retrospect, I probably should have tried to corral a few more acquaintances to help hold down the fort: being slightly further back, we had many more crashers and wanderers during the show tonight, and it would have helped to have folks with more experience in directing traffic. Oh well, hard to field a full team when you have a limited pool of players to draw from!

Quick show notes:

• Jack Straw: soporifically slow. Again. Dang you, Weir!
• Ship of Fools: another snoozy pace; only performance of the tour!
• Dark Star: first time I've heard this one performed on acoustic guitars by the Dead; also the first time I've ever seen them play it in daylight!
• Friend of the Devil: upbeat and joyful – a first set highlight!
• Althea: the crowd was really psyched for this one, with lots of folks singing along at the top of their lungs. Kinda distracting, eh? Oh well, no use getting too upset.
• more singing from OB tonight than I recall from any other show over the past few years
• Dancing in the Street: sweet and bouncy, performed like the '76-'77 versions. I liked this version better than the one in Folsom last month.
• Comes a Time: I was really psyched for this, but annoyed at how many folks decided not to listen, but instead caroused with their buds. Guess that's to be expected when they pull out a rarity: if it's a mellow tune instead of a sing-along, the casual fan is gonna think “meh!” and then tune out.
• the Other One: noteworthy because this is the first time I recall OB dropping Phil's classic arpeggio » bass bomb riff. As in other performances, this one seemed fairly light on the Spanish tinge and three-against-four rhythms. Also, someone's gotta clue OB in that his harmony line is the late-entering “in a circle” rather than doubling Mayer's “coming, coming around.” Bugs me every time I notice that part is missing…
• Not Fade Away: fun, like usual, and a great crowd pleaser, but I think most of us were pretty worn out by this time – the concluding crowd chant was pretty weak by comparison to shows of days passed
• Sunshine Daydream: only performance of the tour!

Back to the previous event! ☸ Up to the 2017 yearbox! ☸ Up to the 2017 event list! ☸ On to the next event!