Grateful Dead music filled the air once again on Friday night at Golden Gate Park.
And, really, there was nothing left to do but “smile, smile, smile.”
The joy was simply overwhelming as some 55,000 Deadheads — some old enough to remember when Jerry Garcia and company used to play this iconic San Francisco spot; while others hadn’t even been born when Garcia died in 1995 — turned out to Night 1 of the three-day celebration of the 60th anniversary of the Bay Area’s own Grateful Dead.
Our host for the evening was Dead & Company, the phenomenally popular Grateful Dead offshoot featuring longtime Dead members Bob Weir on vocals and guitar and Mickey Hart on drums as well as as well as guitarist-vocalist John Mayer, bassist Oteil Burbridge, keyboardist Jeff Chimenti and drummer Jay Lane.
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Yes, this is the same Dead & Company that famously concluded its touring career in 2023 with three sold-out shows at Oracle Park in San Francisco. Yet, Mayer and his buddies have found plenty of loopholes in that original band decree in order to keep playing — and keep making mountains of loot — most notably by performing two lengthy residences at the Sphere in Las Vegas, the most recent of which just finished up in May.
But, hey, Deadheads certainly aren’t complaining. Indeed, they cherish pretty much any chance to hear Grateful Dead music played live.
The healthy dose that they received on Friday included 16 songs over the course of more than three hours and two sets. It wasn’t, however, primetime Dead & Company — a band that can occasionally hit such great heights in concert (listen to tapes of its March 21, 2025 Sphere show for proof) — but it still contained some nice moments.
The first of which occurred when fans were welcomed by Trixie Garcia on what would’ve been the 83rd birthday of her legendary father, Jerry Garcia. (Earlier in the day, Trixie Garcia also attended a ceremony in which a portion of San Francisco’s Harrington Street — which, I feel necessary to point out, is a wonderfully named thoroughfare — was rechristened in honor of her dad.)
Following that welcoming, Dead & Company took the stage and began to plough through a rather mundane hourlong first set that consisted of a half-dozen tunes. Bob Weir’s vocals would be put the test right away, as the 77-year-old Rock and Roll Hall of Famer sang lead on five of the six cuts in the first set, but he’d handle the challenge just fine.
The musicians kicked off in “Go to Heaven” territory, pulling from the Dead’s 11th studio album (from 1980) for the longtime GD staple “Feels Like a Stranger,” which, thematically, came across as kind of a weird nod to their return to playing in San Francisco. It made for a lackluster start to the three-day weekend, one that would only worsen as Dead & Co. continued into the drab disco daze of “Dancing in the Streets” (possibly the worst cover tune in the Grateful Dead oeuvre).
After plowing through a passable version of “Tennessee Jed,” the band had played three songs in about 30 minutes — while pretty much going nowhere. Yet, experienced Dead & Co. fans will tell you that’s hardly unusual for Night 1 of a stand, especially one that follows a lengthy break in the performance schedule, as the band steps to regain its footing on the live stage.
Dead & Co. would first find it on Friday, at least to some degree, as the group chugged through “Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo,” with the latter stages of the song benefitting from some marvelously effervescent guitar work from Mayer.
The good times continued as the group turned its attention to Johnny Cash’s “Big River” (one of the better covers from the GD repertoire) before returning to the “Go to Heaven” album to close out the first set with a nice version of “Althea,” featuring Mayer on lead vocals.
(This review will be updated shortly please check back)
Dead & Company Night 1 setlist
1. “Feel Like a Stranger”
2. “Dancing in the Street”
3. “Tennessee Jed”
4. “Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo”
5. “Big River”
6. “Althea”
Set 2:
7. “Box of Rain”
8. “Playing in the Band”
9. “Estimated Prophet”
10. “Eyes of the World”
11. “Terrapin Station”
12. “Drums”
13. “Space”
14. “Wharf Rat”
15. “Not Fade Away”
Encore:
16. “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door”