Notes: |
ed Rocks in Morrison, Colorado played host to a special concert honoring
the 75th birthday of late Grateful Dead frontman Jerry Garcia on Friday night.
The evening featured sets from a pair of all-star bands put together expressly
for the occasion as well as set from Bob Weir & the Campfire Band.
John Mayer made a surprise appearance as did a collection of Jerry Garcia’s
guitars including Wolf, Tiger, Rosebud and two Travis Bean axes.
The Jerry Garcia 75th Birthday Acoustic Band featuring Kenny Kosek,
Sandy Rothman, Travis Book, Anders Osborne and Chris Pandolfi kicked off
the action. Kosek and Rothman were members of the short-lived Jerry Garcia
Acoustic Band in the late ’80s, while Book and Pandolfi are members of The
Infamous Stringdusters. After opening with “Deep Elem Blues” (missing here)
the ensemble performed a mix of songs from Garcia’s various unplugged projects
as well as an acoustic “Black Muddy River” and the first of two versions of
“Friend Of The Devil” to be played on Friday.
Up next was a set from an impressive group of musicians dubbed the Jerry
Garcia 75th Birthday Band. Original Jerry Garcia Band members Melvin Seals,
Jaclyn LaBranch and Gloria Jones were joined by Oteil Burbridge, Kamasi
Washington, Tom Hamilton and Duane Trucks. The band focused on material
from the Jerry Garcia Band repertoire including “How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved
By You),” “The Harder They Come,” “Cats Down Under The Stars,”
“Ruben & Cherise” and “Dear Prudence.” Weir made an appearance on guitar
and vocals for a cover of Bob Dylan’s “Señor (Tales Of Yankee Power).”
Mayer, the evening’s unannounced surprise guest, showed off fretboard fireworks
on the set-closing “Deal.”
Bobby and the Campfire Band closed out the evening. Weir opened the headlining
set with a handful of solo acoustic performances including “Only A River”
off 2016’s Blue Mountain. Then, not only did the Campfire Band file on stage,
but John Mayer came out as well. Mayer led “Althea” as part of a performance
that included one Grateful Dead classic after another along with two GD repertoire
staples (“Morning Dew”/”I Know You Rider”). An impressive segment came
in the form a “Bird Song” > “Dark Star” > “Bird Song.” Weir, Mayer and the
Campfire Band brought out Burbridge to add to “Eyes Of The World” towards
the end of the set. The evening came to a close with a “Friend Of The Devil”/
”Brokedown Palace” encore, which like most of Weir’s set featured John Mayer. |