Dead And Company at The Forum, 5-19-23 Concert Review

Dead And Company kicked off what is said to be their final tour last night at The Forum in Los Angeles, California, delivering one hell of a great show, though without Bill Kreutzmann, who decided only last month to sit out the tour. It wasn’t clear why Bill made that decision. The official notice states, “a shift in creative direction.” But that smells of nonsense. What direction? This is the final tour, and it’s not like new songs are being written. And anyway, if last night’s show is a result of any shift in creative direction, then it absolutely was the right shift to make.

Getting into The Forum was much smoother than the last time I saw the band there in 2019. It was a mellower entrance procedure, and the staff was pretty cool. Hey, who would have thought the venue would improve? This time I noticed a couple of tapers down below us, a rarity in these days when all the shows are available online. The show was scheduled to start at 7 p.m. At 7:29, the lights went out, and a few seconds later the band was on stage. The crowd was nearly ecstatic. And seeing John Mayer bopping around just before the band started the first song indicated they were going to open with a fun one. And indeed, they chose to open the show, and thus the final tour, with “Shakedown Street.” Start the tour by getting everyone dancing. By the way, taking Bill Kreutzmann’s place on the tour is Jay Lane, who plays drums with Bob Weir & Wolf Bros. “Shakedown” featured a good, funky jam, with Jeff Chimenti delivering on keys. They extended that vocal section at the end, “Just got to poke around,” which was nice. I dig the way these guys handle that section especially. The jam then got a bit mellower, jazzier, and soon led into “Cold Rain And Snow” (which is the song I had thought they might open with). Blue and silver beams of light, the cold rain and snow, played upon the audience. There was a good power to this song, particularly between verses, but also on lines like “Winds don’t blow.” And there was a tremendous energy in the room.

During “Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo,” an animated landscape was shown on the screen behind the band, a river with fireflies moving across occasionally. This song in particular was feeling really good, and Jeff again was fantastic on the keys. The guys did a vocal jam on this one too, on the “half-step” bit just before going into the “Across the Rio Grande-O” part. There was so much energy during that transition, and the crowd was thrilled. The animation turned to butterflies. There was of course some nice vocal work in this section too, and then John Mayer began calling across that river with his guitar, and nothing within earshot could fail to respond. That was followed by “They Love Each Other.” Interesting that they chose all Jerry songs so far. The lights turned red upon the stage and the front of the audience, almost like a red curtain in front of the stage, and on “Lord, you can see that it’s true,” the red lights moved to cover us all for a moment. The energy was not nearly as high on this song, and without Jerry’s voice, this one doesn’t work as well for me. But that guitar work at the end was great. And if the first half of that song was the low point of the set, it was soon forgotten, because the band then launched into “St. Stephen.” Yup, that’s right, first set of the tour, and they give us “St. Stephen.” An incredible version, too. The energy had certainly returned. This train had enough power now to blast through mountains and whatever lay beyond them, and there we were welcomed by beings who spoke in light and memories. The jam at one point was like a fiery furnace shot from a cannon in a jungle. And then it gathered itself in, and things got a little more interesting. I love that they decided to take us out this far so early in the show. It had only been an hour since they had stepped onto the stage, for those for whom time is still a thing. And then the jam became pretty. Where did that come from? And it took on a good groove, growing and gaining power, until they were back into the main section of the song. “Saint Stephen will remain.”  And from there they went on into the William Tell section, and straight into “The Eleven.” Bob Weir switched guitars at the beginning. It was so good to hear this one. People near me raised hands to catch green and purple beams of light. “This is the season of what now.” They then wrapped up the first set with “Deal,” pulling us all back from our various trips and drawing us together. Playing cards fell gently on the screen as Jeff started cooking on organ. This was a pretty fucking phenomenal “Deal.” The first set ended at 8:59 p.m.

During the set break, a guy came walking up the aisle selling beer like at a ballpark. It was Modelo, so my interest quickly disappeared, but the guy in front of me bought one. “How much was it?” I asked him. “Twenty dollars,” he said, a bit chagrined. Holy shit, twenty dollars for a can of beer? Anyway, I got talking to the guy next to me, and he told me about a T-shirt he had seen at Shakedown Street before the show, a shirt that said, “This is the season of what now.” And as he was describing it, and since, as far as I recall, this is the first time I saw the band perform “The Eleven,” I got it in my head to find that shirt after the show.

At 9:37 p.m., the lights went out, and the band started “Sugaree,” easing us into the second set, the next phase in this journey. Soft pinks bathed the audience. The guitar was so pretty, and the music grew from there, building to some rather exciting moments. They followed that with “New Speedway Boogie,” which was good and bluesy. “I spent a little time on the mountain,” like all of us, apparently. And the audience sang, “One way or another.” This song was living somewhere between “Fever” and “Spoonful,” it felt at moments, and was really cool. Bob then repeated, entreated, commanded, “This darkness got to give,” and the band started rocking on it, delivering a great jam. The song ended with them singing a cappella, “One way or another.” The moment “Eyes Of The World” started, the crowd cheered. It’s always so good to hear this one, and clearly the band had decided to celebrate Jerry’s music last night in its song selection. The song got pretty wild, with some surprising moments and elements in the jam before the final verse. Things got lighter, as if leading to a new transition, and Oteil Burbridge was just fantastic. The rhythm took over once again, leading to an interesting and pretty ending. The band went into “Estimated Prophet,” and I was glad to find those two songs still paired. “Like an angel standing in a shaft of light,” and suddenly it seemed we were all angels standing, or rather dancing, in shafts of light. The band was reaching for some heights, and I wished we were outdoors, for it felt then too contained in there. Was there a bit of miscommunication as they suddenly shifted back into the lyrics? No matter, for there was a delicious rhythm.

The “Drums” section had an odd beginning, taking us into strange, spacey areas immediately rather than driving into it with a beat. And Mickey Hart was out front, which was great. It was a really wonderful “Drums” segment, and when Mickey headed back behind the kit, things got even more interesting. An intriguing beat emerged, emptying out of electric tree trunks, spiraling out like forgotten pixie dust at the end of a particularly good holiday among the enchanted. A real heart beating within a tin chest, or a real canoe moving down a synthetic river. And with a hungry mouth eager to replenish its energy by ingesting starlight, or pieces of stars themselves. That deep, strong beat communicated directly with the gut, reaching inside us. It was clear that everyone felt it. And that took us on into “Space,” beckoning us to a dark ritual, Mickey leading the expedition, the haze separating to reveal him at the controls. Patterns onstage were repeated in the audience, the lights upon their heads. Electric hair dryer hamster turned diseased superhero, having trouble maintaining its consistency, a hole opening on the forehead, sucking light and life inside. And then the guitars returned, striking at ghosts, taking tentative steps down the hallway. The galaxy, a bloated reptile, gently caressed us, the band tuning it to get the full message clearly. Who would have thought that the “Drums/Space” segment, especially with Bill’s absence, would be a highlight of the night? Something beautiful wanted to emerge, and the band slipped into “The Wheel,” all slow and jazzy and pretty at the beginning, easing in, then suddenly exploding into the lyrics, the lights mimicking lightning, getting us. The vocal jam to this one felt a bit odd at first, but then really started to work on the “a little bit more” section. Then “Wharf Fat” eased in, establishing the colors of the place before going into the lyrics. Looking up through the coral and plants, the light on the surface dancing like paints melting into each other. This was an excellent rendition, the guitar going in some surprising places. And then, as they did in the first set, they closed the second set with a rousing number to draw everyone together again. This time it was “Sugar Magnolia,” a song that always makes the audience happy. The second set ended at 11:28 p.m. , and within a minute the band was back for the encore, “Black Muddy River,” such a beautiful song and a nice way to close things. The show ended at 11:37 p.m., though the lights remained out for enough time after that that a lot of folks in the crowd thought a second encore might be in the cards. But no, the show was over. The band had played for a total of three and a half hours. If this is indeed the final tour, the guys clearly decided to give it all they’ve got. After the show, I found the T-shirt the guy next to be had described. It was available in two colors, and my friend Jon helped me select the better color. I figure I will wear it tonight to what will most likely be my final Dead And Company concert.

Set List

Set I

1. Shakedown Street >
2. Cold Rain And Snow
3. Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo
4. They Love Each Other
5. St. Stephen >
6. The Eleven >
7. Deal

Set II

1. Sugaree
2. New Speedway Boogie
3. Eyes Of The World >
4. Estimated Prophet >
5. Drums >
6. Space >
7. The Wheel
8. Wharf Rat
9. Sugar Magnolia

Encore

1. Black Muddy River

Here are a few photos:

"Shakedown Street"

 

"Cold Rain And Snow"

"Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo"

"They Love Each Other"

my new shirt

The Forum is located at 3900 Manchester Ave., Inglewood, California. The next show is tonight, with a scheduled 7 p.m. start time.