In the Grateful Dead’s 30 years together, they were one of the most successful touring groups with over 2,000 performances. They will forever be one of the most iconic jam bands. Their fans have been named “Dead Heads” and even have their own tailgate party before each concert called “Shakedown Street.” Many traveled from show to show with a vast amount of fans having seen the group over 100 times. With the death of co-founder Jerry Garcia in 1995, a number of other groups were formed by surviving member Bob Weir (guitar and vocals), Phil Lesh (bass and vocals), Mickey Hart (drums), and Bill Kreutzmann (drums) in different configurations. Some of the groups were Furthur, Bob Weir and Ratdog, Phil Lesh and Friends, The Other Ones, The Dead, and now Dead & Co. The Grateful Dead celebrated its 50th anniversary which was also the 20th anniversary of Garcia’s passings with five shows titled “Fare Thee Well,” bringing in Trey Anastasio (Phish), The Dead keyboardist Jeff Chimenti, and Bruce Hornsby to the line-up.
With the success of the “Fare Thee Well,” a new group was formed with Weir, Hart, Kreutzmann, Chimenti, John Mayer, and former Allman Brothers bassist Oteil Burbridge. Dead & Company formed just a few months after the last “Fare Thee Well” and closed out 2015 with two nights at the Forum in Los Angeles, CA. The band has toured every year since and for Los Angeles, played the final show of Irvine Meadows (2016), two nights at the Hollywood Bowl (2017 and 2019), and last year played Dodger Stadium.
Dead & Co. returned to The Forum for the first time in four years to play two nights, Dec. 27 and 28 before playing the Chase Center in San Francisco to end the year. They never play the same setlist twice. The only part of the show that occurs night-to-night is “Space,” and “Drums,” which is Hart, Kreutzmann, and Burbridge playing a drum-solo, but every night, it is played differently. For the first Forum night, Dead & Co. opened with “Truckin” and played a total of eight songs. In addition to Grateful Dead songs, Dead & Co. performed Garcia’s “They Love Each Other,” and Weir’s “Cassidy.”
Set two was six songs plus “Drums” and “Space.” Set two began with Weir’s “Playing in the Band.” The show came to an end with “U.S. Blues” before a one-song encore.
It was a surprise to see the final song of the night was “Ripple,” which is acoustic.
SETLIST
Set 1
- Truckin’
- Alabama Getaway- Grateful Dead
- Ramble On Rose- Grateful Dead
- They Love Each Other- Jerry Garcia
- Me and My Uncle- John Phillips
- Cassidy- Bob Weir
- Brown-Eyed Woman- Grateful Dead
- Don’t Ease Me In- Henry Thomas
Set 2
- Playing In the Band- Bob Weir
- Terrapin Station- Grateful Dead
- China Doll- Grateful Dead
- The Other One- Grateful Dead
- Drums- Grateful Dead
- Space- Grateful Dead
- Wharf Rat- Grateful Dead
- U.S. Blues- Grateful Dead
Encore
- Ripple- Grateful Dead
