DEAD & COMPANY- Citi Field

Before the show- I see Dead people

Dead & Company
Citi Field - NY, NY Queens
June 24, 2017
By Rich Rickaby

At this point, I consider the Grateful Dead a Fraternity. There are Charter Members, Alumnae and Pledges. I'm not clear if the presence of John Mayer or the absence of Phil Lesh makes this a Dead & Co. show rather than a Furthur* show. I've seen the Grateful Dead 3 times. I've seen Furthur 7-10 times. I've never see Dead & Co. so this way my first Dead & Co. concert? 

Band names aside, the line up for the evening was Bob Weir (guitar, vocals), Mickey Hart (drums) and Bill Kreutzmann (drums), along with John Mayer (guitar, vocals), Oteisl Burbridge (bass/drum) and Jeff Chimenti (keyboards).**

Violet Viola Blues

Our seats were row 9 in 526, about 10 rows from the top of the stadium. It was great to see the arena open to the sky, not closed off with a dome. Concert buddy John went with me and said it was the best he's seen them, though he was referring to Furthur.

I don't know if there are any good seats, since General Admission filled most of the outfield. Seats were where they generally are in a ball park, not great viewing for action in centerfield. There were posters and Tees that referenced this event being held at Mets' stadium. Go Mets! They had large screens left and right of the stage, apparently there's a large screen behind the band but when you're off to the side, one doesn't see such things.

A big part of any Dead show, the smell of grass aside, is the people. Happily, Deadheads were out in peaceful force. Good to see, was the range from kids to seniors. One group of 20 year olds could have been there for John Mayer (maybe?) but they knew the words and had the zeal of any Dead fan twice their senior. Nice to know the audience is a bit of a fraternity as well with the new rushes coming up the ranks. 

Hey, great music is great music.

The lights of the world

They opened with a little noodling until they kicked in with "Dancing In The Streets." The sound rolled out over the summer night in wonderful waves. The weather was great and the whole vibe was as groovy as expected or more. 

New to me, was John Mayer. One guy sitting next to me said, "I've never heard of this guy. I mean, I've heard of him but then I hear they have to do, like, back exits to avoid his fans and here, I never heard of the guy." Concert friend Susan wondered how a guy like that fit in with a group like them. 

Tiers of the crowd

So let me say here, I only know John, "Your Body Is A Wonderland," Mayer. I've heard of some 'personality' things or maybe how he's behaved in the past or so...don't know. What I do know, is that there's a big difference as to what guitar talents can be shared when you write a 3:49 pop song compared to playing an extended lead on a song or thread. It's amazing to me how far some guitarists can expand a lead from its source, enter new timing realms and then bring it on home without ever feeling lost or displaced.

John was on it from lead, licks to strums and he carried a good majority of the vocals. This was a help because he brought some power where Phil and Bob have been waning lately, and understandably so. Mickey and Bill held down dual drum detail wonderfully, as is their won't to do. The only other act I've seen with two drummers is Adam Ant (Maybe Yes on their Union tour in '91 but that was a one-off). I'll be seeing him again later this year and let you know. 

Keyboardist Jeff Chimenti was right on. I'm not sure if he's who I saw with Furthur, if he is, he's only pulled it more together. This was a wonderfully tight show, like the blues, you know there are some "rules" but that playground is so huge so why not see what fun you can strum and drum up? I wish they showed more of Bob on the live feed. He filled his shoes and sang his songs and together, Bob and John were like a mountain and a river, a mighty force making music naturally. 

Frankly, I have to say, I don't always "hear" bass. To me, that means it's doing its job, in the basest of ways. When I notice it, it's either because it's real good or bad. What I noticed on the downloads of the concert later on, was how melodic the bass was, a lead guitar on the bottom end. Beyond bass, Oteil sang "Comes A Time" as smoothly as he plays the bass. 

Drums, Space & Lights

Drums & Space should expand to Drums, Space & Lights. The magenta light bathing the crowd during Viola Blues was a transporting visual. The people, the masses, how we gather to hear music, and not just any music, it takes something to build a following like this large. Nobody does this like the humans. 
I know Viola Blues isn't part of Drums & Space but the lights through were smooth, floating and kaleidoscopic. The screens I could see, at times, had borders of Dead graphics for live shots of the band and sometimes they became motion graphic eye candy. You're trippin' even when you're not tripping at a Dead show. 

After 3 hours, or more, it was time to close out the show with "Johnny B. Goode." Hey, that song's been around longer than just about all of us, perhaps we're all part of a much larger Rock and Roll fraternity.

Get home safe

*We know Furthur, the band, is spelled with 2 U's. Forgive us if auto-correct makes this an infuriating task. 
**Resource thanks to Wiki and Dead & Co. website.