This past weekend, Bob Weir and Wolf Bros made their triumphant return to Denver to celebrate the end of the their Fall tour. While no member of The Grateful Dead has ever really needed to tour “in support of” an album, it could be argued that this tour was in support of Weir’s recently released Live From Colorado – Volume 2 which dropped on October 7th. The album, which – in conjunction with Volume 1 – documents the band’s four show Colorado run in June of 2021 (read about that run here), showcases the newly expanded line-up of pedal steel, keys, strings, and horns. While those albums, and the shows they were culled from, are pretty outstanding, in the 16 months since, the group has the opportunity to mature a little bit and play with their sound. The jamming and the jazziness of the outfit was noticeably improved from their first time around and it made for a memorable night of music.
Anyone who talks music with me – especially Grateful Dead music – will know that I’m not always a huge fan of the way Bobby has taken to slowing the tempo way down in recent years. That said, I do think the slower tempos often work in this incarnation of Wolf Bros, largely because of the addition of the strings and horns and the bigger palette the group can use to color outside the lines. They used that palette to great effect several times on Saturday night.
The show kicked off a little later than Friday and when the group took their places, the absence of Jeff Chimenti on keys was obvious but became even more noticeable when they plodded into a version of “Viola Lee Blues” that was lacking the punch that it deserves. The same could be said of the band’s maiden voyage into “Crazy Fingers” – it just didn’t have much energy and the band didn’t really stretch it out the way they did with the “Let It Grow” later in the set, but we’ll get to that.
“She Belongs to Me” allowed Bobby to vamp a bit on Dylan’s lyrics as he played with the “paint the daytime black” line a few times in a way that only he can, but unfortunately “Money for Gasoline” just didn’t grab the crowd and the din of chatter rose in the room. It was around this point in the set when Bobby acknowledged Jeff’s absence by saying “one of our guys had a little bit of an emergency he needed to take care of, so we’re hoping to see him back up here at some point this evening.”
“Mission in the Rain” – though venue appropriate – again didn’t showcase much energy and I found myself questioning my decision to attend the show. Fortunately when Wolf Bros launched into “New Speedway Boogie” we got our first real sing-along of the night and things were looking up. “This darkness has got to give.”
I’ve got to admit that “Weather Report Suite” and “Let It Grow” aren’t typically on my highlight reel of any Dead related show I go to, but on Saturday night, they were unquestionably the highwater mark of the first set. Both tunes were given the Jazz treatment as the horn section truly shined. During “Let It Grow” I was texting with a friend who was in the room who said “this might be the best version of this song I’ve heard” and I think I might agree with him. It was outstanding.
After the obligatory encore break stretched a little longer than I was expecting, we were treated to a pair of surprises when the crew returned to the stage with not only Chimenti in tow, but also Denver resident Nathaniel Rateliff! Rateliff traded verses with Bobby on both “Me & My Uncle” and “Tennessee Jed” and the pair seemed to really enjoy themselves. (Listen Here!) From the get-go this set was off to a great start and Bobby didn’t take his foot off the gas as he introduced the politically charged “Throwing Stones” with a plea to get out and vote. “I’m not sure there could be a more important election to come our way. Regardless of what it is you want to see, now is the time to speak the fuck up!”
“Throwing Stones” gave way to another favorite of mine, “Estimated Prophet,” which in turn yielded to “The Other One” to cap almost forty minutes of Wolf Bros bliss. The horns were on full display during all three tunes, but things really came to a head during “The Other One.” “Stella Blue” allowed me a few minutes to hit the bathroom (yeah, I know, but this one isn’t on my hit list either) before the band dropped into the legendary pairing of “China Cat Sunflower” and “I Know You Rider” to close out the second frame.
The evening, and the tour, came to an end with the expected Saturday night sing-along “One More Saturday” followed by the always beautiful “Brokedown Palace.” After the band took a well-deserved bow, Bobby invited the whole crew to the stage to thank them and give them a chance to receive some applause from the sold-out crowd. What started out slow ended with a bang proving yet again that you should always stick it out ’till the end!
Bobby Weir & Wolf Bros | Mission Ballroom | Denver, CO | 11/5/22
Set One: Viola Lee Blues > Crazy Fingers > She Belongs to Me, Money for Gasoline, Mission in the Rain, New Speedway Boogie, Weather Report Suite*> Let It Grow
Set Two: Me and My Uncle*, Tennessee Jed*, Throwing Stones, Estimated Prophet > The Other One > Stella Blue, China Cat Sunflower > I Know You Rider
Encore: One More Saturday Night, Brokedown Palace
*with Nathaniel Rateliff
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