![]() ![]() 27, 1972 at Old Renaissance Faire Grounds in Veneta, Oregon. 21, 1972 at the Spectrum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania or - please pause for a moment of silent reverence - Aug. 6, 1974 at Roosevelt Stadium in Jersey City, New Jersey Sept. It sounded nothing like the revved-up versions of “Playing in the Band” performed on Aug. The first song played on the Dead & Company 2019 summer tour was “Playing in the Band,” a once-rowdy crowd favorite, which the group crawled through at an uncomfortably slow pace. On the upside, however, it’s pretty safe to say the tour can only get better from here, likely starting with what fans will witness on Night 2 at Shoreline. Thanks to Mayer, the live experience that captivated fans for decades is far from dead.Unfortunately, the lack of energy proved contagious, quickly spreading to the fans and turning this tour opener into a jam-band snooze fest. As a band who were able to draw the same crowd night after night in a country-wide “long strange trip”, the idea of community will not be alien to any long-serving Deadhead. This is perhaps what best sums up the effect that joining Dead & Company has had on Mayer’s musical outlook. Back in 2016, alongside a snap of the band, Mayer posted on Instagram, “I grew up a lone wolf in my bedroom practicing my guitar, and all I ever really craved was a community.” On stage, Bob Weir looks like a cross between a wise mentor and a proud father figure as he and Mayer trade looks and licks. Embracing simple, scale-based melodies without the large leaps and bends associated with blues soloing, Mayer is able to meander rather than race and, with trademark chromatic passages, channels Garcia effectively and respectfully. Certain songs have bluesy in-roads and Mayer employs his well-honed chops to bring flamboyant interpretations to the music.Įlsewhere, the more psychedelic material leaves room for wandering melodic noodles where the destination may be predetermined, but the route to finding it is a little (or a lot) more flexible. After-all, Dead & Company is the first band he’s played in where the songs and the spotlight are not all his. When it comes to playing live, the jam band environment seems to bring out the team-player in Mayer. The Super Eagle II features specially-wound 58/15 JM treble and bass pickups with a Narrowfield JM pickup in the middle position (with three individual coil-tap mini-switches), and a JCF Audio preamp – a layout and design very similar to Garcia’s instruments. Mayer teamed up with PRS to create the Super Eagle II – a guitar which became his main touring instrument with Dead & Company - and which comes in a super duper trippy hemp green finish. ![]() Jerry Garcia’s tone was made unique by the pioneering addition of in-built pre-amps and effects loops to his custom-made Doug Irwin ‘Wolf’ and ‘Tiger’ guitars. ![]() As he stated in a 2016 SiriusXM Radio interview regarding his training for playing one of rock’s most expansive repertoires: “I’m naturally obsessive anyway, so it suited my way of life.”įurther to the material itself, Mayer went all-in on gear to make his transition to fronting Dead & Company as seamless as possible. This being said, long-time Deadheads could be forgiven for reacting with some scepticism to the news that the man behind hits such as Daughters and Waiting On The World To Change could be right for the job – especially as more likely jam band candidates such as Warren Haynes and Phish’s Trey Anastasio had already tried out and then withdrawn from the position.īut Mayer was nothing if not thorough about taking on the role. ![]() I play in constant emotional, psychological and musical deference to Jerry Garcia.” He wrote on Instagram, alongside a 1970s era photo of Garcia: “I’m only here as an interpreter of a master. With a vast repertoire to learn and a comparatively unstructured style of playing to get to grips with, Mayer entered a bootcamp for the role with all the reverence and sincerity a Deadhead could hope for. ![]()
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