It may feel like it’s about 38 degrees but the vibes are pretty damn warm. #deadandcompany pic.twitter.com/aNJFXMXtAa

— Trey Warren (@_TreyWarren) July 15, 2023

SAN FRANCISCO — If it started in the Bay, it was only right that it ends in the Bay. 

Dead & Company played the first of three last concerts on The Final Tour, which may mark the end of a nearly 57-year legacy of jam bands, improvised guitar solos, drugs, fans and the ever-shifting lineup that was the Grateful Dead. The largest gathering of Dead & Company fans ever was expected over the weekend, with 120,000 attendees over the three shows.

Of course, the band has done this before with past projects. Following the death of lead guitarist Jerry Garcia in 1995, the Grateful Dead resumed performing as The Other Ones. Then, following what was supposed to be the final Fare Thee Well tour in 2015, John Mayer and bassist Oteil Burbridge were tapped later that year for the supergroup that would become Dead & Company (without Phil Lesh and now without Bill Kreutzmann).

Dead & Company’s final tour ends in the city that originally gave them so much—the eldest members founded Grateful Dead just South in Palo Alto, and the band was based here for many years. Returning to San Francisco to roost for the band’s final concerts is pointedly poetic. It’s the end of the line for a band whose surviving members defined the carefree counterculture.

Dead & Company performs at Oracle Park in San Francisco, Calif. on July 14, 2023. Matt Pang/STAFF.

Dead & Company took the stage and immediately shifted into classic “Not Fade Away,” a Buddy Holly tune they’ve played so many times it’s basically their song now. What started as a slow musical idea that rocked back and forth on Jay Lane’s drumbeat became a full-fledged song after a minute of building. The evening’s arrangement was slightly slower but a lot bouncier with some swing in the timing of the guitar strokes and organ synth.

Immediately following, Bobby Weir, John Mayer, Mickey Hart, Jeff Chimenti and co. launched into another fan-favorite, “Shakedown Street,” and injected a little bit of the Commodores’ “Brick House” in between the band’s solos, with Mayer and Weir leading the charge chanting “Shake it down … shake it down now” in time with the music.

Psychedelic visuals phased in and out, overlaying the band with different effects throughout the set.

Dead & Company performs at Oracle Park in San Francisco, Calif. on July 14, 2023.

“Brown Eyed Women” was another highlight of the evening with Mayer taking over lead vocals on a song originally written by Jerry Garcia. Although he does make a fantastic Jerry, songs like these, where he leads, really shows his individuality and all the new sound he brings to Dead & Company that wasn’t there in previous Grateful-Dead-related acts. His guitar solos rang out soaked in reverb, with just a little distortion.

The band finished up the first of two sets with another fan favorite, “Don’t Ease Me In,” and then disappeared backstage while someone played a Tracy Chapman vinyl for the intermission.

Night had fallen by the time the band returned for the second set, in jackets in the Bay’s breezy weather. The darkness also gave the band another advantage for its psychedelic lights show, with spotlights that cast infinitely expansive rods of light across the ballpark and criss-crossed with one another like a giant honeycomb.

I wish I was a headlight, on a northbound train #DeadandCompany #FinalTour 💀⚡️🌹 pic.twitter.com/zL24GuMmo5

— Matthew Greene (@greeneHouse12) July 15, 2023

Standouts from the second set include “China Cat Sunflower,” “Fire on the Mountain” and “Casey Jones.”

The band closed out with their cover of Bob Dylan’s “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door,” then the lights came on and everyone began to shuffle to the exits.

Jerry Garcia Day is on Aug. 5 in San Francisco. Musicians and music-lovers will gather at McLaren Park to eat, drink and listen to music together in honor of the late musician. By that time next month, the Dead will be gone for the first time since 2015. People will raise a glass to the memory and legacy well-loved by its community they followed across the country. That is, until Bob Weir and friends decide they miss it too much.

Here’s hoping.

Dead & Company July 14 setlist

Set 1:
Not Fade Away (Buddy Holly and The Crickets cover)
Shakedown Street
Cold Rain and Snow (Obray Ramsey cover)
Ramble On Rose
Brown-Eyed Women
New Speedway Boogie
Wharf Rat
Don’t Ease Me In (Henry Thomas cover)

Set 2:
China Cat Sunflower
I Know You Rider
He’s Gone
Scarlet Begonias
Fire on the Mountain
Drums
Space
Standing on the Moon
Casey Jones
U.S. Blues
Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door (Bob Dylan cover)