Jam-band worlds collided, with spectacular results, as Trey Anastasio joined Dead & Company on the final night of the Grateful Dead 60th anniversary concerts in San Francisco.
The vocalist-guitarist of the world’s greatest jam band — Phish — would first perform his own set on Sunday (with his versatile Trey Anastasio Band or “TAB”) at the Polo Field in Golden Gate Park and then return to the stage during the second of Dead & Company’s two sets to help deliver one of the true highlights of the three-day concert weekend.
It was a solid conclusion of what had been a fun celebration of the iconic Bay Area jam band, which got its start in Palo Alto in 1965 and played its start show under the name “Grateful Dead” in San Jose in December that same year. (The San Jose Rocks organization is planning some cool events to mark the 60th anniversary of that San Jose debut. See sanjoserocks.org for information as it becomes available.)
The host for the entire weekend was Dead & Company, the wildly successfully Grateful Dead offshoot featuring longtime Dead members Bob Weir on vocals and guitar and Mickey Hart on drums, as well as guitarist-vocalist John Mayer, bassist Oteil Burbridge, keyboardist Jeff Chimenti and drummer Jay Lane.
Dead & Company kicked off the run on Friday with a mostly meh show, then redeemed itself quite nicely with a brilliant concert on Saturday. What the group had for the 50,000-plus Deadheads in attendance on Sunday fell somewhere in the middle, peaking with the Anastasio collaboration but also containing a surprising number of weak moments.
First, however, fans got the chance to experience the Trey Anastasio Band, which thrilled the audience with a 90-minute set filled with both solo cuts and a bountiful number of Phish tunes (“The Moma Dance,” “Sand,” “Magilla,” “Love Is What We Are,” “Camel Walk,” “Wolfman’s Brother” and “Everything’s Right”). Yet, the offering that struck the strongest note on this afternoon, not surprisingly, was one dedicated to the Grateful Dead’s late, great Jerry Garcia — a gorgeous version of Garcia’s own “Mission in the Rain.”
“I want to sing this song now and express my love for him,” said Anastasio, noting that he first saw Garcia and the Dead perform in 1981 in New Haven, Connecticut. “Wherever you are — standing up on your moon or whatever, Jerry — thank you for everything you’ve given us. It’s incomprehensible the amount of joy.”
That set the stage nicely for Dead & Company, which would struggle mightily earlier on its its hourlong, six-song first set. The musicians opened with a shockingly rough take on Sam Cooke’s “Good Times,” a version that would’ve gotten Dead & Co. booted early in pretty much any neighborhood “battle of the bands” competition, and then delivered one of the clunkiest jams of “China Cat Rider” (Deadhead lingo for “China Cat Sunflower” jammed into “I Know You Rider”) on record.
Things would improve in the second half of the set, with Mayer lifting his game in the latter stages of “They Love Each Other” and the whole band finally finding its funk gear for “Shakedown Street,” before closing, in trusty fashion, with “Deal.”
Dead & Company called Anastasio out to the stage for the second set and the presence of another first-tier guitar wiz really seemed to motivate the band — and, in particular, Mayer — to some of the greatest heights reached all weekend.
Anastasio sung lead on a splendid version of “Scarlet Begonias,” which eventually segued into its natural concert partner — “Fire on the Mountain.” It was with the latter that things really began to heat up, as Burbridge, Weir and Anastasio all took turns on lead vocals, before handing the microphone over to Hart for his funky rap segment.
Yet, the vocals took a definite backseat the fretboard firework exchanges between Mayer and Anastasio, who were both beaming with joy as they pushed each other to further into the fiery jam.
This review will be updated shortly please check back.
Dead & Company Aug. 3, 2025 setlist
1. “Good Times”
2. “China Cat Sunflower”
3. “I Know You Rider”
4. “They Love Each Other”
5. “Shakedown Street”
6. “Deal”
Set 2:
7. “Scarlet Begonias”
8. “Fire on the Mountain”
9. “Broken Arrow”
10. “Hell in a Bucket”
11. “Cumberland Blues”
12. “Drums”
13. “Space”
14. “Standing on the Moon”
15. “Sugaree”
16. “Sugar Magnolia”
17. “Touch of Grey”
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