Bobby Weir & Wolf Bros @ The Riverside Theater [Milwaukee] - 3/17/22
Bobby Weir and Wolf Bro Don Was at The Riverside Theater in Milwaukee, WI - 3/17/22 (Photo ©2022 Kevin Hill)
Bob Weir has spent a lifetime exploring what a song can be, and at 74 years of age, those excursions are only getting more interesting. As a member of the Grateful Dead, Weir and his cohorts expanded the scope of what American folk music could be many times over.
Wolf Bros, usually a trio made up of Bob Weir (guitar/vox), Don Was (bass), and Jay Lane (drums), are joined on this tour by Barry Sless (pedal steel), Dead & Co collaborator Jeff Chimenti (keys), and a five-piece orchestral section featuring Alex Kelly (cello), Mads Trolling (violin), Adam Theis (trombone), Brian Switzer (trumpet), and Sheldon Brown (sax and flute) collectively known as the “Wolf Pack”.
With Wolf Bros (and to some extent Dead & Co) Weir is reinterpreting his own work to represent what it means to him NOW. And, results are, true to his Dead roots, unlike anything in the modern canon of music. A willingness to transform one's own work into often unrecognizable forms and still have some core meaning remain is a hell of a trick. If a song no longer belongs to an artist once it is out in the world, Weir and his peers have managed to become both creator and receiver of their work.
This manifested on Thursday in the form of a LOT of songs normally associated with the late Jerry Garcia being filtered through Weir as if they were his all along. A gentle take on “Row Jimmy” led into a slow burn take on “Loose Lucy” followed up by a shambolic performance of the traditional classic “Whiskey In The Jar” – it was St. Patty’s Day after all – which was last heard as an outtake on the Grateful Dead’s So Many Roads boxset in 1999. Coming late in the second set, “Stella Blue” replaced Garcia’s soulful guitar with ethereal instrumentation and the results rivaled even the near-flawless studio version of the song heard on 1973’s Wake of the Flood.
But for every “Stella Blue” or “Candyman”, Weir had his own songs to balance out the evening. The bluesy “She Says” from his Ratdog days kicked off a sprawling “Lost Sailor” > “Saint of Circumstance” closed out Set 1 and Set 2 kicked off with a sublime take on “Only A River” from Weir’s Josh Kaufmann produced 2016 album Blue Mountain.
This tour isn’t a victory lap for Weir, though. His work remains vital as it changes, often only subtly, to reflect what he’s learned about his own work over the years. All the love and loss and good times are still there, but the closer to an unavoidable sunset Weir and his collaborators get the more bittersweet, and universal the songs feel. That very human connection was the real secret to the Dead’s success. And that’s the joy to be found in Bob Weir’s music in 2022. And it will be here forever. Literally YEARS worth of Weir and his cohorts’ musical lives is recorded to tape for future generations to discover and internalize.
Considering that though, make it a priority to catch Weir on tour now while you can. If Thursday was any sign, there’s lots of gas still left in the tank. And while it’s been a decades-long, strange trip so far, there’s always room on the bus for anyone who needs a lift.
Photos by Kevin Hill
SETLIST
SET 1
Playing in the Band
Row Jimmy
Loose Lucy
Whiskey in the Jar
Candyman
She Says
Lost Sailor
Saint of Circumstance
SET 2
Only a River
New Speedway Boogie
I Need a Miracle
Dark Star
Silvio
Tequila
Scarlet Begonias
Dark Star reprise
Stella Blue
Playing in the Band reprise
ENCORE
U.S. Blues
