Weir chose to start with this 1978 funky throwdown, hoping to win over all the new listeners. “It’s also a good song for feeling out the band,” he says. “The pacing is leisurely, and you can build up to the events and listen to other people, and get a feel for what everybody’s doing.”
Says Mayer, ” ‘Shakedown’ is one of these great compositions, where the form is pretty wide open, and it’s a great first song for everybody to get their sea legs. Everyone knows ‘Shakedown Street’ even if they aren’t Grateful Dead devotees. It’s a sample of songs, where if you were an interested person in culture, you’ll know what ‘Shakedown Street’ is. And it’s a really galvanizing song to play at the very beginning, to get everybody together.
“We’ve been actually attempting to do a more, shall we say, stately rendition of it,” says Weir. “And the crowd drags us into a fireworks display.”The Dead toured Canada with the Band in 1970, and love breaking out “The Weight” from time to time. “There was a quality to the show of giving these kids a show that they would maybe later on in life get more out of,” says Mayer. “[‘The Weight’] is a chance to relate to the crowd.
Dead & Company with students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. Photograph courtesy of Dead & Company“It feels like a road trip,” says Mayer of the band’s dark suite that serves as the trippiest part of the show. “You’ve got your soda in the center console, you’ve got your beef jerky, you put your sunglasses on and go, ‘All right, let’s tear off 400 miles.’ ” Weir agrees: “Mickey Hart says that we’re in the transportation business.
One too many words on this page guys- I’d look into it
Company’s Comin’
I was at this show as a guest of Oteil Burbridge... it was a somber event but Dead and Company respected the victims of Parkland. There is much more to the story. Oteil is best friend with someone who had 2 kids in the school.