On the final night of their five show Fare Thee Well – Celebrating 50 Years Of Grateful Dead run , this short lived version of the Grateful Dead consisting of the core living four (Phil Lesh, Bob Weir, Bill Kreutzmann, Mickey Hart) along with Trey Anastasio, Bruce Hornsby and Jeff Chimenti gave it their all and then some. Capturing 50 years of history over the course of only five shows is almost unfair to both fans and the band, but as was in the prior four nights, the band captured all eras of The Dead – obscurities, epic classics and cover songs that the Grateful Dead have made their own: “I Know You Rider,” “Samson and Delilah” and Buddy Holly’s “Not Fade Away.”
But rightfully so, this night belonged to Weir. Some of the most prominent songs from the Bobby catalog made their appearance in the first set as “Estimated Prophet,” “Samson and Delilah’ and “Throwing Stones” were played with gusto as the politically driven later mentioned song tossed in the verse “can buy the whole damn government today. “Estimated Prophet” offered extra “nah nah nahs” that got the crowd amped up and “Samson and Delilah” was extra stomped up with boisterous thunder. Of course Anastasio, as was he was for the entire five show run, was spot on with spine tingling solos whether going nuts on a bold “Cassidy” jam or adding some soulful groove to “Althea,” and taking a jewel of a classic (“Mountains of the Moon”) for a novel ride of its own.
Even when there were odd song choices like “Built to Last,” the band dug in deep and let Hornsby, who we never felt had enough vocal turns, bring soul to some otherwise overlooked Dead tunes. Fans did get their wish as one of the most cherished compositions of the catalog arose- “Terrapin Station” – but it lacked some of the swing and impact of its earlier versions. The song choices all came full circle with a monumental version of “Not Fade Away” that had Solider Field feeling and sounding like Planet Grateful Dead.
The complaints coming out of Santa Clara was that not enough of the vocals were spread out amongst members, this changed by this finale night as each band member played revolving lead vocalist on “China Cat Sunflower” and “Touch of Grey.” And it was during the second encore “Attics of My Life” that toned down the run perfectly which featured Weir on acoustic and Lesh and Anastasio singing sans instruments. Yes, the Grateful Dead and Phish world overlapped harmoniously and if there was ever doubt that this couldn’t be pulled off- those naysayers were proven wrong.
