Sound check at Santa Clara’s Levi’s Stadium was strictly off limits to anyone without a specific function to perform at the June 27 and 28 Grateful Dead Fare Thee Well concerts, but that didn’t stop some enterprising heads from live-streaming portions of the Friday afternoon warm-up.
According to unconfirmed reports, the so-called “core four” — Bob Weir, Phil Lesh, Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann — ran through such fan favorites as “Althea,” “Brown-Eyed-Women,” “Truckin’” and “Uncle John’s Band” (in succession) along with “Cumberland Blues” and a suite of “St. Stephen” into “William Tell Bridge” into “The Eleven.” A common closer, “Lovelight,” was also heard in addition to the less frequently played “Alligator,” which seemingly hasn’t appeared on a Dead set list since 1971.
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What else is expected of the first of two warm-up shows, which feature guest guitarist Trey Anastasio of Phish in addition to Bruce Hornsby and Jeff Chimenti? Besides congestion on the freeways and a moderate police presence (the latter already felt on Friday night), VIPs of the tech world are on the guest list along with Bravo’s Andy Cohen and John Mayer, who is not expected to join in on this run of shows but is likely to make an appearance at one of the many ancillary concerts taking place in Chicago over July 4 weekend.
But for the most part, plans and rehearsals have been kept under wraps. That should change soon enough as fans start flooding the parking lots at Levi’s Stadium (see a photo of the stage posted on Saturday afternoon, below).
Ready to jam. #Dead50 #FareTheeWell pic.twitter.com/XvX3baLYKz
— Levi’s Stadium (@LevisStadium) June 27, 2015
For more on Fare Thee Well, check out Billboard’s Grateful Dead hub.