Dead & Company, a band that features three of the four original founding members of Grateful Dead and revered blues artist John Mayer, have today released three live albums digitally from a series of concerts performed in 2018 in Riviera Mayo, Mexico. The band is made up of Mickey Hart (Drums, Percussion, Electronics), Bill Kreutzmann (Drums, Percussion), Bob Weir (Guitar, Vocals), Oteil Burbridge (Bass, Percussion, Vocals), Jeff Chimenti (Keyboards, Vocals) and John Mayer (Guitars, Vocals). Mayer, no doubt, brings a youthful energy that will attract new fans to the stalwarts of experimental rock.

The setlist from each show features a stack of Grateful Dead classics and as always, improvised and lengthy live interpretations.  

Playing In The Sand – Riviera Maya, Mexico - 2/15/18  

Key Track - "Playing In The Band"

What better song selection to launch Playing In The Sand than “Playing In The Band”? The Weir/Hart/Hunter collaboration made its first appearance in Grateful Dead setlists in 1971 as an intriguing, not-quite-finished sketch of a tune, a bit over four minutes in duration, but its unconventional structure and time signature helped it quickly evolve into one of the Dead’s greatest vehicles for extended improvisational exploration, as beautifully demonstrated here by Dead & Company.

Playing In The Sand – Riviera Maya, Mexico - 2/17/18

Key Track - "Cold Rain And Snow" 

One of the longtime mainstays of the Grateful Dead repertoire, first adapted from an Appalachian murder ballad into the uptempo rocker that appeared on the band’s 1967 debut album, then reworked into the slower-paced but still powerful arrangement that survives to this day.

Playing In The Sand – Riviera Maya, Mexico - 2/18/18

Key track - "Bird Song"

A sublime performance of one of Jerry Garcia and Robert Hunter’s most beautiful songs, written in remembrance of Janis Joplin.