{"id":3019,"date":"2025-06-22T11:13:00","date_gmt":"2025-06-22T11:13:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/bobby-weir-the-wolf-bros-royal-albert-hall-london-june-21-2025-150231\/"},"modified":"2025-06-22T11:13:00","modified_gmt":"2025-06-22T11:13:00","slug":"bobby-weir-the-wolf-bros-royal-albert-hall-london-june-21-2025-150231","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/bobby-weir-the-wolf-bros-royal-albert-hall-london-june-21-2025-150231\/","title":{"rendered":"Bobby Weir & The Wolf Bros, Royal Albert Hall, London, June 21, 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Deadheads have gathered in Hyde Park under the perfect blue skies of the Summer Solstice, a propitious prelude to Bobby Weir<\/strong>\u2019s first UK gig in 22 years. While Weir and drummer Mickey Hart<\/strong> usually now maintain the legacy of the Grateful Dead<\/strong> as Dead & Company<\/strong> in residencies at the Vegas’ high-tech Sphere<\/strong>, Weir\u2019s Wolf Bros<\/strong> plot an alternate course, allowing the rhythm guitarist and deputy singer to perform to his own satisfaction. Tonight, this means making his debut at the Royal Albert Hall<\/strong> for the one-off spectacle of his first European orchestral show.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The Deadheads have gathered in Hyde Park under the perfect blue skies of the Summer Solstice, a propitious prelude to Bobby Weir<\/strong>\u2019s first UK gig in 22 years. While Weir and drummer Mickey Hart<\/strong> usually now maintain the legacy of the Grateful Dead<\/strong> as Dead & Company<\/strong> in residencies at the Vegas\u2019 high-tech Sphere<\/strong>, Weir\u2019s Wolf Bros<\/strong> plot an alternate course, allowing the rhythm guitarist and deputy singer to perform to his own satisfaction. Tonight, this means making his debut at the Royal Albert Hall<\/strong> for the one-off spectacle of his first European orchestral show.<\/p>\n

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The Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra<\/strong> take the stage first for Giancarlo Aquilanti<\/strong>\u2019s \u201cA Grateful Overture<\/strong>\u201d, which sets familiar Dead themes in the tradition of Aaron Copland<\/strong>\u2019s early 20th<\/sup> century Americana, summoning images of Western vistas with plaintive pastoral passages and rock\u2019n\u2019roll punch. As the orchestra start \u201cTruckin\u2019<\/strong>\u201d, Weir enters at the head of his Wolf Bros trio \u2013 pianist Jeff Chimenti<\/strong>, drummer Jay Lane<\/strong> and double-bassist Don Was<\/strong>, sporting dreads, shades and Stetson. Weir\u2019s black poncho resembles a schoolmaster\u2019s cape, thrown over crumpled grey-black threads and Cuban-heeled shoes, while his full-bodied white hair and grizzled beard could be that of an old-time prospector from one of Robert Hunter<\/strong>\u2018s songs, or an unreconstructed hippie idealist \u2013 which he and many of tonight\u2019s audience remain.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat a long, strange trip it\u2019s been,\u201d Weir reflects, as \u201cTruckin\u2019<\/strong>\u201d hymns the Dead\u2019s former, footloose life. His leonine head leans into the orchestral headwinds, till he finds a pocket of space for his guitar. The potentially knotty problem of integrating improvisational rock\u2019n\u2019roll with classical musicians is solved by alternating passages purely given to Aquilanti\u2019s orchestral arrangements with sections where the band interweave with the RPCO. \u201cThese guys are nothing short of a national treasure,\u201d Weir says, frequently turning to watch them, beaming at the treatment of this material.<\/p>\n

\u201cBlack Peter<\/strong>\u201d is set to cinematic strings. Weir plays sultry slide, inhabiting the role of the wounded loner facing down death, at ease with the fatalism which shadows the Dead\u2019s songbook as he wails, \u201cOne more day!<\/em>\u201d \u201cChina Cat<\/strong> Sunflower<\/strong>\u201d enters Hunter\u2019s more lyrically baroque realms over symphonic funk, as the strings floating dreamily up and away. \u201cBrokedown Palace<\/strong>\u201d concludes the first set with another existential American saga sung with unfussy, direct feeling, Weir concluding: \u201cI love you more than words can tell.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSugar Magnolia<\/strong>\u201d starts the second half in country mode with classical violinists converted to hoedown fiddles. As Weir sings of an old \u201870s girlfriend, he plucks individual, ringing notes. The multi-generational crowd have been boisterously out of their seats for most of the night and now spin with delight at the start of the \u201cTerrapin Station<\/strong>\u201d suite. \u201cHis job is to shed light, not to master<\/em>,\u201d sings Weir of the song\u2019s storyteller, and that is also his modest way, his expansive vocal turning introspective as he explains a sailor\u2019s doomed romantic bargain and heads towards the titular destination, forever just out of reach.<\/p>\n

Then the Wolf Bros exit, the orchestra quieten and Weir puts down his guitar to sing \u201cDays Between<\/strong>\u201d, the last song written by Garcia before his death. Weir\u2019s gruff, strong voice summons Hunter\u2019s lyric\u2019s combination of chivalrous nobility and sorrow, appropriate in the encroaching twilight of the Dead\u2019s story, with Weir standing ever more alone. \u201cThose were days<\/em>,\u201d he sings three times. \u201cThe brightest ever seen\u2026 still tender, young and green\u2026 soft as velveteen<\/em>.\u201d This is a taste of Weir\u2019s own power, apart from but still in service to the Dead\u2019s tale.<\/p>\n

Weir windmills his guitar on the home strait and boils down \u201cHell In A Bucket<\/strong>\u201d to a hedonistic sentiment fully embraced by the dancing crowd: \u201cMight as well enjoy the ride!<\/em>\u201d Finally, the orchestra retire and the Wolf Bros dig into Weir\u2019s solo songbook. His fuzzed-up guitar is loud and clear on \u00a0\u201cShe Said<\/strong>\u201d, by his \u201890s band RatDog<\/strong>. Then \u201cOne More Saturday Night<\/strong>\u201d brings this Saturday night to a close in party mode. With ferocious attitude belying his 77 years, Weir is happily howling by the end. Stripped of the Dead\u2019s weight, he still simply wants to play rock\u2019n\u2019roll.<\/p>\n

Bobby Weir & The Wolf Bros set list at Royal Albert Hall, London, June 21, 2025:<\/p>\n

SET ONE:
A Grateful Overture
Truckin\u2019
Black Peter
China Cat Sunflower\/I Know You Rider
Brokedown Palace<\/strong><\/p>\n

SET TWO:
Sugar Magnolia
Terrapin Station
Days Between
Jack Straw
Hell In A Bucket
Sunshine Daydream
She Says
One More Saturday Night<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The post Bobby Weir & The Wolf Bros, Royal Albert Hall, London, June 21, 2025<\/a> appeared first on UNCUT<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The Deadheads have gathered in Hyde Park under the perfect blue skies of the Summer Solstice, a propitious prelude to Bobby Weir\u2019s first UK gig in 22 years. While Weir…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1906,548,88],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3019","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-grateful-dead","category-live","category-reviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3019","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3019"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3019\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3019"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3019"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3019"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}