When Dead & Company announced that they were doing one more tour, I took a day off to ensure that I got tickets to the Atlanta show. Mrs. RCS and I haven’t missed an Atlanta show since 2017, and there was no way we were missing this one.
We are big Grateful Dead fans. The majority of our Spotify consumption is Grateful Dead, and our kids know the words to a ton of their songs. My Dead shirt collection is getting out of hand, and I’m seriously considering a Dead-related tattoo. All this to say that we’re sort of into the Dead.
We scored seats in section 206 on the aisle. Mrs. RCS needs a lot of room to dance. We secured child care WAY ahead of time and then started the countdown.
We left our place at 3:00PM, and finally landed in our parking space at 4:25. I grabbed our cooler, and Mrs. RCS and I headed down to Shakedown Street to check out the scene.
The Look:
Old JCrew tie dyed linen shirt
TSG Ridge shorts
Hodinkee X John Mayer GShock
Tretorns
RCS Dancing Fox Dad hat
Shakedown Street is the homegrown merchandise row in Lot E. Probably fifty or so tents selling everything you can think of that is Dead-related. It’s basically the coolest merch tent you’ve ever seen. The vibe is great: everyone is friendly, and commerce is ensuing.
First stop was to see our friends at Pesca Muerta. They’ve been a trailblazer in fishing-related Dead gear, and are some of the coolest folks you’ve ever met. More to come with these folks.
Of course, we stopped to see our good friend Nola Dead, where they were nice enough to invite us into their tent to get out of the sun and drink a beer.
Then we walked the walk…
I didn’t get this green Althea hat (the snapback version), and I’m seriously regretting it. I can’t seem to find it anywhere (Etsy, etc), so if anyone has a lead, let me know.
My merch…I’ll get to that in a minute.
The line to get into the show at the Shakedown Gate was insane. We elected to walk around and down Prior to go in through the VIP lot, where we ended up running into a few of our friends. The line took about five minutes to get into Lakewood, where we grabbed a few tacos and beers and started making our way to our seats
They band started playing shortly after 7, opening with a good version of ‘Cassidy’. Apologies to Bob Weir, but the biggest issue with the last few Dead & Co. shows has been the slow tempo. It’s a forgiveable sin, given the nostalgic nature of the tours, but it was a thing. And my worry was that we were going to have another somewhat subdued night. Then Mayer lit up ‘Deal’, and the rest, as they say, is history.
Mrs. RCS and I were very happy with the setlist. The first set was great, but the second set really jammed.
Some thoughts:
- ‘Deal’ is such a good song. As good live as it is on the studio album.
- Everyone knows the words to the chorus of ‘Tennessee Jed’. That was fun.
- ‘GDTRFB’ is a great smoothie.
- Mayer owns ‘Althea’. She should play that every time he picks up a guitar.
- The ‘China-Rider’ was the best I’ve ever seen. Mayer went absolutely bonkers. I noticed Weir looking over at him a few times with a ‘what the F are you doing?’ look on his face.
- It’s a shame there wasn’t an encore, but ‘Morning Dew’ was a great send off.
Some lights:
To conclude: the show on Sunday night will always be very special to me. As a lifelong Dead fan, I couldn’t have asked for a better way to go out. To all those that came up and introduced yourselves, it was FANTASTIC meeting all of you. I like that The Dead is an unofficial soundtrack for Red Clay Soul, and seeing the dozen or so Red Clay Soul branded hats/visors/shirts was second only to the conversations I had with the folks wearing them. What a night.
I’m not sure what the next iteration of The Dead will be, but I’m in. Hook, line, and sinker.
Merch details. Went hard on Nola Dead. Got some other goodies as well, and some stuff for the kiddos:
What did you think? Were you there?
Show was Amazing. Went to 2017, 2021 and 2023 in Atlanta and they were all great. I was just in front of you in Sec 205. I wish I had taken more pictures but was just into the moment.
Got the VIP and Regular Poster. Framed them already and have them up in the Home Office.
Love the review. We loved the second set too. Estimated and China-rider were both incredible. Which vendor is the Sugaree shirt from?
Really wish I could’ve made it. Saw them at Lakewood in ’21, and JM absolutely ripped through Deal then too. Saw a few clips, and looked like he really soared on Morning Dew. Can’t wait to see what’s next for the Dead–maybe an actualization of Bobby’s vision of John, Oteil, and Jeff carrying the flame (Uncle John’s Band?).
Deal was a transcendental experience. Incredible afternoon/evening
Fun show! The Cassidy was laughably slow but like you said it certainly picked up from there. Ended up copping the Nola Dead ‘Masters’ hat and a ridiculous tie dye from Online Ceramics that I’ll probably never wear. 🤘🤘
That is the largest belly button I’ve ever seen!
Great review. The Atlanta show was, as expected, incredible. However, I think it was my least favorite show of the five I’ve seen from them. It was still great but just seemed to be soooo much slower than any of the others I’ve seen. But the second set definitely picked up with the highlights being China Cat Sunflower>I Know You Rider and Terrapin Station. We did the Charlotte show as well and I have to say that was hands down the best show I’ve ever seen them play. They must have heard the feedback from the Atlanta show because their energy was unmatched. It opened with Shakedown Street and didn’t let up from there. A highlight was Cold Rain and Snow when it started raining. The best drums/space I’ve heard and finishing with US Blues to close out the night was perfect. Definitely recommend streaming the show. We unfortunately didn’t make it to Shakedown Street due to the weird parking layout in Atlanta and the ridiculous line to get in but Charlotte’s was great.
Saw them opening night in LA, amazing show! Man, really bummed I missed that Green ALTHEA snapback script hat too. I’d GLADLY take one if you or anyone else has a beat on it.
Interesting in on the Grateful Dead tattoo. I’m not anti-tattoo myself, but my parents have always threatened to disinherit my sister and I if either of us ever gets one.
good to hear about the tempo- that’s my biggest fripe as well. I’m going in NY and can try to snag one of those althea for you – just let me know your size. It would be a good replacement for the WHITE HAT you wore to the show. 😂😂😂
Never miss a Sunday show! Terrapin > Dew? Not a bad sendoff at all!
Love ALL of it
Thanks for sharing. Brings back happy memories of seeing the Grateful Dead for the first time in summer 1989 at RFK in DC. If only I still had the “deadskins” t shirt I scored….