Bobby Weir & Wolf Bros: Live In Colorado 2

The eternal spirit of the Grateful Dead live experience keeps on truckin with original member Bob Weirs touring outfit Bobby Weir & Wolf Bros., a new configuration that includes Don Was on bass, Jay Lane on drums, Jeff Chimenti on keyboards, and a host of additional musicians filling out the arrangements of Dead favorites with brass, strings, and pedal steel guitar. Live in Colorado, Vol. 2 follows a first volume that was released several months earlier, both documenting the bands first concert appearances after multiple COVID-19 pandemic-related delays. Weirs pleasantly laconic vocals set a lazy, drifting mood, but the inclusion of tight horn parts on familiar Dead tunes like "Ripple" or "Eyes of the World" add a new sparkle to the rootsy approach the group originally took with these songs in the 1970s. A lengthy rendition of "Eyes of the World" is especially light and uplifting, segueing perfectly into a cover of Marvin Gayes "Whats Going On" for a stretch before gently jamming back into the Dead tune. Theres a mix of technical precision and off-the-cuff live looseness throughout, with the ornamentation of unexpected violin, cello, or washes of brass floating over casually delivered, jazzed-up readings of some of the most beloved entries from the Grateful Deads deep catalog. The predominant feeling conveyed with these recordings is one of the band in a state of relaxed joy, happy to be on-stage again and having fun breathing new life into material that at least Weir must know inside out at this point. ~ Fred Thomas