On June 8, Bob Weir stepped in front of a crowd with his Wolf Bros for the first time since the pandemic began, and there was no better place than Red Rocks in Morrison, Colo.

The band – including mainstays Jay Lane and Don Was as well as keyboardist Jeff Chimenti, pedal steel master Greg Leisz and The Wolfpack string/horn section – quickly found their footing with an opening “New Speedway Boogie”> “Truckin'” segment. The former song felt like a particularly apt way for Weir to open his first show in front of an audience in over a year, thanks to lyrics like “One way or another/ This darkness got to give.”

And while Weir did do a few surprise warm-up sit-ins with Phil Lesh at Terrapin Crossroads – and led the Wolf Pack for Chinese New Year, St. Patrick’s Day and celebratory Spring season livestreams – this Red Rocks gig and its ensuing performances are his largest since March 2020.

In turn, he stuck to the Grateful Dead songbook pretty tightly, performing signature tunes like “Black-Throated Wind,” “Brown-Eyed Women” and the self-actualizing “Let It Grow” in the first half.

Set two included a “Me and Bobby McGee” cover to open, as well as a nice “Playing in the Band” which meandered into “Uncle John’s Band,” resurfaced as a “Playing” reprise and eventually landed at “He’s Gone.”

Weir closed the second frame with “Terrapin Station”> “Standing on the Moon”> “Sugar Magnolia” and assured the crowd that “We will survive” with a “Touch of Grey” encore.

Weir will return to the Red Rocks stage tonight – June 9 – and continue his mile-high run at Vail’s Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater stage on June 11 and 12.

“We missed this so much,” Weir wrote after the gig via social media. “Can’t wait to see you all again tonight!”

Check out the full setlist and watch a slice of the first set below:

Bob Weir & Wolf Bros
June 8, 2021
Red Rocks, Morrison, Colo.

Set I: New Speedway Boogie> Truckin’, My Brother Esau, Peggy-O, Black-Throated Wind, Brown-Eyed Women, Weather Report Suite> Let It Grow

Set II: Me and Bobby McGee, Playing in the Band, Uncle John’s Band> Playing in the Band Reprise>
He’s Gone, Terrapin Station> Standing on the Moon> Sugar Magnolia

Enc: Touch of Grey