Bill Kretuzmann continued his Hawaiian birthday weekend on Saturday night, ringing in the second evening of his Grateful Mahalo broadcast with plenty of Grateful Dead favorites, a few covers and even a previously-shelved and newly-rearranged Robert Hunter tune.
Billy & The Kids veteran Tom Hamilton took on lead vocal duties for the opening "China Cat Sunflower," complete with a nice sax solo by Trey Anastasio Band's James Casey.
However, it was the second tune of the night that caught many Deadheads' attention.
Kretuzmann and company unveiled a brand new version of Robert Hunter's "Thunder," a tune Kreutzmann previously performed with Oteil Burbridge and Scott Murawski in his BK3 project.
Strapped-up with a Gibson Les Paul, bluegrass star Billy Strings sang lead on the rollicking tune, peppering in some of his own lyrics to create a brand new version of the track.
A Hamilton-led "Eyes of the World" followed, with Casey and keysman Aron Magner providing some great musical interplay.
Jimmy Cliff's "Sitting In Limbo" came next, and acted as not only a nod to all of the waiting-around of the pandemic, but also the show's island spirit.
The band then dug into the traditional "Been All Around This World" before the set-ending one-two punch of "Loser" and "US Blues." (Kretuzmann got so into "Loser" that he tossed off his sunglasses mid-song, and gave Hamilton an enthusiastic "Yeah!" during his shreddy guitar solo.)
Set two began with the signature groove of the Bob Dylan original/Jerry Garcia favorite "Tangled Up in Blue," before the Bob Weir signature "Cassidy."
From there, the band dove into the most complex segment of the night - jamming "Cassidy" into "Bird Song"> "Dark Star"> "Franklin's Tower"> "Dark Star Reprise"> "Bird Song."
Naturally, after all that exploration, Kreutzmann's crew needed a tune to come back to earth with, and Old & In The Way's "Midnight Moonlight" was just the ticket.
The show ended with a stirring "Brokedown Palace."
Grateful Mahalo wraps up tonight (Sunday) with the highly-anticipated appearance of Carlos Santana.
Tune in/get your tickets now via FANS.live.
Check out the full setlist and clips of each opener below:
Billy & The Kids (w/ Billy Strings and James Casey)
May 9, 2021
Kauai, Hawai’i
Set I: China Cat Sunflower> Thunder^, Eyes of the World, Sitting In Limbo, Been All Around This World, Loser, US Blues
Set II: Tangled Up In Blue, Cassidy> Bird Song> Dark Star> Franklin's Tower> Dark Star Reprise> Bird Song, Midnight Moonlight> Brokedown Palace
Notes:
^Billy & The Kids live debut
