Bob Weir and Bill Kreutzmann Ring in 2019 with The Big Swell in Hawaii

  On Monday night at the Crazy Rooster Ranch on the island of Kauai in Hawaii, Grateful Dead bandmates Bob Weir and Bill Kretuzmann teamed up with a number of collaborators to form The Big Swell band for a New Year's Eve celebration dubbed Rising to Paradise, which helped raise money for The Hanalei Initiative and Earthjustice. Last night's first set saw Weir and Kreutzmann join with a rotating band including guitarist Steve Kimock, keyboardist Jeff Chimenti, bassists Robin Sylvester and Don Was, and percussionist Wally Ingram. The collectives ran through Dead favorites like "Sugar Magnolia," "Cassidy," "Franklin's Tower," "Weather Report Suite" and "Let It Grow," while Weir, Was and blues icon Taj Mahal offered two acoustic trio songs in the middle of the set, "Deep Elem Blues" and "I've Been All Around This World." Set two featured a core band of Weir, Kreutzmann, Kimock, Chimenti, Sylvester and Ingram, who opened with "Help On the Way" and "Scarlet Begonias" before legendary Meters bassist George Porter Jr. joined in for that band's "Fire On the Bayou," the Dead's "Sugaree" and the New Orleans staple "Iko Iko." The set then ran through a Kreutzmann-led section of "Drums," followed by "Estimated Prophet," "Eyes of the World" and a finale that rang in the new year with some help from hula dancers. The encore featured a few more Dead classics, "Music Never Stopped," "Touch of Grey" and "Ripple." See the full setlist below. As previously reported, nugs.tv will be offering the full show as a tape-delay webcast starting tonight at 8pm ET. More information can be found here.   The Big Swell  Rising Up To Paradise (Benefit for The Hanalei Initiative and Earthjustice) Crazy Rooster Ranch, Kauai, Hawaii Set I: Sugar Magnolia (Bob Weir, Bill Kreutzmann, Robin Sylvester, Steve Kimock, Wally Ingram) Cassidy (Bob Weir, Bill Kreutzmann, Don Was, Jeff Chimenti, Steve Kimock, Wally Ingram) Franklin’s Tower  (Bob Weir, Bill Kreutzmann, Jeff Chimenti, Robin Sylvester, Steve Kimock, Wally Ingram) Deep Elem Blues (Acoustic: Bob Weir, Don Was, Taj Mahal) I’ve Been All Around This World (Acoustic: Bob Weir, Don Was, Taj Mahal) Weather Report Suite  (Bob Weir, Bill Kreutzmann, Don Was, Jeff Chimenti, Steve Kimock, Wally Ingram) Let It Grow (Bob Weir, Bill Kreutzmann, Don Was, Robin Sylvester, Jeff Chimenti, Steve Kimock, Wally Ingram) Set II:  (Core Band: Bob Weir, Bill Kreutzmann, Jeff Chimenti, Robin Sylvester, Steve Kimock, Wally Ingram) Help On The Way, Scarlet Begonias, Fire On The Bayou*, Sugaree*, Iko Iko*, Drums > Estimated Prophet > Eyes of The World > Happy New Year^ Enc: Music Never Stopped > Touch of Grey, Ripple Notes: *with George Porter Jr. ^with Hula Dancers