It’s been a long, strange eight-year trip that’s led to Dead & Company’s Final Tour arrival for two sold out concerts on June 9 and 10 at Chicago’s Wrigley Field. Like previous stops at the iconic baseball park, members Bobby Weir, Mickey Hart, John Mayer, Oteil Burbridge, Jeff Chimenti and Jay Lane constructed crowd-pleasing shows with the 2023 visit to the Windy City featuring a more dance-oriented first night and a transition-filled, jam-heavy second night.  

Anticipation was high for these dates due to the term ‘final” when the summer tour was announced but also because nonstop accolades have followed the sextet from city-to-city during its current trek. Their time at Wrigley added to the justifiable praise, as the band’s chemistry and group mind worked its magic. 

Continuing with setlists that offered surprises as far as placement in sets one and two, the opening night started with “Playing in the Band,” which immediately found the members stretching out musically until the notes faded and hinted at a “Playing reprise” popping up at some point in the evening (It didn’t). Residing in Mayer’s bluesy wheelhouse, he played the hell out of “It Hurts Me Too” while Jeff Chimenti offered standout moments during “Deal” and “Brown-Eyed Women.” The first set also included the often-played “Tennessee Jed” along with the rarely-played “Ramble On Rose” and “Crazy Fingers.” It concluded with “Dancing in the Street,” and its lyrical reference to the venue’s location — “They’re dancing in Chicago.”

Set two brought up another interesting choice for an opener, “Sugaree” wherein the unit locked in and a bluesy jam took flight. “The Other One” offered only the first verse tonight. “Lady With a Fan”>”Terrapin Station” hit all the right musical and dramatic notes. The graceful musicianship had the material drifting among the 40,000-plus in attendance until it perfectly rose to the latter song’s crescendo. And just when you think the second set’s over, “Sugar Magnolia” gave way to “Scarlet Begonias” and then into “Sunshine Daydream.” If the ‘heads hadn’t danced enough tonight, an encore of “U.S. Blues” sent everyone to boogie heaven and exited out to the streets of Clark, Addison and Gallagher Way happy. 

The next night featured a setlist that encouraged the members to invoke their creative spirits and stretch out in the moment. After a short jam to start the evening another surprise opener occured as “Truckin” reminded everyone what a long strange trip it’s been during Dead & Company’s nearly eight years together. Then, it was time for Mayer to lead the band through another blues number with a cover of Howlin’ Wolf’s “Smokestack Lightning,” which led back into “Truckin’.” Next was “Althea,” a song that’s credited with turning Mayer on to the Grateful Dead and has developed into a rousing audience favorite. “Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodleloo” gave Chimenti an opportunity to move from a supporting role as he shined on the grand piano.The first set ended with a high energy “All Along the Watchtower,” thanks to Mayer’s soloing and its unlikely reggae break, followed by an always-welcome “Bertha.”

The second set found Dead & Company running through tunes that had improvisation embedded in their DNA — “Help On the Way”>”Slipknot”>”Franklin’s Tower,” “St. Stephen,” “Uncle John’s Band” and “Cumberland Blues,” which transfixed all the members into a unified jamming organism. 

The band also used this time to complete what was started the previous night by performing the second verse of “The Other One” and included “Playing reprise,” which was part of a three-song encore. Of course, with the show being on a particular day of the week, Weir got to finish up the run with his signature howler, “One More Saturday Night.” 

If Dead & Company take a cue from KISS or Elton John and stick to a very loose definition of “final,” it’s likely that those who attended one or both nights at Wrigley, and the thousands at the other highly-praised summer shows, won’t feel cheated. Instead, they’ll return just to have themselves another real good time.