Outside, in the 35-degree chill of a February night in Fall River, Massachusetts, there was a harbinger of the evening, inside, to follow. A blizzard of historic measure pummeled the region only three days earlier, leaving mounds of snow around the old mill town. On what was just enough of the cleared curb at one of those old mills, a car sat parked, with dozens of brilliantly colored tie-dye shirts hanging for sale on a rack affixed to its trunk. Even in the frigid clutch of winter, the heads were here.

The old mill in question is and has been, for now a quarter-century, home to the Narrows Center for the Arts. The artist performing at the Narrows, on this Thursday, was Skeleton Crewe, a freshly formed quintet of cosmonauts known well in the Grateful Dead’s orbit. Led, essentially, by keyboardist Rob Barraco, the Crewe’s lineup boasts, as well, bassist Pete Sears, guitarist Barry Sless, drummer Jay Lane, and guitarist Stephen Inglis; its Venn diagram connecting the five, musically, around the Dead’s patent pacing and penchant for freeform improvisation. 

There was ample evidence of both across the two-set, 160-minute appearance, opening with the ensemble flowing together in a cascade of notes that coalesced into Barraco’s “Limbo Rag.” It was a bright beginning, and one of several of Barraco’s originals he’d written with Dead lyricist, Robert Hunter, that would dot the setlist. It didn’t take long, either, for the night’s first overt reference to the Grateful ones.

“Just like Bobby,” Lane quipped, as Inglis tripped over the delicate fingerpicking that announces “Weather Report Suite.” Ingils, smiling, was undeterred, instead working through a few more attempts before nailing the Dead classic penned by the late Bob Weir. It was but one of three Dead entries- a first-set-closing “Tennessee Jed,” and second-set finale, “Black Muddy River,” the other two- that paid homage. “Weather Report Suite” and “Black Muddy River” held closely to their original form, whereas “Tennessee Jed,” took on a rockarolla persona.

Still, most of the performance alternated between Barraco and Inglis offering from their respective own repertoires; Inglis’ slants infused with his Hawaiian folk leanings. Certainly, the influence of the Grateful Dead hung in the air, with the Crewe employing the familiar and elegant cowboy lope, or with Sless and Inglis leading much of the second-half’s soaring into the stratosphere with Garcia-esque runs. Clocking-in well over two- and-a-half hours of time onstage, it was a healthy show. One, at its most adventurous, that stretched to include lock-tight bits of the Dead’s “Slipknot” bookending Dave Brubeck’s “Blue Rondo a la Turk.” 

To be clear, it’s easy to imagine any garden-variety Deadhead enjoying very much this Crewe. Yet, it’s more in service of such a performance to praise the high level of musicianship, the free-spirited playing, and the optimism this quintet shares that would appeal to any music lover across myriad spectrums. That, and a chance to grab a new tie-dye on the way home.