Grateful Dead comes back to life for final show of their final tour

WTOP's Luke Lukert reports on the band's final show.
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA - JULY 16: (L-R) John Mayer, Jay Lane, Bob Weir, Mickey Hart and Oteil Burbridge of Dead & Company perform at Oracle Park on July 16, 2023 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Miikka Skaffari/Getty Images)(Getty Images/Miikka Skaffari)

The band that resurrected the Grateful Dead, Dead & Company, played their final show of their final tour Sunday night in San Francisco, California. Deadheads both young and old danced to the final jam brought in part by a D.C. native.

Oteil Burbridge — born and raised in D.C. — sang “High Times” during the last show that also saw long improvised performances of fan favorites “Bertha,” “Truckin’” and “Not Fadeaway.”

The multi-instrumental musician joined the incepted group in 2015 along with pop rock heartthrob John Mayer. Burbridge played bass, drums and even banjo for the Grateful Dead revival band. He had previously spent over a decade with The Allman Brothers Band.

The two joined original Dead bandmates Mickey Hart and Bob Weir.

The band became another cultural touchstone appealing to both fans from the ’70s and new Millennial and Gen Z “Deadheads” during their eight-year stretch that spanned over 200 live shows.

They began their last tour in Los Angeles, winding across the country and even stopping in Bristow, Virginia, on June 3 for the band’s last D.C.-area show.

“So if someone tells you it’s your last show, it’s gonna be a different show than if it’s not. And so you just tell yourself that before and this whole tour is like that,” Burbridge told the “Dead Air with [Gary] Lambert and [David] Gans” podcast in May. “It’s the final tour … you’ve got two months to live.”

Burbridge also sang “High Times” during the band’s first set of the last show.

 

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You can watch the full concert at Nugs.tv.

Burbridge has already announced upcoming tour dates for his other band, Oteil & Friends. They will play Richmond, Virginia, in September.

Luke Lukert

Since joining WTOP Luke Lukert has held just about every job in the newsroom from producer to web writer and now he works as a full-time reporter. He is an avid fan of UGA football. Go Dawgs!

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