On March 24th, 2012 The Walkmen’s Walt Martin, Yellowbirds’ Sam Cohen and Josh Kaufman and Takka Takka’s Conrad Doucett joined Grateful Dead/ RatDog/ Furthur’s Bob Weir and members of The National (Aaron Dessner, Bryan and Scott Devendorf – as well as National sidekicks Thomas “Doveman” Bartlett and Kyle Resnick) – for a special “Bridge Session.” The event was the first in an ambitious series of webcasts from Weir’s new, state-of-the-art TRI Studios in San Rafael, California and was themed around a Head Count political discussion. With an audience of only 100 or so, the intimate event streamed live on Yahoo! Music. Under the musical direction of Yellowbird Josh Kaufman the all-star group played two sets plus a mini-acoustic-set encore – all of which can be watched at the bottom of this page (additionally, read Rolling Stone’s exclusive coverage here and check out The Future Heart’s live photo blog from that night here). Following that success, on August 3rd (Yellowbirds’) Sam and Josh rejoined Weir at TRI Studios to celebrate Jerry Garcia’s 70th birthday and remember the anniversary of his August 9th death. The peak of Jerry Garcia week, the full 263-minutes long concert can be streamed below, followed by the setlist and additional details on the concert.
As with the March 24th gig Weir played with Yellowbirds and other Brooklyn friends, the Garcia tribute show was a small affair webcasted for the world. Last time the one-off supergroup played Dead classics and rarities (including the first “My Brother Esau” since October 3, 1987), two National songs, signature Weir tunes and covered Bob Dylan and Cass McCombs. This time, Cass was playing in the band …. as were Vampire Weekend’s Chris Tomson, Phish’s Mike Gordon, former Grateful Dead/Jerry Garcia Band vocalist Donna Jean Godchaux, Black Crowes’ Adam McDougall, The Hold Steady’s Craig Finn and Tad Kubler, Further’s Joe Russo and Jeff Chimenti, Jim Lauderdale, Neal Casal, Jonathan Wilson and Harper Simon (Heartbreakers keyboardist Benmont Tenchwas also scheduled, but cancled “due to unforeseen circumstances”). Weir discusses the studio and Jerry’s birthday in a new video posted at rollingstone.com.
Rolling Stone: “Midway through the set, retired basketball star, sportscaster and Deadhead celebrity Bill Walton became animated from four rows deep in the audience. “I like this band!” Walton shouted at one point. “It’s a good band you’ve got here!”
Officially billed as “Move Me Brightly: Celebrating Jerry Garcia’s 70th Birthday,” the broadcast began with a half-hour documentary by Justin Kreutzmann. Hosted by actor actor/comedian Luke Wilson the documentary featured remembrances from Bill Kreutzmann, Mickey Hart, Perry Farrell, Stephen Perkins, Carlos Santana, Jorma Kaukonen, Jack Casady, Mike Campbell, Keller Williams and others. The rest of the broadcast was the all-star concert. In addition to the full concert streaming above, a higher quality official video of 2 hours of highlights is here. The full setlist is below (songs left out of yahoo’s official on demand stream are noted).
*The Wheel > Cumberland Blues (Phil Lesh, Bob Weir, Donna Jean Godchaux, Neal Casal, Jon Graboff, Jason Roberts, Joe Russo, Jeff Chimenti)
Loser (Casal, Russo, Weir, Mike Gordon, Chimenti, Godchaux, Jim Lauderdale, Roberts, Graboff, Adam McDougall) (not in yahoo highlights)
Mississippi Half Step (Weir, Gordon, Jim Lauderdale, Godchaux, Graboff, Casal, Chimenti, Russo) (not in yahoo highlights)
*Dire Wolf (Weir, Harper Simon, Gordon, Russo, Godchaux, Graboff, Chimenti, Josh Kaufman, Sam Cohen) (not in yahoo highlights)
*Dupree’s Diamond Blues (Chimenti, Casal, Russo, Gordon, Cass McCombs, Sam Cohen, Josh Kaufman)
*Tennessee Jed (Chimenti, Casal, Godchaux, Russo, Gordon, Weir, Roberts, Graboff) (not in yahoo highlights)
Ship Of Fools (Chimenti, Casal, Godchaux, Russo, Gordon, Weir, Graboff)
They Love Each Other (Chimenti, Casal, Godchaux, Russo, Weir, Gordon, Jonathan Wilson, Graboff) (not in yahoo highlights)
Bird Song >New Speedway Boogie (Chimenti, Casal, Godchaux, Russo, Weir, Gordon, Graboff; add McDougall and Roberts for latter) (not in yahoo highlights)
*Loose Lucy (Weir, solo acoustic) (not in yahoo highlights)
*Friend of the Devil (Lauderdale, Simon, McCombs)
Mission In The Rain (Chimenti, Casal, Godchaux, Russo, Gordon, Wilson)
Ramble On Rose (Chimenti, Casal, Russo, Weir, Gordon, Wilson) (not in yahoo highlights)
Catfish John (McDougall, Chimenti, Casal, Russo, Godchaux, Gordon, Weir, Wilson, Graboff) (not in yahoo highlights)
*Shakedown Street (McDougall, Chimenti, Simon, Godchaux, Chris Tomson, Godchaux, Gordon, Weir, Kaufman, Cohen)
*Terrapin Station (Chimenti, Godchaux, Russo, Gordon, McCombs, Weir, Kaufman, Cohen, Graboff)
*He’s Gone > Eyes Of The World (Chimenti, Russo, Godchaux, Weir, Gordon, Kaufman, Cohen, Graboff; plus McDougall, Simon, Lauderdale on latter)
*Scarlet Begonias (Chimenti, Craig Finn, Tad Kubler, Russo, Godchaux, Weir, Gordon, Kaufman, Cohen, Graboff)
Don’t Let Go (Chimenti, Finn, Godchaux, Graboff, Russo, Weir, Gordon, Wilson, Simon) (not in yahoo highlights)
*Days Between> Franklin’s Tower (Chimenti, Casal, Russo, Weir, Gordon, Kaufman, Wilson, Cohen; McDougall, Simon, Wilson, Godchaux, Graboff, Tomson, Lauderdale joined them for latter)
Encore:
*U.S. Blues> Goin’ Down The Road Feelin’ Bad (Chimenti, McDougall, Casal, Russo, Simon, Weir, Wilson, Godchaux, Gordon, Kaufman, Cohen, Graboff, Lauderdale, Finn; plus McCombs on latter) (not in yahoo highlights)
*Ripple (Chimenti, McDougall, Godchaux, Simon, Wilson, Tomson, Casal, Roberts, Kaufman, Weir, Gordon, Russo, Wilson, Lauderdale, Graboff) (not in yahoo highlights)
Among other ways Jerry was remembered this week, David Crosby wrote a poem for Jerry’s birthday, “‘Cause I’m Missing Him Tonight;” Bob Weir, Jackie Greene and former Major League Baseball player Tim Flannery sang the National Anthem before the Giants vs Mets game at San Francisco’s AT & T Park on Jerry’s birthday and Twitter/FutureHeartDay tweeted streams of Grateful Dead shows daily, starting on Monday with a vintage show from 1966. Other tweeted concerts included January 20, 1968, April 23, 1969, June 10, 1973, and one of the most famous concerts in rock history: Grateful Dead Live at Barton Hall, Cornell University on May 8, 1977 (on that note, see this 2010 Future Heart post about an epic Flaming Lips show at the same venue. It begins with Wayne Coyne and Michael Ivins discussing the Dead and and mentions how Wayne bantered about the Dead’s famous Ithaca show when they played there 33 years later).
There were numerous Jerry birthday celebrations that brought fans together:
-The nationwide screening of The Grateful Dead Movie was also Jerry’s 70th birthday. The trailer is below. Theater and ticket info is here.
-Phil Lesh hosted a birthday celebration at his Terrapin Crossroads venue with John Molo, Jackie Greene, Mark Karan, Grahame Lesh, Brian Lesh and Ross James. Photos, setlist and info here.
-Hundreds of tribute bands played shows for Jerry’s birthday. A comprehensive list is at gratefuldeadtributebands.
-East Village Radio created a two hour special on Jerry and the Dead for on-demand listening on the free EVR Mobile app for iPhone and Android – here.
https://twitter.com/FutureHeartDay/status/230827046077620226
This year also marks the 40th anniversary of the Dead’s legendary 1972 European tour. Read previous Future Heart coverage and stream hours of official remastered tapes from that tour here and here.
Set 1 – March 24th, 2012
Intro interviews, “Help on the Way,” “Love Thine Enemy” (Cass McCombs’ cover”
“Looks Like Rain,” El Paso”
“Friend of the Devil,” “Cassidy”
“Daughters of the SoHo Riots” (Tha National), “My Brother Esau”
Set 2
“Me and My Uncle”, “Fake Empire” (The National), “Most of the Time” (Bob Dylan cover)
“Brown Eyed Women”> “The Other One”> “Standing on the Moon”
“China Cat Sunflower”>”I Know You Rider”
Encore
“Ripple, “Uncle John’s Band,” “Brokedown Palace”
The Future Heart 
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