Dead & Company Back In Mansfield, 2021 ... part 2

Thursday's concert was available quickly, and we listened to it Friday morning and early afternoon before we left.  In review, it was as excellent as we had thought, but it left a few open questions.  Would they do the Jam > Jack Straw we thought they were overdue for?  Would they reprise PITB after leaving Dave hanging time and again?  And would they finish Dark Star with the second verse or would they figure one was enough?  Would they play the Morning Dew and TOO we anticipated?   And would they "treat" Dave and me to Sugaree and Black Peter, which respectively are our bête noires for reasons too painful to get into?

Time to get on the road and go see, but the traffic did not cooperate.  128 South of the Pike was excruciatingly slow, and 95 was as well.  We finally made it to the shopping center in Mansfield to meet L, and she'd been delayed also so we didn't have to wait that long.  A bit of serendipity was that we discovered I'd left Sarah's tequila behind, but we were at a TGI Friday's and the bartender pulled into the parking lot for work, spied us, and talked some Dead and then told us that he could make margaritas to go!  Sarah and L took advantage of this, for sure.

Got in line for the venue and it took even longer than it had the day before.  By the time we got there we felt like we'd been in traffic all day, and we were almost through listening to the tape of Thursday's concert a second time!

Oh well, beers and sandwiches and then again, no line to get in.  This time we knew where the water bottle filling station was and what stands had the best beer.  Dave was tempted by the t-shirts on sale but didn't get one, though L got the excellent Mansfield poster.  This was a beautiful, breezy, late summer day.  Time for set one:

• Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo
• Cold Rain and Snow
• New Minglewood Blues
• When I Paint My Masterpiece
• Dire Wolf
• Jack Straw
• Sugaree

This was delightful!  You can never complain about an opening Half-Step, and CR&S is one of my all-time favorite songs, which they played with the dark, bluesy seriousness you want.  Minglewood is always a treat, and Masterpiece was also done with gravitas, Bobby's singing was great.

A jaunty Dire Wolf, and then finally they started into the jam into Jack Straw that I'd been hoping for.  And of course, what was the set closer?  Both Dave and I went for a bathroom break during Sugaree (though the tape reveals it was a fantastic version, with John and Jeff going nuts).  And it's a good thing too!  The crowds were twice as bad as they had been the day before and this wasn't even set break.  People were sprawled all over the venue, then suddenly lurching in one direction, taking a few dance steps, and then lurching the other way.  It was a Friday and everyone was very high.

Back to the seats for some peace and quiet finally, and soon after that it was time for the second set:

• New Speedway Boogie
• Bertha
• Truckin'
• Dark Star
• Terrapin Station
• Drums
• Space
• The Other One
• Morning Dew

OMG!  After this second set I was saying that we'd remember this concert for a long time.  They opened with perhaps the best Speedway I'd ever heard, balanced perfectly between its darkness and depression and the incredible beat and groove.  Bertha was a pleasant surprise and Truckin' was done well.

And then they reprised Dark Star.  The jam started off well-disguised, but soon there was no question what it was.  And this was a fitting reprise to the amazing performance of the day before.  Again, they jammed forever and then finally came back into the Solar System and found themselves at the second verse.  Someone should take these two halves of Dark Star and put them together (over 30 minutes between them), and then loop them over and over.

We'd all predicted Terrapin and this was a fine one, perhaps a little short, so they could get back on schedule.  Drums and Space were also a bit short, but that was because they had to leave room for another of their masterpieces, TOO with a ripping, booming performance from Oteil!  This could also have been predicted based on the frequency of what songs they'd played when on the tour, but again, though the setlists were not unusual, there was still inventiveness in what was introduced how and all of the playing was top notch.

And speaking of top notch playing, it was now time for the majestic, apocalyptic, searing Morning Dew of death.  What a set this was!

OK, the band barely left the stage again and then came back for a sing-songy  encore of U.S. Blues.  My feet were not touching the ground as we left, this had been a fantastic experience.  We ran into our friends P&D on the way out and they were just as unattached from Massachusetts as we were.

Jeez, that had been fun.  We got out the lawn chairs again when we got back to the car and had a few beers and sandwiches.  Then we were able to get out of there through the same back exit and looped back up to return  L  to her car, then up to Quincy to drop off Dave.  Back home soon and time for sleep!