Dead & Company At Shoreline Amphitheater, Night Two, June 4, 2017

Dead & Company Shakedown Street at Shoreline Amphitheater in Mountain View, California on June 4, 2017

One of our favorite things to do in the summer is to spend a long weekend away, pairing fun family activities during the day with live music and concerts at night.

After spending Saturday visiting Mission Santa Clara, the Computer History Museum, and The Tech Museum of Innovation, and closing out the night with the Dead & Company concert, we were tired Sunday morning and slept in.

We started off the day with smoothies at Whole Foods, where the kids stocked up on cookies and snacks for the concert, then visited the nearby NASA Ames Exploration Center before heading to Stanford University. At Stanford, we explored the gorgeous campus, walked through the Stanford Art Gallery and Papua New Guinea Sculpture Garden, and rode to the top of Hoover Tower for incredible 360 degree views of the campus.

After waiting in the insanely long line to get into the first Dead & Company show at Shoreline, we arrived to the venue earlier today. I regretted not buying myself a pair of tie-dye pants the night before, so we first hit Shakedown Street to buy me tie-dye pants!. Then we headed straight for the line before it was very long.

Because we got into the venue much earlier, we were also able to snag a spot on the lawn much closer to the rail, with a stellar view of the stage! This time Carter brought his book with him and while waiting for the show to start, the kids enjoyed relaxing and reading, and eating all those cookies they bought. Brian also got some incredible tacos from the food trucks and Carter mowed through two hot pretzels!

Soon the band took the stage — original Grateful Dead members Bob Weir, Bill Kreutzman, and Mickey Hart, joined by John Mayer, Oteil Burbridge, and Jeff Chimenti — and tonight they seemed tighter and more in sync with each other, and the set list beautifully displayed the diversity and depth of the band’s song library.

Even with a wonderful Brown Eyed Women and one of my favorites, They Love Each Other mixed in, the first set started off slow. Song after song rolled out with a comfortable and casual flow until the set came to a close with a upbeat Don’t Ease Me In. The set even saw something unusual for any Dead concert, Bob Weir spoke between songs, giving the audience a Warriors score update!

The second set was an entirely different story — they came back from set break on fire!

From the very first song Dead & Company was full of energy and power. The sold out crowd was singing, dancing, and waving their arms — joy was vibrating throughout the amphitheater.

The set kicked off with an incredible combination of Help on the Way, Slipknot!, and Franklin’s Tower, followed by the popular combination of Scarlet Begonias and Fire on the Mountain. The set closed out with high-energy, super fun Casey Jones, one of my all time favorites, and then the band returned for an encore of Brokedown Palace.

The entire Dead & Company concert was amazing, and the sound was much better than the previous night, but the second set from start to finish stole the show. Wow! While we wanted to stay and revel, we woke up Carter — yes, he fell asleep again — and got out of the venue and the parking lot as soon as possible and drove all the way home with the kids sleeping in the car so they could make it to school the next morning.

We had a blast all weekend exploring and adventuring during the day and concerting at night, and look forward to doing it again this summer. The next two shows for Brian and I will be in Boulder Colorado at Folsom Field while the kids go camping with my parents. Then, we’re all going to the Dead & Company Chicago 2017 summer tour finale concerts at Wrigley Field and an extended family vacation.

I can’t wait!