Dead & Company at Toyota Amphitheater in Wheatland, California

It was hot. So hot. Sweltering. Melting. But with Shakedown Street going in full force no one seemed to care. Several rows of the parking lot were lined with easy ups, trailers, buses, and shade covers with Dead Heads selling their wares. This was the Shakedown Street Brian remembered from his teenage years, seeing The Grateful Dead play at the Shoreline Amphitheater and Cal Expo, and just going for the parking lot scene in Oakland.

One step into the Dead Community’s famous Shakedown Street and anything you wanted — legal and illegal — could be found.

Shakedown Street at Toyota Amphitheater — Shakedown Street, a trademark of the Grateful Dead Community parking lot scene, was back in full force for the Wheatland, California stop of Dead And Company’s summer tour.

Bottled water, cold drinks, beer, cocktails, and margaritas were for sale, which were popular due to the extreme heat. A nod back the Shakedown Streets of the past, there were PB&Js and grilled cheese sandwiches for sale for only $1.00 and people were BBQing all sort of yummy treats. And of course what Shakedown Street would be complete without those selling t-shirts, tie dye, pins, patches, jewelry, and other accessories.

It was awesome and I bought Natalie a gorgeous new tie dye skirt to wear to Dead And Company at Shoreline Amphitheater the next day.

Brian and Jennifer Bourn at Dead And Company's Wheatland, California Summer Tour Stop

Dead And Company Shakedown Street in the Toyota Amphitheater Parking Lot

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Dead & Company, Wheatland

Eventually we headed inside the venue to check out our seats, get some food, and find some shade and while waiting for show time, we connected with several of our local Dead Friends that we have met over the past year going to local shows at the Auburn Event Center, Lockdown Brewing Company, and other local venues.

The show started late thank goodness! Show time was pushed back to about 8:00 pm, so our seats were in the shade by then and the sun was going down, which meant shade!

We skipped the Irvine and Chula Vista Shows because, well, we do own a business and have client work to get done in between our summer fun, and were dying as the set lists were published. Some of our all time favorites were played at those shows which meant we more than likely wouldn’t hear them in Wheatland or Mountain View — and we were right.

The majority of Dead and Company’s Wheatland set list consisted of repeats from the Portland show and the show at The Gorge Amphitheater. The only new songs we heard were Row Jimmy, Loser, and Morning Dew. But with that said, we thought Lost Sailor, Saint Of Circumstance, and I Know Your Rider were better this time around.

Toyota Amphitheater in Wheatland, California — For Dead And Company’s Wheatland, California summer tour stop, the pit and the entire grass area was packed, but first and second tier seats had many open seats — so we had lots of room to dance.

The most awesome thing about the Dead and Company Wheatland Show was that we had bought seats and because the seats were overpriced for this venue/market, they didn’t sell out. (The grass however was packed.) There were tons of empty seats all around us so we basically:

We had an entire giant section of our row to ourselves, which meant lots more dancing room
We had a great view of the stage because several rows in front of us were empty too

While I wish we had heard some more new songs, the show was as always, fantastic. And while any date night is always a great night, both Brian and I were missing the kids.

Taking the kids with us to see Dead and Company play at Moda Center in Portland, Oregon and The Gorge in George, Washington, was so much fun, and we were a bit bummed they were missing this one — but we had bought these tickets before we had decided to see all of the other shows. Thankfully they are gong to be with us again for the last show of the Dead And Company summer tour at the Shoreline Amphitheater.