Bob Weir & Wolf Bros Wrap New Year Series with Covers of Bob Dylan, Chuck Berry and More
Photo Credit: Marc Millman
Bob Weir set off the new year last night with the final performance of his six-night series with the Wolf Bros in Fort Lauderdale. After four electrifying shows alongside The Wolf Pack horns and strings that welcomed the year of the snake from Dec. 17-31 at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts, the icon and his faithful collaborators Don Was and Jay Lane carried their charge into 2025 with two intimate trio shows at The Parker on Jan. 2 and 3. In his last stripped-back staging on Friday, Weir demonstrated his virtuosity and versatility as a vocalist, bandleader and consistently first-rate guitarist, marking a strong starting point for his next year on the road.
Weir and Wolf Bros started their first set with ”Althea” and matched that instantly-recognizable laid-back rocker with the essential “Feel Like a Stranger.” The Grateful Dead figurehead moved to his own catalog with “City Girls,” which dates back to 1984, then covered Josh Ritter’s “Only a Stranger” before issuing the Ratdog standouts “Even So” and “October Queen” and skidding into an intricate take on “New Speedway Boogie” that finished off the frame.
The trio returned recharged after the set break, lighting up the stage with an exuberant lap through Jerry Garcia’s “Sugaree.” This intro set off a pair of staples as the Wolf Bros showed off their well-honed covers of Little Feat’s “Easy to Slip” and Bob Dylan’s “A Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall, both of which have regularly figured into their setlists since their first tour in 2018. “Esitmated Prophet” brought the combo back to its masterful revivals of the Dead, then Eddie Cooley’s red-hot “Fever” paved the way to “Black Peter,” the penultimate Dead song of the evening. Following a high-voltage set-closer of Chuck Berry’s “Johnny B. Goode,” Weir, Was and Lane punctuated an unforgettable series with Dylan’s “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue” and a soul-stirring “Brokedown Palace.”
Weir will return to the stage next week for the 2025 iteration of his annual Dead Ahead concert getaway. For his latest destination festival, the artist will be joined by an all-star lineup of Sturgill Simpson, Rick Mitarotonda, Britney Spencer, Grace Bowers, Brandi Carlile, Joy Oladokun and more. For tickets and more information, visit deadaheadfestival.com.
Read on for the complete setlist from Friday night.
Bob Weir & Wolf Bros
The Parker – Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
1/3/24
Set I: Althea, Feel Like a Stranger, City Girls, Only a River (Josh Ritter), Even So (Ratdog), October Queen (Ratdog), New Speedway Boogie
Set II: Sugaree (Jerry Garcia), Easy to Slip (Little Feat), A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall (Bob Dylan), Estimated Prophet, Fever (Eddie Cooley), Black Peter, Johnny B. Goode (Chuck Berry)
Encore: It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue (Bob Dylan), Brokedown Palace
