Photo by Stuart Levine

Bob Weir and Jackie Greene
Golden State Theatre
Monterey, Calif.
December 16

A year after playing two monster shows with Phil Lesh and Furthur at the Monterey County Fairgrounds, Bob Weir returned to Monterey for an epic solo-acoustic performance with Jackie Greene at the historic Golden State Theatre.

Greene kicked off the evening with a well-manicured set soaked in dusty blues, soul and crowd-pleasing covers. The Salinas native showed off his slide guitar chops on Robert Johnson’s “Come On in My Kitchen,” highlighted by a razor-sharp solo that would’ve made Ry Cooder smile. On Dylan’s “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right” and the Dead’s “So Many Roads,” Greene reiterated that he’s a bonafide talent blessed with the ability to take another songwriter’s masterpiece to new, elevated levels. His original tunes – including the piano blues throwback “Tell Me Mama, Tell Me Right” and the gospel sing-a-long “Hallelujah” – also ignited sparks.

After Greene finished, Weir walked onto the stage without any intermission and cranked out “Hell in a Bucket.” Following a new tune “Big Bad Blues,” Weir delivered a pair of Dylan faves: “When I Paint My Masterpiece” and “Desolation Row.” Before delving into the latter, he told the story of the first time he played the long-winded song live at one of the renowned late ’80s Dylan & the Dead stadium shows.

“Before we started playing, Dylan asked if I knew all the words,” Weir explained. “I said ‘I think so. Do you?’ He looked back at me and said, ‘The important ones’.”

Ironically, Weir mucked up a few of the tune’s many lines but that’s one of his most endearing qualities as a musician: He never tries to hide his fuck-ups or miscues during live performances; he embraces them and simply moves on.
Following “Corrina,” “Two Djinn,” The Beatles’ “Dear Prudence” and “Sugar Magnolia,” Greene joined Weir for the remainder of the show. The two churned out a rocking, more electrified grab bag stuffed with “Bertha,” a funky Wah-Wah pedal-driven “He’s Gone” and Delbert McClinton’s "Standing on “Shaky Ground.” Most of the audience had ventured towards the stage where 60-year-old heads and stinky dreads twirled while a gangly dude in a purple bandana doled out free doses.

Weir and Greene complemented each other nicely. The two traded off lead and rhythm guitar parts and song verses on both “Loser” and “St. Stephen” – it was nice to hear Weir sing Jerry’s parts.

The heart of the night came during the extended jam wedged in the middle of “St. Stephen.” It recalled the fluidity of the Dead’s feverish improvisations of their late ’70s shows.

Weir and Greene closed more-than-three-hour show with only one encore but it was fitting: “Brokedown Palace.”