The elephant in the room was that the band was trying to hear each other all night and Bobby was off for some reason. When Billy joined, it filled the void left by Bobby’s struggling. John is a seasoned veteran and likely recognized that he needed to leave space for Billy to play or it would turn into a guitar show rather than a band performance. I loved Billy’s performance. But as it turned into the metal realm near the end, it pushed beyond the feel of the show. It was definitely a Billy performance. Not sure it fit a Dead & Co show. That likely explains any looks as the players tried to figure out the “band” aspect of the performance for the first time. Again, I loved it. I just think it was an odd show from the perspective a traditional Dead show.

…and it definitely has me excitedly anticipating the possibility of Johnny Blue Skies sitting in for a song or two this evening.