The Billy and the Kids “Dead on the Water: Pier to Pier” concert series wrapped up on Friday night with their appearance at the rooftop venue Pier 17 in New York City. Overlooking the Brooklyn Bridge, Pier 17’s location has a rich history dating back to the Dutch West India Company in 1625, the venue and surrounding area underwent major reconstruction in the 2010s and reopened to the public in 2018. Billy and the Kids put on a performance at Baltimore’s Pier 6 on Wednesday that was still being talked about amongst the crowd before the show, and anticipation for a newly announced guest to be joining added to the excitement.
This rendition of Billy Kreutzmann’s brainchild consists of the usual suspects Aron Magner on keys (Disco Biscuits), Reed Mathis on bass (Electric Beethoven, Tea Leaf Green), and Tom Hamilton on Guitar/Vox, as well as new “Kids” Jeff Franca on percussion (Thievery Corp.) and Daniel Donato on guitar/vox (Daniel Donato’s Cosmic Country). Mandolin virtuoso and vocalist Sierra Hull being a late addition, with saxophonist/vocalist James Casey having to drop out to focus on his health while battling late-stage colon cancer, helped bring a bit of a bright light on a somber note.
The venue was packed to the gills with Deadheads young and old, with nary a place to stand outside of the outskirts well before showtime. The early curfew of 10 pm meant the band was making their way to the stage not long after 6 pm, hours before the sun would set. The daytime setting and bustling city background juxtaposed the relaxed mood of the first set, with some more deliberate takes on Grateful Dead classics dominating the early going. The band wasted no time jumping right in with grooving “China Cat Sunflower” before Sierra Hull made her way to the stage to take the lead on the Marvin Gaye classic “How Sweet it is (To be Loved by You)”, a staple in Jerry Garcia Band shows. The band went back to the Grateful Dead catalog with clean takes on “Truckin’”, “The Race is On” and “Candyman” with Hull aptly handling lead duties on the latter two songs. The Americana feel of the show continued as Mathis took the lead on Dylan’s “When I Paint My Masterpiece”, while Hull’s electric mandolin made its first appearance as she resumed lead vocals on a bumping “Cumberland Blues” before the band closed the set with a consciously-paced “Built to Last” featuring Hamilton and Donato splitting vocal duties.
Set break washed over the crowd but few seemed interested in giving up the spots they had secured earlier in the night, many stayed close by as old friends caught up for pictures, new acquaintances forged connections, and the sun finally made its way behind the skyline to offer a canvas for the lighting in the second set. The second set kicked off just as darkness began to settle in with Billy and Jeff coming out for their version of Rhythm Devils to kick off the second set, while the remaining members made their way onto the stage to segue “Drums” into a brief “Space” before surprising most in attendance with the Bob Marley & the Wailers original “Could You Be Loved”. The Marley track gave way to a full band singalong in “Uncle John’s Band” before Hamilton took the reins on the Garcia/Hunter duo “Birdsong > Liberty”.
One of the entertaining parts of seeing Billy and the Kids is having all the dynamic setlist possibilities their shows offer. It’s not unusual for the shows to be heavily dominated by typical songs in the Grateful Dead and JGB would repertoire, they will also throw the occasional one in from left field to keep the crowd on their toes. Wednesday night they broke out Stevie Wonder’s “Boogie on Reggae Woman” and Patti Smith’s “Because the Night”; on this night it was the aforementioned "Could You Be Loved" and Al Green’s “Take Me to the River”, which was only played by the Grateful Dead a handful of times in the fateful last spring and summer tours. The second set closed out on a really high note with the unique but appropriate pairing of “Wharf Rat” > “Franklin’s Tower”, the latter featured some impressive work by Magner on keys and a riveting solo from Hull on electric mandolin.
The night closed out very much like it began, a bit of returning to roots with a spin on the Everly Brothers/Felice and Boudleaux Bryant classic “Wake Up Little Susie” and an acapella “And We Bid You Goodnight” to send the crowd off with smiles on their faces and music in their hearts.
You can contribute to James Casey's GoFundMe page at this location (https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-james-caseys-colon-cancer-battle).
