Did I say one? Better make it two. While Dead & Company trounced Dallas this past Friday with a meaty rocker of a show, Saturday night in Austin received a more deliberate performance befitting the band’s early era of improvised exploration. Which was better? Well, that depends on the opinion of the most opinionated fans in music. But we can all agree that for one weekend there was a seventh flag flying over Texas: the Freak Flag.

The tenth date into their fall tour, Dead and Company played to a full house in Detroit at the newly opened Little Caesars Arena. The audiences were both longtime deadheads, and interestingly new fans that have come as a result of being John Mayer fans. Or simply new fans getting tuned in to the Dead only recently.

Few musicians completely transcend cultural barriers while keeping their craft authentic to their origins. One of the few percussionists to achieve this feat in the 20^th century is tabla legend Zakir Hussain. Traditionally in Indian culture, one carries on their family’s craft. Zakir is son of iconic table master Alla Rakha, who frequently collaborated with Ravi Shankar. Both masters were pivotal in exposing the music of North India to the Americas.

Celebrated Indian tabla master Zakir Hussain's exciting announcement of a dual performance alongside sitarist virtuoso Niladri Kumar at UC Berkeley's Zellerbach Hall was instantly an event not to be missed. The evening's exploratory possibilities have been further expanded with the exciting addition of percussionist and musicologist Mickey Hart as special guest.

Dead & Company, the latest Grateful Dead-family arena band, has made its way to California, for two shows at San Francisco’s venerable Bill Graham Civic Auditorium before heading to Los Angeles to close out the year.