The Dead Kick Off Reunion Tour With New York City Adventure

Huddling backstage before an 11 pm gig at New York’s Roseland Ballroom, the surviving members of the Grateful Dead are facing one of the biggest challenges of their lives: playing onstage for only one hour. “This is nuts,” says drummer Mickey Hart as he looks over a neatly typed, eight-song set list. “We could play ”˜Dark Star’ for an hour.” He motions to a bearded, sandal-clad Bob Weir. “Bob, look at that!” As Weir casts a skeptical eye over all the song titles, Hart adds, “We’ll never get to all that. If half of that gets played, we’ll be lucky.”

To build buzz for their first tour in five years, which began April 12 in Greensboro, North Carolina, the Dead wanted to play a free outdoor show in New York. (Phil Lesh and Weir were already scheduled to be in town to sit in with the Allman Brothers Band.) But when the proper permits couldn’t be arranged in time, the Dead settled on three back-to-back free concerts in one day ”“ only 60 minutes per venue. (To deter scalpers, roughly 4,000 free tickets were given to fans by way of an internet lottery.) “It’s just like playing a three-hour show, but broken up by cab rides,” says Weir.

The Dead’s long day begins in the morning, when Weir, bassist Lesh and touring guitarist Warren Haynes ”“ on loan from the Allmans ”“ play ”˜Friend of the Devil’ on The View. (The band members are longtime friends of co-host Whoopi Goldberg.) “They made us feel at home,” says Lesh. “They’re nice ladies.”

At 5 pm, the three men assemble at the Angel Orensanz Center, a former synagogue on the Lower East Side, for the first of the free gigs. The trio strap on acoustic guitars and focus on American Beauty and Workingman’s Dead standards like ”˜Ripple’ and ”˜Casey Jones,’ although the highlight is a 20-minute ”˜Bird Song’ featuring intertwining solos by all three men. “Everybody remembers things really well,” says Lesh as he’s driven to the next venue, the 600-seat Gramercy Theatre. “It’s in our bones.”

The entire touring group ”“ which also includes drummers Hart and Bill Kreutzmann, and keyboardist Jeff Chimenti ”“ meets up at the Gramercy. Warm hugs and smiles are exchanged backstage, which wasn’t the case the last time the Dead toured. During the band’s 2003-04 reunion tours, debates over who should lead the band after Jerry Garcia’s death and fights over business concerns created a schism in the group, leading to a four-year falling-out. “There were some misunderstandings, and it made for some ill will between us,” says Hart. “We’re able to talk to each other now. There’s no angst.”

But after being asked to play a Barack Obama benefit in Pennsylvania last October, the Dead put aside their differences: “It was ”˜This is a man who we think is worthy,’ ” says Hart. The performance went so well that the idea of doing a full-on tour came up “immediately,” says Weir. In February, the reunited Dead began rehearsing in Northern California, and the results are apparent at the Gramercy show in brawny versions of ”˜The Wheel,’ ”˜Touch of Grey’ and ”˜Franklin’s Tower.’ “The band we put together this time around is smaller and way more agile,” says Weir. “We’re able to get to the point much quicker.”

Still, the fact that the band has committed to only 22 shows during April and May (plus Michigan’s Rothbury Festival in July) demonstrates the cautious nature of the Dead’s reunion. Asked if they would consider recording new material, Weir says, “Um, let’s take it one step at a time.” Adds Hart, “We’re taking it really loose. I’m just focussing on the tour. We’re older now. It takes a little more effort to get up to the same level.”

Arriving by van at its next stop, the Roseland, the band huddles behind closed doors to air concerns about the set list. At the second show, an opening jam and ”˜Playing in the Band’ ran 25 minutes; there was no time for half of the songs.

Although the Dead are clearly elder statesmen ”“ a skin-cancer scar is in evidence as Weir spaces out on the lyrics to ”˜Uncle John’s Band’ ”“ 3,000 fans dance and sing along with a rollicking Eyes of the World,’ a typically jam-y ”˜St. Stephen’ and a rave-up take on ”˜Sugar Magnolia’ that ends with Haynes spitting out Chuck Berry riffs.

Although the New York shows rely heavily on the Dead’s most familiar material, the band has worked up more than 100 songs for the tour. During the four-hour shows, fans will also hear rarely performed esoterica like the knotty, jazzy ”˜King Solomon’s Marbles,’ from 1975’s Blues for Allah. “That’s a tricky little tune!” says Kreutzmann at the thought of relearning it. Songs once sung by Garcia ”“ ”˜Ripple,’ ”˜Althea,’ ”˜Eyes of the World,’ among others ”“ will be sung by either Weir or Lesh, although Haynes has also been singing some of the late guitarist’s parts.

“Interesting band,” Hart muses after the show, as a celebratory joint is passed around. Weir is more careful: The arrangements, he says, “could use some work.” But like the rest of the group, he’s tentatively optimistic about the future. “Regardless of what else happens,” he says, “this is a big day for me.”