It was quite a diverse weekend for Dead and Company.
On Saturday, the Grateful Dead-offshoot band with John Mayer joining Bob Weir, Bill Kreutzmann and Mickey Hart performed at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. But on Sunday it was a much more intimate affair as they took the stage in a Hollywood Hills backyard in front of 200 folks at a benefit for Oceana, an environmental organization dedicated to preserving the world’s oceans.
The show raised $1.1 million, and among those who shelled out $5000 for a ticket were actors Jeff Goldblum, Ed Begley Junior and Dean Norris, along with actress Kelly Lynch.
After playing for just over an hour, drummer Mickey Hart said, "Going from a stadium to a house party is a very interesting dynamic, but the point is a musician is privileged to be a musician, and musicians should give back that privilege. In general, you gotta defend the treasures. One of them is the oceans and you have to defend it however you can. You have to fight the evil that’s in the White House now with everything you have. So any night I can raise a million dollars is a good night.”
Dead and Company are just the latest in a line of Oceana benefit performers that includes Don Henley and Sting.
Dead and Company’s Oceana set:
- “Dark Star”
- “Samson and Delilah”
- “Dark Star”
- “Brown-Eyed Women”
- “When I Paint My Masterpiece”
- “Franklin’s Tower”
- “Dark Star”
- “Shakedown Street”
- “Touch of Grey”