Bob Weir Closes Dead Ahead 2025 with Sturgill Simpson, Rick Mitarotonda, Oteil Burbridge and More

Photo Credit: Stevo Rood

Yesterday, Jan. 13, the sun set on Bob Weir’s Dead Ahead getaway as the legendary Grateful Dead guitarist and his ensemble closed out the five-day festival with their third performance. The all-star Dead Ahead band–curated and led by Weir and featuring the likes of Sturgill Simpson, Rick Mitarotonda, Jeff Chimenti, Oteil Burbridge, Don Was and Jay Lane–sent off an unforgettable festival with two more top-tier sets, seamlessly trading the lead on a range of favorites from the Dead’s sprawling discography.

Weir and company tore into their final performance of the weekend with the beloved Blues for Allah beginner “Help on the Way,” which merged into its traditional album pairings of “Slipknot!”” and a grooving “Franklin’s Tower,” which took on a golden hour glow. After stepping forward for the third track, Goose frontman Mitarotonda returned the microphone to the bandleader for a treatment of Bob Dylan’s “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall,” who then handed the spotlight over to Simpson to lead “Brown Eyed Women.” The group hosted a sit-in from special guest Brittney Spencer on Weir’s original “Looks Like Rain,” then closed out the first frame with Althea.

To set off the second set, the Dead Ahead house band raced into an exuberant “Playing in the Band,” then followed that energy into a romping “Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodleloo.” A bouncing, cool jam vehicle of “Truckin’” went big before giving way to a high-flying improvisatory sequence that landed in the set-closer of “Standing on the Moon.” After a road of applause, the one-time-only septet bid a fond farewell to Dead Ahead 2025 with a tank-emptying “Brokedown Palace” and heartfelt “Touch of Gray.”

While the final Dead Ahead band set marked Weir’s last appearance at this year’s festival, fans won’t have to wait long before he returns for Dead & Company’s second Dead Forever residency at Las Vegas’ sphere. For tickets and more information on the upcoming run, visit deadandcompany.com.

Read on for the complete setlist from Monday night.

Dead Ahead

Playa Luna – Riviera Cancun, Mexico

1/13/25

Set I: Help on the Way > Slipknot! > Franklin’s Tower*, A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall, Brown-Eyed Women#, Looks Like Rain!, Althea

Set II: Playing in the Band > Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo > Truckin’ > Drums & Bass > Standing on the Moon

Encore: Brokedown Palace > Touch of Gray

Notes:

* Rick Mitarotonda on lead vocals

# Sturgill Simpson on lead vocals

! w/ Brittney Spencer