California’s Marin Veterans Memorial Auditorium hosted the premiere of Bob Weir’s First Fusion, A New Renaissance—his long awaited collaboration with the Marin Symphony—on Saturday night. The show was divided into two sets of material culled from the Grateful Dead catalog. The evening’s selections were all re-arranged for the classical setting by Weir and composer Giancarlo Aquilanti, and the Grateful Dead singer/guitarist dressed for the occasion by sporting a tuxedo throughout the night. According to longtime Relix/Jambands.com contributor Benjy Eisen, who reviewed the show for Spinner.com, “So much went into the one-night-only performance that an entire book was written about it (and sold in the venue’s lobby).”

Throughout his first set, Weir played an acoustic guitar and was accompanied by RatDog’s Jay Lane (drums), Robin Sylvester (bass guitar), Jeff Chimenti (keyboards) and Rob Wasserman (upright bass). It was the rare show to feature both Wasserman—RatDog’s founding bassist—and his successor Sylvester onstage at the same time. The musicians ran through a number of Dead staples with the help of Quartet San Francisco and what the Marin Independent Journal describes as “additional strings, brass, woodwinds and a 10-voice chorus.” The paper also says that Weir joked, ““I guess this is a bit of a departure for you classical music buffs.” The musicians’ didn’t shy away from segues—despite the formal setting—and ended their set with a run from “Let it Grow” into “Bird Song” and “Cassidy.”

The show’s second set found Weir and his band joined by the full Marin Symphony orchestra and conductor Aquilanti. The ensemble tackled some of the best known Dead songs, including “Playing in the Band,” “Uncle John’s Band” and a version of “Dark Star” that morphed into “Jack Straw” and the latter day Dead song “The Days Between.” A reprise of “Playing in the Band” closed the set.

The show’s encore consisted of Weir’s traditional Saturday night closer “One More Saturday Night,” “Ripple” and a largely a capella “Attics of My Life.”

Weir will perform at his TRI studios this Friday. The performance will be broadcast online.

Here’s a look at Saturday’s show via Ratdog.org

Set I:
Cassidy
Bird Song
Row Jimmy
West L. A. Fadeaway
Loose Lucy
Friend Of the Devil
Let It Grow >
Birdsong >
Cassidy

Set II:

Playing In The Band
Uncle Johns Band
Dark Star >
Jack Straw>
The Days Between->
Dark Star>
Uncle John’s Band>
Playing In the Band (Reprise)

E:
One More Saturday Night
Ripple
Attics of My Life