rock solid blues strut of "Mister Charlie."

It's always a delight to hear Mayer tackle signature numbers of original Grateful Dead frontman Ron "Pigpen" McKernan. Although the singer, keyboard player and harmonica player died in 1973, he and Mayer are kindred spirits, connected by a bluesy sensiblity equal parts grit, groove and grace.

The pleasant surprises kept on coming all night. Songstress Maggie Rogers added rich vocal flourishes to set one's "Friend of the Devil" and a cover of "The Weight" by The Band in the encore. Set two boasted a pair of the Dead's all-time great sequences, "Scarlet Begonias" into "Fire on the Mountain" and "China Cat Sunflower" into "I Know You Rider," separated only by a lush "He's Gone" that incorporated elements of Howlin' Wolf's "Smokestack Lightning."

And theevening ended in perhaps the only way it could; Hunter famously penned the lyrics to three of the band's most cherished ballads — "Ripple," "To Lay Me Down" and "Brokedown Palace" — on the same afternoon in 1970. "Ripple" opened the 2019 stand at the Garden on Thursday, and it felt only natural that "Brokedown Palace" closed it on Friday.

This is a band that, to paraphrase Hunter, sings sweet songs to rock our souls. They're doing so beautifully, and that's something to be grateful for.

Dead and Company's six-date Fall Fun Run mini-tour moves to Long Island for Tuesday, Nov. 5 and Wednesday, Nov. 6 engagements at NYCB LIVE, Home of the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, in Uniondale, New York, followed by Nov. 8 and 9 bows at the