The Grateful Dead said “Fare Thee Well,” Dead & Company retired from the road and Phil Lesh just joined Jerry Garcia in rock god heaven, making Bobby Weir & Wolf Bros featuring The Wolfpack all the more vital in maintaining the legendary jam band’s legacy.

Getting accompanied by the Chicago Philharmonic inside the historic Auditorium Theatre added a new “Ripple” to the equation, and considering there’s just five orchestra dates split between a mere three cities in all of America, made it extremely exclusive and quite possibly a global Deadhead destination.

When it came to the local finale, the normally free-flowing troupe took a slightly more structured approach, since after all, an entire symphony was carefully reading charts behind the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer.

Still, the core Wolves had enough opportunities to stretch out within the lush arrangements and brilliantly blur two seemingly disparate worlds after “The Grateful Overture” elegantly introduced the double act evening.

Part one got off the ground via a “Touch Of Grey as the 77-year-old Weir, alongside longtime backers Don Was (bass), Jay Lane (drums) and Jeff Chimenti (keyboards), held down the groove amidst The Wolfpack’s strings, brass and pedal steel attack, plus the Philharmonic’s grandeur.

The complex, psychedelically-charged puzzle continued to click into place across “Black-Throated Wind,” while a continuous stretch of “Lady With A Fan,” “Terrapin Station,” “Terrapin Transit,” “At A Siding” and “Terrapin Flyer” spread nothing but cheerful vibes into the toast-filled intermission.

Round two turned up the heat and made an ordinary Monday feel like “One More Saturday Night” thanks to the classics “Playing In The Band” and “Uncle John’s Band,” in addition to the trippy “Dark Star” and understated beauty of “Days Between.”

“The Other One” and reprises of the set’s opening trio wound it all down, making the Grateful Dead come alive to the fullest extent possible, along with hopes for additional orchestrations and opportunities to keep encountering this mythical songbook on stage.

For additional information on Bobby Weir & Wolf Bros and the Chicago Philharmonic, visit BobWeir.net and ChicagoPhilharmonic.org.

For a list of upcoming Live Nation concerts, visit LiveNation.com.

Upcoming concerts at the Auditorium Theatre include Amos Lee & Chicago Philharmonic (Nov. 20); Chicago Sinfonietta: “Culture Chronicles” (Nov. 22); “Mean Girls” (Nov. 26-Dec. 1); Mavis Staples (Dec. 6); “Love Actually” In Concert (Dec. 7); The Jinkx & DeLa Holiday Show (Dec. 8); Dave Koz And Friends (Dec. 12); Joss Stone & Chicago Philharmonic (Dec. 18); Chicago Sinfonietta: “Holidays Of Joy” (Dec. 19); “Say Anything” and John Cusack (Dec. 20); “Too Hot To Handel: The Jazz-Gospel Messiah” (Jan. 11-12); “Black Panther” In Concert (Jan. 18) and Chicago Sinfonietta: “Black Being” (Jan. 20). For additional details, visit AuditoriumTheatre.org.

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