Time stands still at a Dead show. The scene is the same: Still got Shakedown Street, the bustling vendor area in the parking lot where you can score a veggie burrito, homemade jewelry, patchwork purses, and—should you so desire—drugs. The patrons are the same: Still got those selling weed or wares to pay their way through summer tour, though now, as opposed to 40 years ago, there is a whole other constituency, those aged, original deadheads whose oversized tie-dye shirts now hide sagging physiques beneath hair that’s either gone or grey. The dancing is the same: Still got the dude all alone noodling his body around in worship to the band on stage, still got the swaying flocks of fans spinning in a blissed-out tizzy, still got the people who never once rise from the grass, watching monotonically from their seats, still got the rhythm-less folks bouncing along to their own beats, and still got those skillfully, wonderfully, dancing in celebration of the music. And the music, of course, is the same: Many of the old songs the band’s been singing for decades (“Friend of the Devil”, ”New Potato Caboose”, “Morning Dew”), an unexpected, crowd-pleasing cover (Traffic’s “Dear Mr. Fantasy”), drum sequences that melt into hypnosis (this time adorned with incredible fire dancers), and always just a little bit of wistful thinking that the band didn’t play “that” one song, a personal favorite tied to memory.

With Warren Haynes deftly taking over for Jerry Garcia’s much-missed presence at the second of the band’s San Francisco shows at Shoreline Amphitheatre, the Dead played the songs they know so well to a hometown crowd that was clearly reveling in having them back. Throughout the course of the beautiful, balmy night, the remaining original core band, supplemented by Haynes and Jeff Chimenti on keyboards, laid down two sets of material, going into the sort of signature extended jams that seem to suck the time out of the night. Though I missed the beginning of the first set from getting stuck in mad traffic on the 101, I was informed that the band kicked it off with a lovely rendition of “Jack Straw.” The first set also included “Ship of Fools” and a lingering version of “Terrapin Station”, among others. The second set was stronger, opening with the Bob Weir-penned “Estimated Prophet” and eventually spilling into the crazy drums/fire dancing episode, which was nothing short of riveting. The Dead got spacey, which was always pretty meh for me, and then “Morning Dew” brought them back on track before a killer “China Cat Sunflower” into a set-closing “I Know You Rider” had us up on our feet dancing along. An encore of “Scarlet Begonias” into “Fire on the Mountain” into “Deal” was a lovely summation to one of those nights that reminds you that, sometimes, time does stand still.

Watch: “Franklin’s Tower” [at youtube.com]

Read past installments of It Shows:

The Vaselines: May 11th at Bimbo’s and Destroyer: May 9th at Swedish American Hall, SF

Dengue Fever and the Lost World: May 5th at the Castro Theatre, SF

Thao and the Get Down Stay Down: April 30th at the Independent, SF