FOR A FEW, THE DEAD GO BEYOND

Godfathers of California psychedelic rock, the Grateful Dead will never be accused of playing too abrasively or too fast. For 20 years the operative phrase of this San Francisco band has been “keep it mellow.”

At the sextet’s soldout show Saturday at Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre, the Dead turned in one of its typically laid-back sets that centered on a hard-to-categorize mix of blues, rock, jazz and folk. Unfortunately, it’s not a very potent potpourri and the band only occasionally hooked into a memorable melody or a galvanizing groove. As usual, the band suffered from its lack of a commanding vocalist and its predilection for long, mostly uninspiring instrumental jams.

Still, there’s something special about a Grateful Dead concert. With the majority of the band’s loyal fans decked out in such counterculture garb as tie-dyed shirts and fringed jackets, the amphitheater took on the look (and smell) of a mini-Woodstock. It mattered little that many of these “Deadheads” were probably in grade school back in ’69. The band’s three-night engagement was scheduled to conclude Sunday.