Bill Kreutzmann and Mickey Hart

It was not a Grateful Dead cover band. Not a tribute band. Just a band that played a lot of Grateful Dead tunes. A band that happened to feature Dead drummers Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann. The Rhythm Devils' second set Monday at steamy Cedar Cultural Center was about as good as the Dead – or any cover band or reasonable facsimile – ever gets. This sextet was in a zone. Focused, tight, passionate. Heck, even the jams made sense, with guitar solos and percussion duets elevating the proceedings rather than just noodling around, which had been the case in the uneven first set. There were plenty of Dead ditties in the opening 78-minute segment. "Cumberland Blues," "Uncle John's Band," "Scarlet Begonias," "Fire on the Mountain." The most impressive part was the work of British singer/guitarist Davy Knowles, 23, who was inspired to pick up guitar by the Dire Straits' hit "Sultans of Swing" (which he offered in the first set). His guitar and vocal chops were superior to those of other singer/guitarist Tim Bluhm, 40, who was serviceable, at best. After intermission, the Rhythm Devils caught fire on the opening speeded-up "Casey Jones," which was one of the better live renditions I've heard, thanks especially to Knowles' spirited singing and guitar playing. Hart's "Strange World" (from a solo CD) was a propulsive blues-rocker. The Dead's bluesy, drum-driven "Samson & Delilah" segued into "Hey, Bo Diddley," which evolved into the surging Dead rocker "That's It for the Other One." The Dead didn't rock like these Rhythm Devils, a sextet featuring three generations of musicians. A curveball cover of CSNY's "Almost Cut My Hair" connected, but the Dead's ensuing "U.S.Blues" found both singers totally into it, propelled by the swinging bass of Andy Hess (Black Crowes, Gov't Mule ). Jerry Garcia would have had one of his beatific smiles during the country-ish "Going Down the Road Feeling Bad." And nobody minded that the crowd-demanded encore of "Ripple" was served as a sloppy country waltz. Said Hart: "We had a blast playing for you tonight." Everyone who stayed for the 77-minute second set – including a startling number of kids under age 10 with their parents – had a blast, too.