Review by Shawn Perry
Live Photos by Shawn Perry & Bill Harrity
We came, we saw, we conquered. Again.
For the second year in a row, Dead & Company brought their musical elixir to Sphere Las Vegas for an extended residency. And lucky me, I was given the opportunity to come back for a second time to cover a three-night run. How could I refuse?
So I signed up for the second weekend of May, with the only Sunday show (also Mother’s Day) of the whole three-month stay, and off to Vegas I went. It promised to be a whole new experience, with several changes to the setlist and visuals. Was it going to be as mind blowing as last year? I was about to find out.
Before getting into the actual shows, it’s important to note what changed from last year concerning ancillary Dead-related events outside Sphere. For one, the Venetian’s dancing bears and Steal Your Face medallions of 2024 were missing in action. There was no Dead Forever or Mickey Hart Art exhibit to speak of either. Instead, an official merchandise storefront located within the hotel’s Grand Canal Shoppes area offering common wares (most of it at the Sphere) and a couple of specialty items was about it.
If you really wanted a shirt, a hat, a poster, a Jerry Garica doll, a stuffed dancing bear, or even an old cassette of an early Dead show, the Tuscany Suites and Casino’s expanded outdoor Shakedown Street was the place to be. Last year, they sponsored a smaller, indoor marketplace that was ill-suited due to its small size, flimsy and high-priced product selection, and general vibe. Even in the sweltering heat, one of the resort’s parking lots was more than adequate with plenty of room for vendors. They even had live music.
The days of scrawny Deadheads skating through the aisles selling cheap beer, veggie burritos, and doses of Owsley acid are long-gone; but if you needed a tie-dye romper for your grandchild, there were more than enough options. You could also choose from a wide selection of customized t-shirts and hats.
Elsewhere, there was jewelry, wood carvings, bags, pins, buttons, stickers, incense, just about anything you could think of with a dancing bear, a banjo-playing turtle, skeletons, Jerry Garcia’s missing finger, and the famous Steal Your Face logo was to be had. The love and devotion of all things Grateful Dead was on full display on Shakedown Street.
Showtime
Having been to Sphere in 2024 for Dead & Company, I was familiar with the general layout of the venue. Friday placed me in the 100 section, the first level of seats up from the floor. Inside, as before, you could see the skeleton of the building. Though I noticed later that the series of scaffolds, stairways, and work vehicle was a total deception. That was something I totally missed last year.
At precisely 7:30, The band was on stage and stepped right into a slow-paced “Bertha.” Clearly in warm-up mode, they stretched and scratched at the melody like the break of a new dawn. Once the lights came down, the faux behind-the-scenes workplace cracked like a bolt of lightning and suddenly we were presented with a bird’s eye view of the famous 710 Haight Street row house in San Francisco. This was where the Grateful Dead lived together and built their legacy.
This sequence was held over from last year, yet seeing it once again hardly diminished its significance as the band fell into “Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo.” A wide-eyed-and-mouth audience fell under an immersive spell as the camera slowing elevated up in the Bay Area skyline, further into space. John Meyer flexed his bluesy side and provided, as he would at every opportunity, a fiery and passionate guitar solo.
The next three covers — “Good Lovin’,” “Don’t Ease Me In,” and “Me And My Uncle” — plodded forth, each accompanied with newer visuals of neon dancing bears, skeletons, Steal Your Faces, glowing TV sets, and old-time Western motifs. If you were listening closely, the band was still pulling itself into form. The stunning, high-definition images have a way of minimizing the impact and no one seemed any less the wiser. It would definitely get better.
The set ended with “Ramble On Rose” and “Deal,” the latter forgoing Las Vegas cards and chips graphics for a digital dancing bear matrix that resembled primitive computer technology of the early 1980s. That was one deal they let go down. At least Meyer dazzled us with a very un-Garcia-like lead at the break.
After the 40-minute break, the familiar scene of what I’d call a Tennessee valley (it perfectly accompanied “Tennessee Jed” in 2024) appeared and the band rolled into “Liberty,” a song first played by the Grateful Dead in 1993 and never included on any of their studio albums. Things clearly began to gel as virtual roses fell from the ceiling, meaning it was “Scarlet Begonias” time.
Bob Weir and Meyer came alive, intuitively playing off each other as keyboardist Jeff Chimenti wiggled the ivories between the cracks. It would become ever more apparent with each part and solo he blew through that Chimenti is Dead & Company’s ace in the hole. Between Meyer’s guitar face and Chimenti’s keyboard face, it’s hard to say who’s pushing the solos further. The extended jam was largely improvisational, less restricted by the visuals, resulting in an eye-catching meteor shower during the song’s climax.
As is tradition, except in rare cases like the previous year I saw them, they followed with “Fire On The Mountain,” featuring bassist Oteil Burbridge singing the first verse and drummer and the song’s co-writer Mickey Hart adding in a rap. They moved through a colorful “Cumberland Blues” onto “They Love Each other” with a running river and waterfall in the background. All it took was a few more dancing bears to get things cooking on “Playing In The Band.” A swarm of cassette tape spines with dates and concert venues lined Sphere’s walls and ceiling, before morphing into posters, tickets, photos of the Dead on stage, with live video of Dead & Company wailing away.
The “Drums” and “Space” portion of each show was relatively the same yet nonetheless tantalizing. Hart, Burbridge, and second drummer Jay Lane lined up behind an arsenal of percussion, pounding out a beat hard enough to send vibrations into the stands. Hart was then left alone with his Beam and gadgets, emanating low-end vibrations, squiggly tones, and computerized bleeps. It’s not as spontaneous and varied as in the old days when Hart and original Grateful Dead drummer Bill Kreutzmann were driving the rhythm, though the visuals and panning effects are riveting.
A subdued delivery of Reverend Gary Davis’ “Death Don’t Have No Mercy,” with a soulful Hammond solo from Chimenti, was followed by a compulsory “Brown-Eyed Women.” The graphics of famous concert venues flipped by as the song’s jazzy gallop held the filled floor in rapture. It took Weir’s “Throwing Stones” to bring the first night back down to earth and in front of 710 Ashbury, thereby neatly book-ending the main event. It’s an effective device for keeping everything in balance and on time. An old news broadcast from the 60s with the adage that you can never see too many Grateful Dead shows lead to a rollicking “Casey Jones” to end the night. It was a slow and safe beginning of the three-day run. Fortunately, Saturday night would more than make up for any shortcomings.
You think about certain songs in the setlist, maybe share a few predictions with friends or folks at the show. Predictions and personal favorites made Saturday’s list, so I can say without hesitation that it had all the potential of becoming my own personal favorite Dead & Company show. That it was played with refined precision and much more energy than the previous night only helps solidify that position. Maybe watching it all unfold from the 200 section added to its appeal as well.
They began with a tight “Man Smart, Woman Smarter.” Weir was sporting a dark poncho over his resident puffy pantaloons and sandals. He was ready for a fight, growling the vocals and locking in the edges. His voice has become gruffier, aging like a fine vintage. They rolled into the always lovable “Help On The Way / Slipknot! / Franklin’s Tower” suite as the we once again rose into space from the streets of San Francisco (sounds like an old 70s TV show). Spaceships zoomed by as animated characters from the Grateful Dead Movie danced and the crowd chanted “Roll away the dew…” Then Meyer and Chimenti took off on subsequent solos.
“Let It Grow” from Weir’s “Weather Report Suite” kept the momentum going as the planets aligned. Suddenly, an error message appeared on the upper section of the dome. It was followed by a series of pop-ups to fill Sphere’s walls. Everyone was perplexed. After a few more errors, it became apparent it was all part of a goofy ruse, much to the surprise and amusement of the 20,000 or so beings. This led to a cover of The Band’s “The Weight” with Weir, Meyer, Burbridge, and Chimenti each taking a verse as a colorful Tennessee valley sequence lit up the venue. If you looked closely, you could spy an animated Jerry Garcia relaxing on the front porch of a small cabin along the river. Even Weir’s alarming falsetto on the last verse didn’t spoil the mood.
The first half of “Sugar Magnolia” ended the first set. Another new set of flamboyant images filled every inch above and around the stage. It was a circus of flying eyeballs, turtles, skeletons on motorcycles, and — you guessed it — more dancing bears. The “Sunshine Daydream” portion of “Sugar Magnolia” began the second set as a flood of television sets took over the sightlines. One of the night’s harrowing jams lead the audience through a tunnel to the Egyptian Pyramids and Great Sphinx of Giza. Making a repeat appearance from 2024, this segment remains a tribute to the Dead’s famous 1978 concerts in front of the real Pyramids. Even the Bedouins, their silhouettes gathered before the virtual pyramids, would approve.
After a quick and easy “Greatest Story Ever Told,” an effervescent “China Cat Sunflower,” basking in falling sunflowers, brought everyone to their tippy toes. Pixelated dancing bears gave way to a dancing Uncle Sam who jumped on his hog for a wild ride through a wonderland of Grateful Dead imagery and into Las Vegas with the outside dome of Sphere included — all while the band swung through a joyful “I Know You Rider.” Could it get any better?
“Terrapin Station” never fails in that regard, and Saturday night’s version took no prisoners. We flew over snow-cowered mountains as Meyer attached his smooth, modern vocals to Robert Hunter’s English folklore-inspired tale that introduced the turtle into the Grateful Dead gallery of characters and figurines. The song’s progressive rhythms slowed the movement down on the main floor yet functioned as a natural segue into the “Drums” and “Space” segment, which was virtually identical to the night before. I stuck around and marveled at Hart and Lane’s athleticism and dedication to all things rhymical.
Out of that, another pleasant surprise arose from a slow, lazy jam — the epic “Days Between.” Another song that never made it to an album, and possibly one of the last songs Jerry Garcia and Robert Hunter ever wrote together, “Days Between” made its debut in the 90s at a handful of Grateful Dead shows. I managed to catch a couple of those.
After Garcia passed, Weir adopted it as his own, including it in shows with RatDog, The Dead, Furthur, and, of course, Dead & Company. To hear it tonight, with Weir crooning a raw, emotional vocal, easily his best of the weekend, sealed the night for me. High above on the backdrop was an enlarged black and white video capturing the band as they played through the song. Chimenti provided one of his purest performances on the piano while Meyer rattled off a few choice scrubs of his own during the interlude.
A whirlwind through “Althea” as plumes of colors spread across the walls and then another unexpected favorite called “Morning Dew” came a-calling with images of Jerry Garcia and Phil Lesh flying overhead. Out in space and the earth in view, the song’s climatic refrain of “it doesn’t matter anymore” echoed out and we were suddenly back on the ground, the second of the three shows coming to an end.
The always boisterous “Not Fade Away” with closeups of the band, brought the house down in fine and deliberate style. Even the song’s famous chorus carried over to the Venetian bridge as a portion of the crowd exited the venue.
So, you may ask, how could Sunday — again, the only Sunday of the entire residency — top Saturday? Well, it didn’t, though it wasn’t without highlights. Kicking off with “Samson and Delilah” and “Truckin’” was certainly a good way of putting things right. Tonight, back in the 100 section, I spotted a blimp floating in the sky over San Francisco with “60 years” flashing on its side. Indeed, here was a subtle homage to the Grateful Dead’s 60th anniversary (not to mention Dead & Company’s 10th).
In all actuality, Sundays used to be peak days for Grateful Dead concerts. I had been a witness to many, and those Sunday shows never failed to bring a multi-night run to a climatical finale. With Saturday so off the charts, it was difficult to say how this Sunday would rate. Even if they didn’t hand out roses to all the ladies — a tradition from those few times a Grateful Dead concert fell on Mother’s Day — I was willing to give this Sunday a fighting chance.
After Weir began the first verse too early and the band did a restart (a source of amusement to seasoned Deadheads), they rolled through a mild rendition of Traffic’s “Dear Mr. Fantasy,” leading into a heartfelt reading of the Beatles’ “Hey Jude.” A light and easy solofest between Meyer and Chimenti against a wall of bleeding water coolers set the scene for Merle Haggard’s “Mama Tried” as the highly suitable Western motif reappeared.
Weir’s “Cassidy” stirred up Sphere to no end. Close ups of Meyer highlighted the ivory bird inlays on the neck of his guitar. Both he and Weir weaved the song’s textural structure into an aural fabric on the paean to a folk hero and old friend of the Dead. Just as things intensified, the pace came to a halt and the haunting chords of “St. Stephen,” not to be confused with “Dark Star,” coupled with a tease of “The Eleven,” came along to make the medicine go down. Homemade Dead tape spines made their triumphant return across the ceiling.
The second set of the final night got to a jumping start with “Shakedown Street,” featuring the old-school digital dancing bears and a Steal Your Face disco ball. Seemed like a lost opportunity to utilize Gilbert Shelton’s Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers characters from the Shakedown Street album cover art. If the creators are reading this, they should consider it for next year.
“West L.A. Fadeaway” moved in for a smooth ride as large VU meters jumped up and down on the backdrop. “Sugaree” and “Estimated Prophet” delivered their expected blows before “Eyes Of The World” sent the audience into total ecstasy. Inside a big, simulated tent, the flap opened and the audience was drawn into a painted desert that could double as Mars. Weir bumbled through another verse, bringing smiles on every level. It’s certainly not for lack of love.
Just before “Drums” and “Space,” the ensemble tripped through a sweet samba-inspired jam with a few crazy characters like Ice Cream Boy from Europe ’72 bouncing off the walls. Even Burbridge took a solo. It played off like a spontaneous moment, though it was likely built in.
A casual roll through “Dear Prudence,” another Beatles song performed by the Dead and Jerry Garcia Band in the 80s and 90s, found the group in excellent vocal harmony. Uncle Sam returned to his motorcycle for “Cold, Rain And Snow” before “Fare Thee Well” brought everyone back down to earth for one final landing. Once the Haight Ashbury sequence concluded, Dead & Company closed out the night and weekend with an upbeat swing through Chuck Berry’s “Johnny B. Goode.”
Being a second timer provided a different perspective on the production. When you know what to expect with the visuals, the spectacle of it all isn’t quite as impactful. Fortunately, a good half of the eye candy was new for 2025.
Sonically, the band has never sounded tighter and more in sync. That could be due to the show’s structure. Weir’s voice seems to be enjoying a gritty rebirth, while Chimenti and Lane have grown more into their roles as solid contributors to the overall mix.
As the first leg for 2025 finishes up with one more weekend, the question looms as to whether or not we can expect more Dead & Company concerts at Sphere. They’ve already committed to three dates in August at San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park to celebrate the Grateful Dead’s 60th anniversary, so the rest of the summer is out.
Does that mean they could return to Vegas later in the year, after the Eagles complete their residency? Or perhaps next year with more surprises? When you throw out a tagline like Dead Forever, it seems inevitable they’ll be back at Sphere Las Vegas in some form. And if the opportunity comes around again, I’ll do my best to be there.
