Dead & Company will hang it up in 2023 following one final summer tour, the band announced on Friday. Though no dates were revealed, the post-Jerry Garcia assemblage of Grateful Dead members confirmed that next summer will be their last.
In a simple note posted to Facebook, the group wrote, “As we put the finishing touches on booking venues, and understanding that word travels fast and we wanted to be the first to let you know that Dead & Company will be hitting the road next summer for what will be our final tour. Stay tuned for a full list of dates for what will surely be an exciting, celebratory, and heartfelt last run of shows. With love and appreciation, Dead & Company”.
This news comes after Bob Weir, Bill Kreutzmann, Mickey Hart, John Mayer, Oteil Burbridge, and Jeff Chimenti earlier this year swatted away rumors that the band was nearing its end. Back in April, the day tickets went on sale for the band’s summer tour, Rolling Stone reported from an unidentified source that the 20-date run of shows would be the group’s last. That same day, Weir, Kreutzmann, and Burbridge all denied reports stating that they were going to keep on truckin’.
Weir offered a silver lining in Friday’s touch of grey, “Well it looks like that’s it for this outfit; but don’t worry we will all be out there in one form or another until we drop…”
Kreutzmann offered a lengthier, albeit similarly cryptic, eulogy for the band.
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The announcement arrives after Dead & Company’s past two summer tours were dogged by Kreutzmann’s health issues. The band’s 2021 combined summer/fall tour saw Bill The Drummer sit out five concerts with an unspecified non-COVID illness, replaced by Jay Lane for two shows at Red Rocks Amphitheatre, two more at Fiddler’s Green Amphitheatre outside Denver, and the Halloween tour closer at Los Angeles’ Hollywood Bowl.
This past summer witnessed the Dead drummer sit out more shows than he played, with Kreutzmann either splitting the two-set performances with Lane or abstaining entirely. The 76-year-old Rhythm Devil did return to the stage for the tour’s two-night finale at Citi Field but in total played eight entire concerts of the 20-date tour. Midway through the tour, Kreutzmann addressed his extended absence by saying, in part, “I’m okay! It’s not my heart. And I’m not retiring!”
Dead & Company is set to return to the stage January 14th–17th, 2023 for what will ostensibly be the final Playing In The Sand destination event. Stay tuned for tour dates and more details.
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