After bringing the heat to Las Vegas on Thursday, Dead & Company returned to Sphere for a beautiful and euphoric Friday night performance. The Beatles earned the prime cover slot, with a Bob Weir-led “Dear Prudence” tugging on heartstrings during the second set in an emotional callback to the Jerry Garcia Band live favorite.
Well before that, Weir, John Mayer, Mickey Hart, Jef Chimenti, Oteil Burbridge, and Jay Lane began with some “Good Lovin’”, if only to ensure that “The Music Never Stopped”. John Mayer lent his voice to “Row Jimmy” as the visuals took the audience to the ocean floor, revealing a Dead-themed pirate ship at the bottom.
The virtual curtains then parted in time for “Black-Throated Wind”, before the Dead guided the crowd down a tie-dye tunnel with dancing bears during “New Speedway Boogie”. After that, the dome transformed into a room full of concert posters, patches, and other memorabilia for a first-set-closing rendition of Jerry Garcia’s “Deal”.
To open the second set, Dead & Company took attendees for a walk along “Shakedown Street”, replete with a trippy spiral path that gave way to a massive, skull-stamped disco ball. With “Help on the Way”, the Sphere transformed into the Grateful Dead‘s famous (or infamous) “Wall of Sound”—which itself morphed into a rainbow road worthy of Mario Kart during “Slipknot!”.
Related: Dead & Company Sphere Shakedown Moves Inside, Reveals Lineup For Free After-Parties
Rather than lean into weather-related visuals for “Cold Rain and Snow”, Dead & Company played amid a colorful plume of paint. That, in turn, became a 360-degree experience inside a lava lamp as Oteil Burbridge serenely sang “China Doll”. Next, “Terrapin Station” occasioned a voyage through the cosmos to some far-flung world—a fitting destination for the trippiest planetarium on Earth. That world gave way to a stunning display of super high-definition kaleidoscopes as Oteil joined Mickey Hart and Jay Lane for a percussive summit during “Drums” and “Space”.
After the aforementioned “Dear Prudence” Beatles cover which arrived in the post-“Space” ballad slot, John led the Company back into the Dead canon with an upbeat “Bertha” under a rose-covered sky. Bobby took the lead on “Hell in a Bucket” as a red-white-and-blue-dressed skeleton rose from the crypt, danced in a graveyard, and rode a motorcycle through a colorful landscape.
“Morning Dew” set the perfect tone for the journey back to Earth, with a smooth landing back at the Grateful Dead’s home in San Francisco’s Haight Ashbury. “Ripple”, too, made all the right waves as an emotional soundtrack to a photo montage of the Dead.
What Saturday’s show brings, in terms of tracks and vibes, is anyone’s guess. What’s certain, though, is that it will be a uniquely immersive (and almost certainly mind-bending) experience for everyone who packs the house.
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Meeting up with your friends Oteil side at Sphere? Why not meet up by his side in the foothills of the Sierras at the all-inclusive Golden Road Festival this November? This unique, boutique VIP adventure creates a space where 200 guests can experience an intimate and immersive weekend with incredible artists while building strong connections with old and new friends. Grab your package by June 30th to take advantage of the 100% interest-free installment plan. Find Tickets here.
Dead & Company — “Good Lovin’” (The Olympics) — 6/14/24 — Partial
[Video: Nunupics Zomot]
Setlist: Dead & Company | Sphere | Las Vegas, NV | 6/14/24
Set One: Good Lovin’ (The Olympics), The Music Never Stopped, Row Jimmy, Black-Throated Wind, New Speedway Boogie, Deal
Set Two: Shakedown Street, Help On The Way > Slipknot! > Cold Rain & Snow (Traditional), China Doll, Terrapin Station > Drums > Space > Dear Prudence (The Beatles) > Bertha > Hell In A Bucket > Morning Dew (Bonnie Dobson) > Ripple
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