Deadheads were abuzz following reports that John Mayer used Jerry Garcia‘s Alligator strat with Dead & Company at Sphere Thursday, but it turns out the guitar was a replica of Garcia’s famous axe.
To avoid confusion among fans, Mayer posted on social media before the show explaining that he planned to use the replica guitar on stage because of how the instrument felt.
“Gonna play this for a couple tunes tonight… it’s a replica,” he wrote in a post featuring a photo of the guitar. “I was practicing with it in the dressing room and it was feeling too good to put down. Don’t wanna pull a sneaky on ya”
Despite his efforts, whispers among fans grew to full-blown excitement as Mayer took the stage with what looked like Jerry’s guitar. The confusion was understandable considering Mayer has performed with Garcia’s Wolf guitar in the past as well as a replica of that instrument.
Related: A Brief History Of Jerry Garcia’s Most Well-Known Guitars
Mayer used the Alligator replica at the start of the show, which opened with “I Need a Miracle”. Unlike previous Sphere shows, the concert featured no new setlist additions. Rather, the jam-heavy, six-song first set featured Grateful Dead staples “Eyes of the World”, “Ramble on Rose”, “They Love Each Other”, “Bird Song”, and “Casey Jones”, while the 12-tune second set included previously played covers of Traffic’s “Dear Mr. Fantasy”, The Beatles’ “Hey Jude”, and Bob Dylan’s “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door”. Bobby “Blue” Bland’s “Turn On Your Love Light” capped off the evening in the encore slot.
Click below to view a collection of fan-shot videos from Dead & Company at Sphere. For a full list of the band’s upcoming shows, head here.
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Dead & Company – “I Need A Miracle” – 7/11/24
[Video: Daniel Marino]
Setlist: Dead & Company | Sphere | Las Vegas, NV | 7/11/24
Set 1: I Need a Miracle (John Mayer used a replica of Jerry Garcia’s Alligator guitar), Eyes of the World, Ramble On Rose > They Love Each Other (Jerry Garcia), Bird Song > Casey Jones
Set 2: China Cat Sunflower > I Know You Rider (Traditional), Uncle John’s Band, Dark Star (With teases of George Gershwin’s ‘Rhapsody in Blue’ >), Drums > Space > Standing on the Moon > Dear Mr. Fantasy (Traffic) > Hey Jude (The Beatles) (Coda only) > Truckin’, Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door (Bob Dylan), Old News Broadcast of the Grateful Dead
Encore: Turn On Your Love Light (Bobby “Blue” Bland)
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