Dead & Company Break Out Bob Dylan Epic On Night 23 Of Las Vegas Sphere Residency

Dead & Company delivered the 23rd concert in their 30-date Dead Forever Residency at the Las Vegas Sphere on Friday. The Grateful Dead offshoot offered the Sphere debut of Bob Dylan’s “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall” toward the end of the second set.

Dead & Company — Grateful Dead guitarist Bob Weir and drummer Mickey Hart with guitarist John Mayer, bassist Oteil Burbridge, keyboardist Jeff Chimenti and drummer Jay Lane — kicked off the show with “New Minglewood Blues,” one of two Cannon’s Jug Stompers songs played on Friday. Blues for Allah cuts “Franklin’s Tower” and “Crazy Fingers” were then split by the twangy “Tennessee Jed.”

D&C kept to cuts off Europe ‘72 with “Brown-Eyed Women” next ahead of beloved ballad “Ship of Fools.” “Deal” brought the first set in Vegas to a rollicking close.

Set two opened with “Scarlet Begonias,” transitioning into the second Cannon’s Jug Stompers song of the evening, “Viola Lee Blues.” The fan-favorites continued with “Estimated Prophet” and “Terrapin Station.”

A mesmerizing “Drums” and “Space” segment followed, with elements of “My Favorite Things” in the latter leading into the Sphere debut of Bob Dylan’s “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall.” Dead & Company have brought a few covers from the Grateful Dead’s one-time tourmate to the Sphere with them.

On May 26, the band planted “Maggie’s Farm” followed by the debut, Sphere or otherwise, of the Dylan deep cut “I’ll Remember You,” a track the Grateful Dead never covered. “When I Paint My Masterpiece” came into the great dome on June 23. The band has also played “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door” frequently throughout the residency.

The latest Dylan nod is The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan (1963) cut, “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall,” which D&C had not played since 2021 and is also a song GD never covered. Bobby led the well-jammed early Dylan epic which contained teases of “My Favorite Things.” Watch below:

Burbridge and Hart then handled singing and rapping respectively for “Fire on the Mountain” followed by “U.S. Blues.” The ballad “Black Muddy River” then prefaced the concert closing cover of ‘ “Not Fade Away.”

Dead & Company conclude the final July weekend of Dead Forever tonight (July 13). Scroll down for The Skinny from Friday’s Sphere outing.

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