‘Easy Wind’ Blows Through Las Vegas Sphere For 1st Time During Dead & Company Residency

The sixth weekend of Dead & Company’s 30-date Dead Forever Las Vegas Sphere residency continued on Friday. The Grateful Dead offshoot delivered the Sphere premiere of “Easy Wind” during night 17 of the run.

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 evening with the Sam Cooke sing-along “Good Times” inside the vault before “Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo” took flight from Haight Ashbury.

The Sphere debut of “Easy Wind” fell in the third song slot. The bluesy number appears on GD’s June 1970 LP, Workingman’s Dead, originally sung by founding member Ron “Pigpen” McKernan with words and music by Robert Hunter. D&C’s Sphere premiere of the song was led by Mayer and underpinned by Burbridge’s bounding bass lines.

The band then sashayed through “Ramble On Rose” with Weir leading the way. The second of two covers of the evening came in the form of another sing-along, The Band’s “The Weight.” The pairing of “Lost Sailor” and “Saint of Circumstance,” off the Dead’s 1980 album Go To Heaven, followed. The first frame came to a close with “Casey Jones.”

The second set opened with another beloved pairing, Blues For Allah’s “Help on the Way” seamlessly transitioning into the intricate “Slipknot!” The band doubled down on “Deal” to cap the trifecta.

Yet another familiar coupling, “Scarlet Begonias” and “Fire on the Mountain,” followed with Weir leading the first and Burbridge/Hart the second. The ensuing “Drums” segment was an auditory journey through rhythmic realms.

The poignant “Standing on the Moon” emerged from “Space,” delivered passionately by Weir. A one-two punch of “Brown-Eyed Women” and “Eyes of the World,” the latter stretching to over 16 minutes, came next ahead of the anthemic “Touch of Grey” to bring night 17 to a close.

Scroll down for the setlist, Skinny and audio via Hunter S.

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