Oteil Burbridge: ‘No One Seems to Have An Answer For’ Why Dead & Company Is Stopping

Dead & Company‘s Final Tour heads for home this weekend with a three-night stand at San Francisco’s Oracle Park to wrap the farewell run. Why is the Grateful Dead offshoot hanging it up after eight years together? Bassist Oteil Burbridge responded to the query in an Instagram post by commenting, “Excellent question. And one that no one seems to have an answer for.”

Everything was rolling along nicely for Dead & Company — a sextet formed in 2015 featuring Grateful Dead members guitarist Bob Weir and drummers Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann joined by Burbridge, keyboardist Jeff Chimenti and guitarist John Mayer — until April 8, 2022. Just days following the announcement of a 20-date summer tour, Rolling Stone issued a report claiming Dead & Company would stop touring after 2022. Weir, Kreutzmann and Hart quickly denied the story and last summer’s tour went off with the only hitches Bill Kreutzmann missing some shows and a SPAC concert canceled while John Mayer tended to a family issue.

Then, on September 23, 2022, Dead & Company revealed their last tour would take place in the summer of 2023. Dates and venues for “The Final Tour” were detailed two weeks later. Nothing specific was laid out as the reason for the band’s demise last fall. “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…,” wrote Weir on social media at the time.

Bill Kreutzmann shared the following when Dead & Company’s last tour was announced, writing:

“The Grateful Dead always felt timeless from our very beginnings at the Acid Tests where “time” did some funny things so we left it behind altogether. This music will always exist, always evolve, always be the soundtrack of our ever changing lives. But the form changes. It always has, from when we invited Mickey to join the band to the many shapes and forms it took after Jerry left us. And so it’s almost time for another change. I have loved this chapter with Dead & Company, as we got to explore The Music with some new interpreters and different antennas, but we always knew it was just a chapter. The Music never stops. I hope you’ll join us for one final Dead & Company tour next summer and after that… as always… I’m really excited about what comes next. Thank you all for being with us on this journey. It’s far from over so keep those seat belts on because we’ve got some wild nights ahead.”

Kreutzmann wound up departing Dead & Company before the last tour due to “a shift in creative direction as we keep these songs alive and breathing in ways that we each feel is best to continue to honor the legacy of the Grateful Dead,” according to the band’s announcement. Jay Lane has filled Kreutzmann’s seat this summer. Burbridge spoke about preparing himself for Dead & Company’s final tour but didn’t say why the band is ending during an appearance on The JamBase Podcast.

Dead & Company are playing better than ever with just three shows remaining. Burbridge is right in that it’s a “good question” as to why the band is ending. Mickey Hart recently left the door open for future Dead & Company shows while speaking with ABC Audio. “Who knows what the next page is, we’re just turning the page,” Hart noted. “It’s not final anything. We never said we’ll never play again, but we’ll never tour again.”

Perhaps Burbridge’s bandmates will weigh in over the days and weeks to follow providing the answer he and many fans are looking for. Dead & Company’s Final Tour concludes at Oracle Park this weekend. Watch livestreams of all three nights from San Francisco via nugs.net.