Dead & Company Bring ‘Liberty’ To Las Vegas Sphere 4th Of July Concert

After taking their first weekend off since the start of the Dead Forever residency at the Las Vegas Sphere, Dead & Company resumed the run on Thursday, celebrating Independence Day at the technologically advanced venue. The band marked the occasion with a few patriotic nods to the Fourth Of July holiday on night 19 of the 30-date run.

The festivities got underway with Dead & Co. – Grateful Dead guitarist Bob Weir and drummer Mickey Hart with guitarist John Mayer, bassist Oteil Burbridge, keyboardist Jeff Chimenti and drummer Jay Lane – initiating the first set with the thematic “Liberty.” The late-era Grateful Dead original was last played by Dead & Company on July 5, 2022, spanning 58 shows between appearances. Thursday’s performance of “Liberty” was just the ninth time Dead & Co. played the song written by Robert Hunter and Jerry Garcia.

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Given the approach to structuring Sphere setlists over the course of the run, a standalone “Franklin’s Tower” falling in the second slot, although peculiar without its frequent “Help On The Way” and “Slipknot!” lead-ins (which would arrive later), was not as unexpected of a placement as it might have been pre-Sphere.

The paint-by-number colorful landscape surrounded the stage for the subsequent “Jack Straw,” another fitting choice with its “fourth day of July” lyric, and the cowboy western movie motif was applied during the “Big River” that came after. Making its second Sphere setlist, “Friend Of The Devil” kept the set rolling.

“Feel Like A Stranger,” the only primarily Weir-written song to make Thursday’s setlist, was the penultimate selection of set one. The opening half of the show powered into intermission with Mayer leading the way through “Althea.”

The second set began with “Scarlet Begonias” as falling red, white and blue virtual flower petals piled up around the band. The now-expected transition from “Scarlet” into something other than “Fire On The Mountain” came to fruition via a segue into “St. Stephen.” Keeping with that trend, next came “Help On The Way” into the psychedelic instrumental “Slipknot!,” which eventually landed at “Terrapin Station.”

The rhythm section was then left on stage to cultivate the evening’s “Drums” segment. Hart, Lane and Burbridge cycled through rhythmic patterns accompanied by a kaleidoscopic visual display. Hart summoned the other members of the band with his drone work on The Beam that led into the out-there “Space” improvisation.

A somber “Wharf Rat” manifested out of the depths of “Space,” as Weir belted out the mournful ballad. An instant flip in energy happened with “Goin’ Down the Road Feeling Bad” shaking up the vibe.

Along with “Liberty,” perhaps the most expected song to make a Fourth Of July Dead & Co. setlist was “U.S. Blues,” which trailed “GDTRFB.” A virtual American flag framed video of the band onstage while digital fireworks went off inside the Sphere as the skeleton Uncle Sam watched over the celebration. The outer Exosphere displayed a fireworks show yesterday as well.

Dead & Company followed the fireworks with a cover of Bob Dylan’s “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door.” The 1960s news report on the Grateful Dead that tees up the final song of the Dead Forever show played over the P.A. ahead of a fun “Casey Jones” closer.

Dead Forever continues tonight. Scroll on for The Skinny and videos from the Fourth Of July below.

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Videos

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UzcB0dJBYNA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfiUoP-Yob8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5hvW_YxHpg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PG-A5KMy1x4

Audio (Taped by Rainbowtoez)

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