So Glad You Made It: Dead & Company Begins 2025 Dead Forever Sphere Residency

“We’re so glad you made it” was the message immediately conveyed from Dead & Company to those in attendance at the Las Vegas Sphere on Thursday night as the band kicked off their 18-date 2025 Dead Forever Residency.

Taking the stage together for the first time since the Grateful Dead was honored in January as the Grammys’ MusiCares Persons Of The Year, the legendary band was celebrated through the same visual journey established during last year’s Sphere run. Flanked by digital scaffolding that opened to reveal the Grateful Dead’s 1960s home at 710 Ashbury in San Francisco, the visual accompaniment blasted off into outer space, cycling through eye-catching video elements, including several of the new concepts guitarist John Mayer promised – until finally returning to the band’s old home.

Dead & Company’s return to the Sphere was also their first full concert since the death of Grateful Dead bassist Phil Lesh. The former bandmate of Dead & Co. guitarist Bob Weir and drummer Mickey Hart was given a special tribute as part of the 710 house imagery. Grateful Dead guitarist Jerry Garcia was again represented during the cosmic visuals, as the legacy of the influential band permeated the visual experience.

“Gimme Some Lovin’,” the Spencer Davis Group hit that was part of the Dead’s live repertoire, made its Dead & Co. premiere to start this year’s Sphere residency. The above-mentioned “We’re so glad you made it” lyrics welcomed the audience as they settled into the Dead Forever ride.

Weir, Hart, Mayer and their bandmates – bassist Oteil Burbridge, keyboardist Jeff Chimenti and drummer Jay Lane – followed the format of the opening show of the 2024 Sphere run by placing “Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo” in the second slot for the blast off to outer space.

From there the band filled in the rest of the set with familiar favorites “Bertha,” “New Speedway Boogie,” “Brown-Eyed Women,” “Good Lovin,” and “Don’t Ease Me In” and “Feel Like a Stranger.”

After lyrical messages were shown to the audience during set break, Dead & Co. got back into action with “Feel Like A Stranger.” “Scarlet Begonias” came next with the Grateful Dead’s album, From The Mars Hotel visually coming to life behind the band. The suspected segue into “Fire On The Mountain” followed, with “Terrapin Station” rolling in behind.

Hart, Lane and Burbridge were then left to commence the evening’s “Drums” exploration. The psychedelic rhythmic excursion saw Hart playing the xylophone-like balafon. “Standing On The Moon” emerged from the free-form “Space” segment.

The back end of the second set was populated with “Althea” and “Goin Down the Road Feelin Bad,” and a poignant “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” that brought the band visually back to the Haight Ashbury neighborhood of San Francisco. The silhouette of Phil Lesh in the window of the house was highlighted and the main portion of the set drew to a close. A recording of Lesh speaking about the connection between the Grateful Dead, the music they made and their community of fans was played in place of last year’s vintage news report.

The resilient chorus of “Touch Of Grey” spread through the spatial audio system of the Sphere as its “We will get by, we will survive” anthem brought an end to the first show of Dead Forever 2025.

Scroll on for videos posted by attendees of last night’s concert, photos and the setlist.

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