Dead & Company Commence 4th Dead Forever Weekend At Las Vegas Sphere

The fourth weekend of Dead & Company’s Dead Forever residency at the Sphere in Las Vegas began with a concert at the state-of-the-art venue on Thursday night. The 10th show of the 30-show engagement featured a smattering of songs making their first Sphere appearances, alongside other staples.

Dead & Company — Grateful Dead guitarist Bob Weir and drummer Mickey Hart, guitarist John Mayer, bassist Oteil Burbridge, keyboardist Jeff Chimenti and drummer Jay Lane – started Thursday’s first set with the night’s first Sphere debut, “New Minglewood Blues.” The song, recorded on two different studio albums by the Grateful Dead, was last played on May 8, 2023 at Cornell University’s Barton Hall, which would be virtually depicted later in the show.

The Weir-led opener was trailed by Bobby leading an unexpectedly placed “Playing In The Band,” a fitting show #10 selection of the song that originated as “The Main Ten.” The band continued to stretch out with “Feel Like a Stranger” and “Tennessee Jed.” A cover of The Band’s “The Weight” saw the usual lead vocal duties passed between verses among Weir, Mayer, Burbridge and Chimenti.

The second Sphere first-timer of the first set came next in the form of another cover, the traditional “Peggy-O,” which was paired with the classic cowboy western film motif visual starring Bobby “Ace” Weir. The seven-song set culminated with “Sugaree” setting up set break.

The second half started with “Here Comes Sunshine” illuminating the Sphere for the first time. The storied partnership of “China Cat Sunflower” into “I Know You Rider” kept the set rolling. Exploratory takes on “Estimated Prophet” and “The Other One” barreled into “Drums.” Hart, Lane and Burbridge kept a propulsive rhythm throughout the “Drums” jam before Hart built the bridge to “Space” via The Beam.

Another Sphere premiere emerged out of the loosely structured “Space” sequence as Weir helmed a cover of Rev. Gary Davis’ menacing “Death Don’t Have No Mercy.” Mayer then took charge of “Brown-Eyed Women,” the second repeated song (along with “Sugaree”) in Thursday’s setlist that was also played at the last Sphere show as well.

The back half of the set was filled in with “U.S. Blues” and “Morning Dew” leading into the 1960s news report on the Grateful Dead. The final selection of night 10 was also the final Sphere debut as Mayer showed off his Chuck Berry chops on “Johnny B. Goode,” marking just the 10th time Dead & Co. has covered the song.

Dead Forever continues tonight. Scroll on for The Skinny and visuals captured by attendees of Thursday’s Dead & Co. Sphere show.

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