Dead & Company, The Sphere, Las Vegas May 9, 2025
It would take a lot of effort and writing to present a detailed coherent summary of seeing Dead & Co at the Sphere last week. I've avoided seeing them since they first banded together in 2015 for the obvious reason- I just wasn't sure I wanted I wanted to hear them at all since they are not the Grateful Dead that I knew back in the day. But having seen the Eagles a the Sphere last December, I knew one thing for sure which is that the venue would be special. And indeed it was.
In a word, it was an excellent show especially because I went into this with no expectations so I was very pleasantly surprised. John Mayer is just outstanding and was the key to making it a worthwhile experience. That guy is one very talented guitar player. He's not Jerry, so if you go into this expecting Jerry, you are at the wrong place and will almost certainly be disappointed. However, Mayer actually incorporated some stylistic influences from Jerry as well as his guitar sound which was great to hear and even brought me to tears at one point. Most surprising, Bob Weir was in good voice and was his usual fine self playing rhythm guitar. He interacted well with Mayer. which was great to watch.
As many Deadheads know, it was the unspoken interactions between the Dead members that in large part made the band special musically. But aside from Bob Weir and Mickey Hart, the original members are no longer playing or have departed the planet (Jerry Garcia passed on Aug 5, 1995- 30 years ago and Phil Lesh passed this past October!). Chementi on keyboards was good as was Burbridge on bass (former bassist with the Allman Brothers). Mickey Hart was there in all his glory on percussion and the new drummer who replaced the iconic Kreutzman (who stopped playing with them about 6 mo ago?- says he retired) was quite competent. All in all, it was a tight and well-oiled machine. The vibe of the show was more like a laid back Dead Concert from the 80's and early 90's rather than the psychedelic concerts of the 60's and 70's. But still, the visuals were, not surprisingly, beyond the beyondo. The visual experience of the Sphere couldn't even be dreamed about in those decades.
The crowd was a total Deadhead crowd with most of the crowd on its feet most of the time. The age range was broad but tilted to the 50 and older crowd. Most everybody wore their best tie-dyed but me (intentionally)! Not a single vape pen was to be found, but everyone was juiced on something; gummies and liquor most likely. There was not a wheelchair in site, which considering the age of the crowd, was surprising. The "kids" around me had never seen a genuine "Dead" concert, but most of them were repeat Dead & Co attendees at the Sphere.
The saying is, "you can't go back". But in hearing songs I first heard
over 50 years ago, the truth is that while you can't go back, the music still delivers an emotional and physical lift that any Deadhead would appreciate. Would I go back? Yes but not for a while. Hopefully, Weir will still be alive by then. (Me too!)
FWIW, for Sphere novices, although I sat in the front center of the 200 section for the Eagles, I sat in the front of the center 300 section for Dead & Co and preferred it as the immersive visual "Ganzfeld" effect (look it up) of the Sphere (without any projection) is a bit more overwhelming with seats a little higher up in the globe. You simply see more, particularly above you, without the need to strain your head by looking up a good deal of the time. The good news is that there are no bad seats in that place no matter where you sit. Even better, the extremely well balanced audio system
at every seat is as good as it gets for a venue of this size (or any other). No earplugs needed! Built-in Subwoofers in each seat didn't hurt, either. The only place I wouldn't want to be is in the front section of the 100 level which is the "general admission" section with no seats and is preferred mostly by people who want to dance and have enough drugs on board to survive the 3+ hour concert without collapsing.
