The show would have blown Owsley “Bear” Stanley away.
Yes, even the famed LSD guru — who was also a sound engineer for the Grateful Dead and architect of the band's fabled “Wall of Sound” before his death in 2011 — could never have imagined such a full-force psychedelic rock experience as he expected fans on Thursday on the opening night of Dead & Company's “Dead Forever” run on the Sphere in Las Vegas.
They watched giant terrapins play instruments, rode around on a bike with a skeleton in patriotic clothing, and did dancing bears.
Oh yeah, and the music was pretty good too, like this phenomenally popular Grateful Dead offshoot – consisting of Dead alum Bob Weir on vocals and guitar and Mickey Hart on drums, in addition to singer-guitarist John Mayer and bassist Oteil Burbridge , keyboardist Jeff Chimenti and drummer Jay Lane – played through 19 songs in two very generous sets.
They took the stage promptly at 7:35 p.m. – just five minutes after the printed start time – and were still in top form almost 4 hours later.
It was an ideal option to rejoice the return to the stage for Dead & Company, the Bay Area-rooted jam band that wrapped up its blockbuster 2023 farewell tour with three sold-out shows at San Francisco's Oracle Park in July.
It was also the primary of 24 nights the band will perform on the Sphere, which has quickly grow to be arguably Las Vegas' landmark because the dome pulses with amazing video images that could be seen for miles. Fittingly, it featured the Dead's signature “Steal Your Face” skull logo and other graphics as fans entered the constructing on Thursday.
“Dead Forever” is the second residency to happen on the $2 billion venue, which opened in September with an epic performance by U2. Overall, Dead & Company is the third act to offer public concert events there – after their jam bandmate Phish took to the Sphere stage for 4 shows in April.
So what are Dead & Co. doing so soon after selling a whole lot of 1000’s of tickets for his or her farewell tour?
Well, technically the band just said goodbye to touring – and the Sphere residency isn't really a tour. So the band is grooving straight through that loophole and straight to the bank as they play shows through July 13, totally on weekends (deadandcompany.com).
The 18,000 or so fans in attendance actually weren't frightened about semantics or technical details, as they enjoyed hearing such long-time favorites as “Jack Straw,” “Bird Song” and “Brown-Eyed Women” during a comparatively short event – musically speaking – first movement.
After a half-hour break, the group heated up the second set with a robust jam from long-time music partners “Help on the Way,” “Slipknot!” and “Franklin’s Tower,” with the ultimate third arguably being the musical highlight of the whole show.
The graphics were nothing wanting exhilarating and sometimes disorienting – because the eyes tried to make sense of the near-constant sensory overload.
There were just a few moments where I felt a bit of dizzy and even felt a touch of motion sickness as I attempted in vain to soak up the whole lot that was happening on the large video screens because the band played “He's Gone” and “Standing On.” the moon” and “St. Stephen.”
The downside to being bombarded with all these computer graphics – and, well, just the big amount of sunshine – is that you just literally lose sight of the particular musicians. They visually grow to be afterthoughts of the whole lot that is happening.
Still, there have been moments when the whole lot got here together so well, like when the group returned to space to perform a poignant version of Bob Dylan's “Knockin' on Heaven's Door,” then accomplished the epic show with a triumphant run-through Buddy Holly's “Knockin' on Heaven's Door” closed. Don't fade.”
The Sphere truly offers a concert experience like no other. And there are very few, if any, bands that seem to fit what this venue has to offer better than Dead & Co.
Set list:
1. “Feel like a stranger”
2. “Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo”
3. “Jack Straw”
4. “Birdsong”
5. “Me and my uncle”
6. “Brown-Eyed Women”
7. “Cold Rain and Snow”
Sentence 2:
8. “Uncle John’s Band”
9. “Help on the way”
10. “Slipknot!”
11. “Franklin’s Tower”
12. “He’s gone”
13. “Drums”
14. “Space”
15. “Standing on the Moon”
16. “St. Stephen”
17. “Hell in a Bucket”
18. “Klokin' on Heaven's Door”
19. “Don’t Fade”
image credit : www.mercurynews.com