The best moments of Dead & Company Sphere: concert report from Las Vegas

The first visual stunner of the evening was when the scaffolding on screen split in two (in a flash configuration, no less) to reveal a Victorian house in San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury neighborhood, where the Grateful Dead formed in the mid-’60s . As Dead & Co. played the jangly “Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo,” the camera view widened, morphing from cars driving in front of the house, across the entire city grid from San Fran to the Golden Gate Bridge, and in the middle of it all, clouds hovering above the earth . While the image placed the venue in space, the scene was originally set right where it all began for the rock band. And we returned to the same house before the last song of the evening, taking the opposite route from the cosmos back to the Bay Area.

At many points throughout the evening it was clear how long these boys have been playing together. Of course, Weir and Hart have almost 60 years under their belt as a unit, but Dead & Company are also coming up on a decade of performing together, starting with their formation in 2015. And with the musicians’ famous improvisational style on stage every night so much unspoken collaboration that requires visual cues to keep from going off track. It also leads to some great reactive moments where you can see in real time how the bandmates react musically to something they hear. Our favorite example from opening night was during “Standing On the Moon,” when Weir unleashed his most powerful voice of the night, growling loudly, “I’d rather be with you!” Mayer responded by bringing the same power to his guitar strum, echoing Weir’s instinctive wail answered with a brash hard rock chord.

The band’s commitment to music is very serious, but it wouldn’t be a Dead show without some fun. One of the main differences between U2’s use of the Sphere screen and Dead & Co.’s use was the amount of silly, colorful animation used on Thursday night. During “Uncle John’s Band” – which was also the sing-along moment of the evening – the background began as a blank paint-by-numbers drawing before gradually filling in all the colors of the rainbow (including a literal rainbow stretched across the band bulged). ). The most adorable part of the scene? On the far left and right were dancing turtles playing a tambourine and a banjo respectively, in reference to the turtles on the cover of the band’s 1977 album Terrapin Station. It was hard to take your eyes off the cute cartoons.

The Deadheads’ commitment knows no bounds and their energy was an integral part of Thursday’s show. At the conclusion of the final song of the night, “Not Fade Away,” the band’s on-screen video shifted to a wide shot to show the rows of fans on the floor surrounding the stage and the poignant final line repeated en masse : “You know my love will not fade.” It was fitting that one of the final images of the evening would feature the superfans who have kept this long, strange journey going for nearly six decades.

In honor of these fans, Vibee created the Dead Forever Experience at the Venetian Resort adjacent to Sphere. Open throughout the residency, Wednesday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., it includes Grateful Dead photographs from 1965 to the death of founding member Jerry Garcia in 1995; a pop-up on Participation Row that gives fans the opportunity to support various nonprofit groups; a vintage Volkswagen bus next to the new electric model; the guitars Weir and Mayer play every night in the Sphere on display; and an exhibition of Hart’s “vibrational expressionist” art, which he creates through his drumming. The photography exhibit includes an image of the famous Haight-Ashbury House, referenced at the opening and closing of the Sphere show, as well as a 1:4 scale model of the band’s famous “Wall of Sound” speaker display , which was built to host the Dead’s 1974 concerts, which are also referenced in the residency (see photo above).

In the tone of an old newscast during the final Haight-Ashbury scene, the reporter says of the Dead’s loyal fans: “These free-spirited showgoers would prefer if the music never stopped.” Just last year, Dead & Company started their so-called “final tour,” which ended in their hometown of San Francisco, and while fans have now been gifted this 24-date residency, it remains to be seen what the band’s future might be beyond that. The latter part of the songs – “Hell In a Bucket”, Bob Dylan’s “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door” and “Not Fade Away” – all address mortality in some way, although we can’t know if this is a reference to the band is or not its aging members (Hart is 80; Weir is 76) or the fact that death was already rocking the band when Garcia died. One thing is clear: no matter what happens after the Sphere residency, this fan base will never give up on music.

SET 1
Feel like a stranger
Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo
Jack Straw
Birdsong
Me and my uncle
Brown-eyed women
Cold rain and snow

SET 2
Uncle John’s Band
Help on the way
Slipknot!
Franklin’s Tower
He is gone
Drums
Space
Standing on the moon
St. Stephen
Hell in a bucket
Knock on the door to heaven
Don’t fade

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