LAS VEGAS — After playing 30 shows at Las Vegas’ Sphere in 2024, Dead & Company found new life once more on Thursday night (March 20) with round two of their Dead Forever residency, mixing the greatest hits from last year’s setlists and visuals with a healthy dose of fresh material.
The band – a Grateful Dead offshoot that includes original members Bob Weir and Mickey Hart, along with John Mayer, Oteil Burbridge, Jeff Chimenti and Jay Lane – seemed more comfortable than ever in the supersize venue, given both their decade of history playing together and a summer of Sphere shows under their belts. And their new visuals seemed to match that comfort level, never threatening to overpower the band and its potent live performance, but shooting for the moon (sometimes quite literally) in terms of scope and ambition. Last year’s May 16 opening night (reviewed by Billboard here) included far more static shots of the band on giant video screens; this time around, every moment on the 240-foot-tall curved display served an aesthetic purpose beyond what any other concert venue can even attempt to provide.
Most importantly, however, just like last year, Dead & Company kept the music and the fans at the core of everything they did. That made the show-closing “Touch of Grey” – the Dead’s lone top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 – especially poignant, as everyone left the striking orb singing along together: “We will survive” and “We will get by.” As ever, the Deadheads are a key component of everything the impactful group has accomplished in its 60 years.
But what was new compared to last year? Below, find our five favorite new moments from opening night of Dead & Company’s return to the Sphere.
This article was originally published by Katie Atkinson at Billboard – Read this article and more at (https://www.billboard.com/lists/dead-company-sphere-2025-review-new-las-vegas/).
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