Rock band Dead and Company will reunite for more performances later this year, despite completing their “final tour” in 2023.
The group will be the latest musical act to take over the Las Vegas Sphere, with a lineup of 18 shows starting in May. News of the residency emerged in a joint Instagram announcement shared by Dead and Company and Sphere.
“In 2023, Dead & Company went on their final tour,” reads white text on a speckled black background. “But there are other ways to ensure the music never stops.”
In the Instagram clip, audio of Dead and Company delivering the opening lines of the Grateful Dead's version of “Not Fade Away” includes video of the band's Technicolor logo filling Sphere's outdoor LED screens. The band and Sphere announced the dates for the upcoming residency in a second Instagram post on Thursday morning.
“Imagine a bright blue ball just spinning, spinning freely. Dizzy for eternity,” the caption read, a nod to the Grateful Dead’s “Throwing Stones.”
The band (singer John Mayer, Oteil Burbridge, Jeff Chimenti and the Grateful Dead's Bob Weir and Mickey Hart) will kick off a series of Sphere shows on May 16. They follow Phish, which last year announced four shows in April.
Pre-sale registration for Dead and Company shows is now available. General ticket sales begin February 9 at 10 a.m. Pacific Time.
The Sphere, located behind the Venetian resort and casino, made its debut as an eye-catching music and arts venue in September, coinciding with the start of U2's equally eye-catching residency. The stadium cost $2.3 billion to build and has capacity for almost 18,000 people.
Mayer announced in September 2022 that Dead and Company would embark on their final tour in the summer of 2023. Before the group began the tour with a pair of shows in Los Angeles, Dead and Company revealed in April 2023 that founding member and Grateful Dead drummer Bill Kreutzmann would not join the tour.
“After many long discussions and some good old-fashioned soul searching, we inform you that our brother Bill Kreutzmann will not be joining us on our final summer tour,” the group said in a Facebook statement. “Bill wants you to know that he is in good spirits, in good health and that he is not retiring.”
Dead and Company clarified that they would perform their final tour “with Bill's full backing and support.” The band's tour ended in July with several shows in San Francisco. It's unclear if Kreutzmann will rejoin the group for this year's residency.
A representative for Dead and Company did not respond to the Times' request for confirmation.
During the final tour, Hart reflected on the end of the group's touring career, telling ABC Audio, “We're just turning the page.”
“We never said we would never play again, but we would never tour again,” he said. “Some things, good things, come to an end and it's really good to put a stop to them and then move on.”
With three months left to take over Sphere, Dead and Company promised good times to their audience: “It's going to be a dance.”
