Las Vegas Mixtape v19: Dead Forever, Culinary Delights, and More

Track #1: Dead & Company @Sphere

The music sparkled, the crowd swayed, and the trippy LED visuals inside the wondrous Sphere unfolded in mesmerizing, kaleidoscopic ways.  

It was a spectacular spaceship ride, lasting around three hours, with 20,000 people enraptured by Dead & Company as part of their “Dead Forever–Live at Sphere” residency. Notably, the historic run has been expanded from 24 to 30 shows through August 10.

Like the Grateful Dead mothership, this spinoff band featuring two original Dead members (vocalist/guitarist Bob Weir and percussionist Mickey Hart) play songs that are in no hurry to reach their destination but eventually get there.

It was pure joy to hear singer, songwriter, and guitarist John Mayer confidently sprinkle his luminous guitar lines and contribute warm vocals to the mix; he gave these legendary musicians a youthful edge. Mayer commendably evokes the Dead’s original visionary, Jerry Garcia, without overstepping his role, which he’s had since Dead & Company formed in 2015.

The band achieved total lift-off at the beginning of the evening’s second set, with “China Cat Sunflower” flowing into “I Know You Rider.” These sister tunes especially light up the Dead’s classic live album “Europe ’72,” and tonight, Mayer’s vocals blended beautifully with Weir’s now-grandfatherly-sounding voice.

Later in the set, Hart’s percussive jam odyssey, “Drums/Space,” was matched with hallucinatory visuals—an utterly breathtaking combination that made the Sphere seem like the only place to be in the world on this night.