Photo: Alive Coverage
And I’m so glad we made it
So glad we made it, you gotta
Dead & Company returned to Sphere Las Vegas on Thursday, March 20, for the 2025 homecoming of Dead Forever–the group’s immersive concert experience. Prior to last night’s arrival, which marked the first in a series of 18 total shows that will stretch till May 17, the ensemble, Bobby Weir, Mickey Hart, John Mayer, Oteil Burbridge, Jeff Chimenti, and Jay Lane, revived the Spencer Davis Group original turned mid-80s Grateful Dead adoption, “Gimme Some Lovin’.”
Besides adding new material to their songbook, Dead & Company’s opening number ushered in the ensemble’s first nod toward the late Phil Lesh. Notably, the band performed their last gig at Sphere on August 10, 2024, before Lesh’s October passing. While January’s MusiCares event found the band back together, it wasn’t until last night’s arrival at Sphere that they had the proper time and attention to nod to the Grateful Dead’s original bassist.
Grateful Dead debuted “Gimme Some Lovin” on Nov. 2, 1984, at the Berkeley Community Theatre in Berkeley, Calif., [listen to the Dead’s debut here] when a grinning Lesh stepped forward to tossed lines with Brent Mydland–a rare and welcomed duet starring the bass player. The Dead kept the cover in their arsenal until Sept. 15, 1990, performing the lauded piece 87 times during its five-plus year activation.
Notably, during Lesh’s Nov. 1, 2015 appearance at The Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, N.Y., he took the number for a spin after previously covering it in 1998 with the band Vinyl. Of note, during the aforementioned late ‘90s concert, Lesh also performed The Olympics’ “Good Lovin’,” a track included during Dead & Company’s first set on Thursday.
Like the original, two voices led the welcoming number, with Weir and Mayer imparting, “And I’m so glad we made it/ So glad we made it.” Chimenti joined in, hammering the keys with an unspoken affinity for Mydland and the song’s history. While the track was an idealized opener, the Dead only used it as such on seven occasions, from 1985-86, before assuming a post “Space” slot.
The group followed up with a segment of fan favorites, beginning with “Mississippi Half Step,” then conjuring “Bertha” and “New Speedway Boogie” before the “tumble down shack in Bigfoot County” thundered on “Brown-eyed Women.” From the tale of Delilah Jones, Dead & Company nodded to the previously mentioned ‘98 concert feature from Lesh and Vinyl, on “Good Lovin’” before the set one finale, “Don’t Ease Me In.”
Returning to the state-of-the-art stage, Dead & Company announced the concert’s second half with a proclamation of what would come: “It’s gonna be a long, long, crazy, crazy night/ Silky silky, crazy, crazy night,” before fortifying the excitement of second set pairings on “Scarlet Begonias” and “Fire on the Mountain.” The spectacular that is “Terrapin Station” elicited Robert Hunter’s best work before the locomotive depot burst into the cosmos with the arrival of the second set’s instrumental interlude, “Drums” and “Space.”
From the depths of Hart’s imagination came “Standing on the Moon” and another nod to the ‘80s via the Go to Heaven feature, “Althea.” Dead & Company kept spirits soaring through “Goin’ Down The Road Feeling Bad” before reflective emotions swelled on “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” and the night’s conclusion after “Touch of Grey.”
Notably, another subtle homage to Lesh emerged on the LED video walls: 710 Ashbury’s big bay windows showed the silhouette of the band’s original bassist–strong signs of his influence and importance elicited from the two out of three surviving members of the Grateful Dead, Weir and Hart, and their choice company, Mayer, Burbridge, Chimenti and Lane.
Dead & Company return to Sphere tonight. Tickets remain on sale. Scroll down to watch fan-shot videos and view other content from Thursday’s Sphere concert.
View photo courtesy of Jay Blakesberg, Chloe Weir, Alive Coverage and Rich Fury/ Sphere Entertainment, below.
The band appeared on Relix‘s cover, along with fellow Sphere featured acts: Phish, Eagles and U2. Read part of the cover story here. Order the January/Feb. 2025 issue now.
Dead & Company
Sphere – Las Vegas
March 20, 2025
Set I: Gimme Some Lovin’#, Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodleloo, Bertha, New Speedway Boogie, Brown-Eyed Women, Good Lovin’, Don’t Ease Me In
Set II: Feel Like a Stranger, Scarlet Begonias > Fire on the Mountain, Terrapin Station > Drums > Space, Standing on the Moon, Althea, Goin’ Down The Road Feeling Bad, Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door+, Touch of Grey
Notes:
# Dead & Company debut
+ Dead Forever video clip, featuring Phil Lesh
Content shared from relix.com.