Legendary Rock Band Announces Reunion at Las Vegas Sphere

2024-01-31

Image of Las Vegas at night.

Dead & Company Las Vegas residency news – Author Charles Ken, Photo via David Vives on Unsplash – Las Vegas

The funny thing about retiring these days in the music world is that it doesn’t really mean anything. How many bands have we seen “retire” over the past several years, and even decades, that just came back a few years later to rock some more? Obviously, Motley Crue and Kiss are shining examples of bands that retired but are never really going away. Rush, on the other band, made their R40 tour their final tour. I don’t see a reunion with a sub drummer ever happening.

That said, a famed rock band has announced a reunion at the Las Vegas Sphere. This band actually just recently retired, too.

Dead & Company Las Vegas residency

That band is Dead & Company. Rumors broke last year that the band was reportedly in negotiations to have their own residency at the Sphere in Las Vegas, via New York Post. According to the Post, sources told them the possible residency would happen “next summer.” At the time, they said negotiations were “still in the works and not 100%.”

Dead & Company are represented by Irving Azoff, who also represents U2 and was once a partner and collaborator with Sphere CEO James Dolan. So, this pairing makes total sense.

Now, it’s confirmed. The famed jam band — which has brought together former Grateful Dead members Bob Weir, Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann as well as John Mayer, Oteil Burbridge and Jeff Chimenti — will perform a concert residency at the Sphere.

Dead & Company made the announcement in a video posted on their social media accounts on Wednesday morning (Jan. 31). While the band didn’t announce any specifics in the Instagram clip, as far as show dates and how long the residency would last, it did confirm that, yes, it’s a go. The video showed the massive Sphere building with the famed Grateful Dead “steal your face” skull logo on it. The post’s caption read, “it’s going to be a ball.”

The New York Post is once again in the middle of this story, and they have a new feature up stating the residency would begin in May. “Dead & Co. will come back to life this spring with a 14-show residency at James Dolan’s Las Vegas Sphere, The Post has learned,” they write. “The $2.3 billion Sphere — which the owner of the Knicks and Rangers spun off from Madison Square Garden last April — has been looking to book a long-running act to follow U2 after their 40-show run ends in March.”

Dead & Company’s run will mark the second residency at the $2.3 billion venue. Currently, U2 has a massive residency there, which will run through March. Dead & Company will also be the third band to perform at the venue. They’ll follow U2 and jam band Phish, the latter that has four nights booked in April. It sounds like jam bands are a thing at this venue.

The residency will mark Dead & Co.’s return after last year’s farewell summer trek. The band wrapped that tour up with three sold-out hometown shows at Oracle Park in San Francisco. So, it didn’t take long for a reunion. Are you surprised? I’m not.

Charles Ken
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Posted by Charles Ken | Music, Rock, Rock News