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Dead & Company at Sphere, June 1, 2024

Sphere Entertainment Co presents Dead & Company
Sphere
255 Sands Ave, Las Vegas, NV 89169 USA
7:30 PM, Saturday, June 1, 2024

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A spherical envelopment

Set One

[7:35 PM] {lights down, performers out}

  1. [7:36 PM] Alabama Getaway (JM)
    [7:40 PM] {pod door sequence with Dark Star teases}
  2. [7:41 PM] the Music Never Stopped
  3. [7:52 PM] They Love Each Other (JM)
  4. [8:02 PM] Ramble on Rose
    [8:11 PM] {pause}
  5. [8:11 PM] It Hurts Me Too (JM)
  6. [8:19 PM] Lost Sailor »
  7. [8:28 PM] St. of Circumstance
    [8:37 PM] {set ends}

Set Two

[9:13 PM] {lights down, performers out}

  1. [9:14 PM] Sugaree (JM)
    [9:27 PM] {full stop}
  2. [9:27 PM] St. Stephen
    [9:41 PM] {pause}
  3. [9:42 PM] Brown-eyed Women (JM)
  4. [9:49 PM] Cumberland Blues
    {Full stop, front line off}
  5. [9:58 PM] Drumsspace: {drum duo} » [10:02 PM] {add OB} » [10:07 PM] {drop OB, JL; MH swaps to the beam} » [10:12 PM] {MH off, drone continues, fades… then front line back for a bit of space…}
  6. [10:15 PM] Dear Prudence
  7. [10:25 PM] Sugar Magnolia »
  8. [10:32 PM] Scarlet Begonias »
  9. [10:40 PM] Sunshine Daydream »
  10. [10:44 PM] Brokedown Palace
    [10:51 PM] {set ends}
    [10:52 PM] {news interlude: Hippies in SF}

    Finale
  11. [10:52 PM] One More Saturday Nite
    [10:58 PM] {show ends}

Performers

Dead & Company

Notes

We line up earlier today and find ourselves in approximately the same line placement as day one. Should be ok! Weather today is a little cooler (only 97!), but with the benefit (or curse?) of a drying breeze. Normally if be pleased about it, but right now I'm unhappy with the additional desiccation.

5:43 and we're comfortably rescinded in today's spot: 2nd & 3rd row on the Oteil side of the center line, next to and behind Maria & John Dewey. Just about perfect!

7:03 the crowd on the floor is thickening up now. Not packed too tight yet, but the challenge of maneuvering in and out has dramatically increased: lots more dead ends! Note to self: Waiting this late for a water & food run at a sold-out show is a bad idea!

About a half hour later it's showtime everybody, and the band blasts off in a joyful rendition of Alabama Getaway, yeah! The set rolls by, and I'm especially pleased to hear them do It Hurts Me Too: if they're gonna play slow tunes, might as well pick good ones, right? Lost Sailor and St. of Circumstance are good voyaging songs for our trip through the musical cosmos tonight. Sehr gut!

It's good to sit and chill during break: I like hanging out with our neighbors. Set Two takes off with a fine Sugaree, followed by audience favorite St. Stephen. Hard to complain about that opening! We then get a side trip into cosmic Americana with Brown-eyed Women and Cumberland Blues: both very strong tonight. Drums is slightly shorter tonight than either of the preceding shows, and Space? It's really short too. I wonder if that's because the guys aren't as interested in the free-form exploration as they used to, or whether that was a command decision in order to fit some sort of venue curfew. In any case, it's been disappointingly brief every night, in my opinion.

On the other hand, if the payoff for that brevity is an extra song post-drums, I'm happy enough with the choices that have been made this weekend, and Dear Prudence is rare enough to really ring my bell, yeah! It seems both normal and wrong to hear Brokedown Palace: last show of the run! That's it's expected place … but last show of the set? That's a surprise. And One More Saturday Nite? Yeah, that's tonight!

Photos

Big thanks to Ting for the photo gallery!

Whoa! This section is incomplete for now, sorry!

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Back to the previous event! ☸ Up to the 2024 yearbox! ☸ Up to the 2024 event list! ☸ On to the next event!