Dead & Company | |
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Background information | |
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Years active | 2015 – present |
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Past members |
Dead & Company is an American rock band that formed in 2015 with a lineup of former Grateful Dead members Bob Weir (guitar and vocals), Mickey Hart (drums), and Bill Kreutzmann (drums), along with John Mayer (guitar and vocals), Oteil Burbridge (bass, percussion, and vocals), and Jeff Chimenti (keyboards). [1] [2] [3] [4] Jay Lane replaced Bill Kreutzmann on drums in 2023.
Dead & Company primarily perform Grateful Dead covers and is credited with popularizing Grateful Dead music to a younger audience. [5] In 2023, Lane replaced Kreutzmann as the band's second drummer for their final tour. [6] Their final tour was attended by over 840,000 fans, with the final show taking place in San Francisco, the birthplace of the Grateful Dead. [7]
At the tour's conclusion, John Mayer reassured fans that "Dead & Company is still a band," but the timing of future shows was uncertain. [8] Several months later, the band began a residency at Sphere in the Las Vegas Valley consisting of 30 shows from May to August 2024. [9] [10]
Mayer recounts that in 2011 he was listening to Pandora and happened upon the song "Althea" by the Grateful Dead from their 1980 album Go to Heaven . Impressed by the song, Mayer soon was exploring the Grateful Dead's music and felt creatively invigorated by Jerry Garcia's "phenomenally talented" musicianship to improve his own guitar playing. [11]
In February 2015, while Mayer was guest hosting The Late Late Show , he invited Grateful Dead guitar player Bob Weir to join him in a studio performance. A bond developed between the two, and while Weir and the other three surviving core members of the Grateful Dead were preparing for their 50th anniversary shows, dubbed Fare Thee Well, Mayer began practicing the band's large catalog of songs. That August, Mayer and original Grateful Dead members Weir, Hart, and Kreutzmann formed the band, along with keyboardist Jeff Chimenti (Furthur, RatDog) and bassist Oteil Burbridge (Allman Brothers Band, Aquarium Rescue Unit). Mayer expressed a particularly strong enthusiasm toward playing with the new band. [12] [13]
Phil Lesh, the bassist for the Grateful Dead, did not join Dead & Company. Instead he continued to perform with his band Phil Lesh and Friends. [14] [15] Mike Gordon of Phish was pursued for the bassist role but had to withdraw due to being too busy with other matters. [12]
Dead & Company initially announced only one concert date on October 31, 2015, at Madison Square Garden in New York, but announced a full tour, starting on October 29, shortly afterwards. [16] The shows were called "magical" ( Billboard ) and the tour was very well received. [17]
Following the band's final 2015 performance on December 31, 2015, Mayer told fans that they could expect more Dead & Company concerts in 2016, and this was confirmed by Weir when he was interviewed on Periscope. [18] The band initially had one performance confirmed for 2016 at the Bonnaroo Music Festival [19] but announced a full summer tour on February 8, 2016. [17] [20] On February 18, 2016, the band performed on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon to promote the tour. [21]
In 2016, Mayer and Weir expressed strong optimism about the band's future, including the possibility of new studio recordings. Mayer said he "will never close the door on Dead & Company, ever." [22] Weir spoke of a "cosmic, out-of-body vision" he had, and a subsequent dream, of the band continuing for decades hence:
We were playing...and suddenly I was viewing this from about 20 feet behind my head, and I looked over at John from that point of view and it was 20 years later and John was almost fully gray. I looked over at Oteil and his hair was white. I looked over to my left and Jeff's hair was all gray." [Then, looking to where he, Hart and Kreutzmann would be playing,] "it was new guys, younger guys holding forth, doing a great job...playing with fire and aplomb....It changed my whole view of what it is that we're up to. I find myself wondering, 'Well, what are they gonna be saying about this new approach or this honoring of this tradition? What are they gonna be saying about that in 200 or 300 years at the Berklee School of Music?' That's the kind of stuff that goes through my head now because this legacy here, there's a chance now that they'll be talking about us in years to come. So I find it incumbent on myself to think in those terms. [22]
When Dead & Company played their first festival performance at the 2016 Bonnaroo Music Festival, former Grateful Dead vocalist Donna Jean Godchaux sat in with the band for several songs. She joined the band again for their shows at Citi Field in Flushing, NY on June 25 and 26, 2016, and at Fenway Park in Boston, MA on July 15 and 16, 2016.
On December 1, 2016, Dead & Company officially announced their 2017 Summer Tour. [23] The tour began on May 27, 2017, and wrapped up on July 1, 2017. The tour consisted of 20 shows in 15 cities.
In a 2017 interview with Rolling Stone, Phil Lesh praised the band's performances, saying "I think they're doing a great job. They're bringing the music to the people just like we always wanted to do, and I commend them for it. I hope they're having a good time. It's not something I could do myself. I'm done with that kind of touring." [24]
On September 7, 2017, Dead & Company officially announced their Fall Tour 2017. [25] The tour began on November 12, 2017, and was scheduled to wrap up on December 8, 2017. However, on December 5, Mayer was hospitalized for an emergency appendectomy, which postponed the New Orleans show that night. Dead & Company subsequently postponed the remaining tour dates, rescheduling them in February, following several independent shows in Mexico. The Fall Tour consisted of 16 shows in 14 cities.
On May 30, 2018, the band began their 2018 summer tour, originally set to end on July 14 [26] but extended to include two shows at the Lockn' Festival on August 25 and 26. [27] [28] On February 15, 17 and 18, 2018, the band kicked off their inaugural Playing In The Sand concerts at the Barceló Maya resort in Riviera Maya, Mexico. [29]
From May 31 to July 6, the band played their 2019 Summer Tour. They performed 19 concerts at 14 locations across the U.S. [30] [31] The band played a short fall tour in New York City on October 31 and November 1 followed by 2 shows at Uniondale's Nassau Coliseum on November 5 and 6. They then moved south to Hampton, Virginia on November 8 and 9. [32] On December 27 and 28, they played at The Forum in Inglewood (Los Angeles), California as part of their "Fun Run" tour. On December 30 and 31, they played in their hometown of San Francisco at the Chase Center, featuring a bi-plane that descended from the ceiling of the Chase Center carrying the daughters of Jerry Garcia, Trixie Garcia and her half-sister, Ken Kesey's daughter Sunshine Kesey, dropping rose petals on the audience as they toured the arena. [33] [34]
In January 2020, Dead & Company played three concerts as part of the "Playing in the Sand" event at the Moon Palace resort in Cancún, Mexico. [35] The band planned on performing at New Orleans Jazz Fest [36] and to embark on a 2020 Summer Tour, consisting of 17 dates at 14 locations from July 10 to August 8, all of which were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. [37]
The band played a national tour in August through October 2021. [38] [39] Jay Lane joined Dead & Company as stand-in drummer while Bill Kreutzmann recovered from a non-COVID respiratory illness for their October 19 and 20, 2021 shows at Red Rocks in Morrison, CO, their October 22 and 23 shows at Fiddler's Green in Greenwood Village, CO, and their October 31 show at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles. [40] [41]
Dead & Company were scheduled to play six concerts – on January 7, 9, 10, 13, 15, and 16 – at the Playing in the Sand festival at the Moon Palace resort in Cancun. However, on January 6 the shows were cancelled due to a surge in cases of COVID-19. [42] [43]
In June and July 2022, the band played a 20-concert summer tour with only one concert being cancelled at Saratoga Performing Arts Center in Saratoga Springs, NY due to emergency health concerns with Mayer's father. [44] [45] [46]
The band continued their tradition of "Playing in the Sand" shows at a resort in Cancún from January 14 to 17, 2023. [47] [48]
On September 23, 2022, the band announced that their Summer 2023 concert series would be their final tour. [49] On October 6, 2022, they revealed the tour schedule, to run from May 19 through July 16, 2023. [50] [51] On April 22, 2023, it was announced by the band that Kreutzmann would not be performing or touring with Dead & Company during their final tour, due to a "shift in creative direction". [52]
On May 6, 2023, Dead & Company performed at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, with Jay Lane replacing Bill Kreutzmann in the lineup. [53] On May 8 the band played at Barton Hall in Ithaca, New York, the 46th anniversary of the Grateful Dead's May 8, 1977 concert at that venue. [54] On May 19 they played the first concert of their spring and summer tour. [55] On July 16, 2023, Dead and Company played the final show of the tour.
In an interview with ABC published on June 22, 2023, Hart left the door open for future Dead & Company shows, explaining, "It's not final anything. We never said we'll never play again, but we'll never tour again." [56]
In February 2024, the band announced they would be performing a concert residency at Sphere in the Las Vegas Valley. They played 30 shows from May 16 to August 10, 2024. [9] [57] [58] Coinciding with the band's opening night at Sphere, a temporary exhibit called the "Dead Forever Experience" opened at the Venetian resort. It contained archival material including backstage passes, ticket stubs, photos, and tapes. Additionally, Sirius XM's Grateful Dead Channel broadcast live from the venue in the "Deadhead Confessions Booth". [59] [60] The residency grossed $131.4 million from 477,000 tickets sold. [61]
The band has not released any studio recordings. Concert recordings from their 2016 to 2023 tours are available through their website, Livedead.co, and streaming on nugs.net and other major platforms. [62]
The band has played thirteen concerts that are not officially part of any tour:
The Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in Palo Alto, California in 1965, known for their eclectic style that fused elements of rock, blues, jazz, folk, country, bluegrass, rock and roll, gospel, reggae, and world music with psychedelia. The band is famous for improvisation during their live performances, and attracted a devoted fan base, known as "Deadheads". According to the musician and writer Lenny Kaye, the music of the Grateful Dead "touches on ground that most other groups don't even know exists." For the range of their influences and the structure of their live performances, the Grateful Dead are considered "the pioneering godfathers of the jam band world".
Phil Lesh and Friends is an American rock band formed and led by Phil Lesh, former bassist of the Grateful Dead.
William Kreutzmann Jr. is an American drummer and founding member of the rock band Grateful Dead. He played with the band for its entire thirty-year career, usually alongside fellow drummer Mickey Hart, and has continued to perform with former members of the Grateful Dead in various lineups, and with his own bands BK3, 7 Walkers and Billy & the Kids.
Robert Hall Weir is an American musician and songwriter best known as a founding member of the Grateful Dead. After the group disbanded in 1995, Weir performed with The Other Ones, later known as The Dead, together with other former members of the Grateful Dead. Weir also founded and played in several other bands during and after his career with the Grateful Dead, including Kingfish, the Bob Weir Band, Bobby and the Midnites, Scaring the Children, RatDog, and Furthur, which he co-led with former Grateful Dead bassist Phil Lesh. In 2015, Weir, along with former Grateful Dead members Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann, joined with Grammy-winning singer/guitarist John Mayer, bassist Oteil Burbridge, and keyboardist Jeff Chimenti to form the band Dead & Company.
Oteil Burbridge is an American multi-instrumentalist, specializing on the bass guitar, trained in playing jazz and classical music from an early age. He has achieved fame primarily on bass guitar during the resurgence of the Allman Brothers Band from 1997 through 2014, and as a founding member of the band Dead & Company. Burbridge was also a founding member of The Aquarium Rescue Unit and Tedeschi Trucks Band, with whom his brother Kofi Burbridge was the keyboardist and flautist. He has worked with other musicians including Bruce Hampton, Trey Anastasio, Page McConnell, Bill Kreutzmann and Derek Trucks.
Jeff Chimenti is an American keyboardist, best known for his ongoing work with former members of the Grateful Dead. Since May 1997 he has played with Bob Weir & RatDog, and has also played on every tour of The Dead and Furthur. He currently plays with Dead & Company.
The Dead was an American rock band composed of some of the former members of the Grateful Dead along with other musicians that were involved in some capacity with the "Dead Ethos". Throughout "The Dead's" career they had a revolving list of members leaving and joining the band including the former members of the Grateful Dead.
BK3 were an American rock band led by Grateful Dead drummer Bill Kreutzmann. Kreutzmann formed the band in 2008 with Max Creek guitarist Scott Murawski and Allman Brothers Band bassist Oteil Burbridge.
The Grateful Dead were an American rock band known for their lengthy, partially improvised performances, as well as for a loyal fan base who often followed the band for several shows or entire tours. They disbanded in 1995, following the death of de facto bandleader Jerry Garcia. Since then remaining members have reunited for a number of concert tours and one-off performances, often in very different configurations. The following is a list of instances where former Grateful Dead members have reunited.
Joe Russo's Almost Dead is an American rock band formed in 2013 that mainly covers the music of the Grateful Dead. Formed by Furthur and Benevento/Russo Duo drummer Joe Russo, the band played their first show on January 26, 2013 at the Brooklyn Bowl in Brooklyn, New York. In addition to drummer Joe Russo, the band also includes Ween's bassist Dave Dreiwitz, keyboardist Marco Benevento, Scott Metzger on guitar and vocals, and Tom Hamilton of Brothers Past and American Babies on guitar and vocals.
Billy & the Kids is an American rock band formed in 2014 by Grateful Dead drummer Bill Kreutzmann, Joe Russo's Almost Dead guitarist Tom Hamilton, Tea Leaf Green bassist Reed Mathis and the Disco Biscuits keyboardist Aron Magner.
Fare Thee Well: Celebrating 50 Years of the Grateful Dead was a series of concerts that were performed by most of the surviving members of the Grateful Dead: Bob Weir, Phil Lesh, Bill Kreutzmann and Mickey Hart, joined by Trey Anastasio, Bruce Hornsby and Jeff Chimenti, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Grateful Dead. The performances took place at Santa Clara's Levi Stadium on June 27 and 28, 2015 and Chicago's Soldier Field on July 3, 4 and 5, 2015. These performances marked the first time Weir, Lesh, Kreutzmann and Hart had performed together since the Dead's 2009 tour and was publicized as the final time the musicians would all perform together.
The Dead & Company 2015 Tour was a tour by the band Dead & Company that took place between October and December 2015. It was the band's debut tour.
The Dead & Company Summer Tour 2016 was a concert tour by the rock band Dead & Company during June and July 2016. It was the band's second tour, following their 2015 tour. At the band's final show for the 2015 tour at The Forum in Inglewood, California, John Mayer hinted that the band would continue touring in 2016, stating at the conclusion of the show, "At the risk of rocking any boats—known and unknown—we'll see you next year."
Dave's Picks Volume 18 is a three-CD live album by the rock band the Grateful Dead. It contains the complete concert recorded on July 17, 1976 at the Orpheum Theatre in San Francisco, California. It was produced as a limited edition of 16,500 copies, and released on May 1, 2016.
The Dead & Company Summer Tour 2017 was a concert tour by the rock band Dead & Company during May, June, and July 2017. It was the band’s third tour, following their 2016 tour. The Dead & Company Summer Tour 2017 took place between May 27 and July 1, 2017, comprising a total of 20 concerts in 15 different cities.
The Dead & Company Fall Tour 2017 is a concert tour by the rock band Dead & Company during November and December 2017. It is the band’s fourth tour, following their 2017 Summer Tour. The tour comprises a total of 15 concerts in 14 different cities between November 12 and February 27, 2018.
The Dead & Company Summer Tour 2018 is a concert tour by the rock band Dead & Company during May, June, and July 2018. It is the band’s fifth tour, following their 2017 Fall Tour. The tour comprises a total of 24 concerts in 19 different cities between May 30 and July 14, 2018.
Dead & Company Summer Tour 2019 was a concert tour by the rock band Dead & Company. It was the follow-up to the band's Dead & Company Summer Tour 2018. The tour comprised 19 dates across 14 locations from May 31 to July 6, 2019.
Dead & Company Fall Fun Run 2019 was a concert tour by the rock band Dead & Company. It followed the band's Summer Tour 2019. The tour comprised ten dates across five locations from October 31 to December 31, 2019.
Dead & Company is: Mickey Hart – Drums / Percussion; Bill Kreutzmann – Drums / Percussion; John Mayer – Guitar / Vocals; Bob Weir – Guitar / Vocal; Oteil Burbridge – Bass; Jeff Chimenti – Keys
The group includes three of the Grateful Dead's surviving core four: Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzmann and Bob Weir, joined by John Mayer ('I'm going in tonight, like a 1930s boxer,' he exclaimed); former Allman Brothers bassist Oteil Burbidge; and keyboardist Jeff Chimenti.