About 18,000 more faces were stolen from the Las Vegas Sphere on Friday night as Dead & Company played the second of 24 scheduled shows at the technologically groundbreaking venue. As is customary with costumes associated with the Grateful Dead, many fans naturally purchased tickets to multiple nights of the residency, assuming that no two shows would be the same. So Night 2 was destined to provide at least a partial answer to the following questions: Now what will be standardized and what will be variable by the end of the eight-week run from night to night?
Diversity I've already reviewed the opening night of the Dead & Company run (read about it here ), and for comparison's sake I was home again on Friday and also checked to see if any of the brain matter I had left behind the night before had turned into brain matter. Lost & Found Center.
In a nutshell… Visual Content: About 85% the same. Music content: 0% identical.
Or technically, as far as setlists go, they're 10% the same. The two “songs” played every night, “Drums” and “Space,” were (and probably always will be) shelved. But most fans probably wouldn't consider it repeat content. Because these two titles represent an opportunity for veteran Dead drummer Mickey Hart and several members to do their thing with all the percussion instruments, followed by a bit of jamming, and then come back. To the intellectually more understandable parts of the show. Trust us. Outliers in the “drums” set may be the parts of each concert that will win a vote on what should be repeated. More on that later.
The fact that the setlist was completely different from day 1 was actually predictable in terms of unpredictability. (Scroll down for the full list of songs.) When Dead & Company officially ended their touring career last summer at San Francisco's Oracle Park (but with the proviso that one-offs or residencies like this may continue to happen in the future), There were no repeats over the three nights. So it's completely natural that the group would spend a three-day weekend at the Sphere, despite the show scheduled for nearly four hours there. including rest periods).
But as for the vaunted visuals… As we evaluated the opening night, we assumed that at least some, if not all, of these set pieces would inevitably be repeated, and we were right. There may have been some disappointment for some returning customers who thought they would come back and have their minds blown. totally In another way, I doubt many returnees would have regretted seeing again the already classic A/V spectacle, in which the camera zooms out from Haight-Ashbury to a hovering position above the Earth during the second number. Or experience a second ride with the trademark Grateful Dead skull through cheerful, psychedelic scenery during the second set.
A few bits are new for night two, such as the sculpture near the end of the show where a giant, shiny tire appears to spin through outer space. It's unclear whether this is an element that could be rotated in and out of production, or perhaps it wasn't completed in time for night one. Something strange happened.
There was only one really important set piece that was fresh by the second night and it was a really great set. The sequence involved visits to several of the most iconic locations the Grateful Dead had played over the years. It started outside the Winterland Ballroom (with the promise of a faux marquee for the New Year's Eve show). Taken to Red Rocks, Colorado, images of live band members were inserted into mountain structures jutting out of the ground on the far left and right sides of the Sphere screen. The montage ended naturally in San Francisco, outside the legendary Fillmore.
But the most visually arresting minute or two of this sequence came when the Sphere screen took the entire audience inside the barn-like structure of Cornell University, the site of a memorable 1970s show for fans. You might not expect this animated recreation of a humble college theater to surpass the visual splendor of Red Rocks, but the effect is truly stunning. Making full use of Sphere's wraparound screens felt as if we were physically transported to a different performance space, one with traditional ceilings, walls and corners as part of the perspective. It may seem impossible in a space as completely curved as the Sphere, but the illusion was perfect. Whoever created this special little moment in the show deserves some kind of award for their breakthrough in physics.
Another minor difference from Night 1: The historic Dead poster art, backstage passes, and ticket stubs that fill the entire screen are retained. But there was no moment on Thursday's show where a switch was flipped and everything seemed suddenly. As if under a huge black light. It's not a big deal in the grand scheme of things, but I slightly missed that delightful visual twist.
Is it important that it's now established that the visuals won't be strictly limited to the songs, as they were in U2's previous Sphere deal with Phish? Probably not much. Repeat attendees will certainly have opinions and renders as to whether the second night's “Shakedown Street” was a better choice to accompany the Haight-Ashbury-into-space sequence than “Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Tuodeloo.” Or maybe there might be a better choice at some point in the 22 shows yet to come. (To our eyes, it seemed like a draw of sorts.) Would a round-trip from space to science fiction that reverses the entire process in the second number have been better off with “Knockin' on Heaven's Door” as its opening soundtrack? Night, or the “morning dew” of night 2? Both worked quite effectively.
It's fair to say that on Friday night, “US Blues” seemed like an excellent choice for a song with dead skeletons flying in helicopters. It's just that the reference to Uncle Sam in the lyrics seemed intentional or had some connection. In the red, white and blue duster and hat of the inadvertently animated Dead guy. Additionally, Johnny Cash's “Big River” was an especially good choice to play during the night segment, which featured sepia footage of Monument Valley and other desert scenes and introduced “Bob Weir as 'Ace'” in some Cinemascope-era style credits. On opening night. The group's cover of the Crickets' “Not Fade Away” seemed like the perfect underline for a final montage of Grateful Dead family members, living and dead. But who would complain about listening to Bobby “Blue” Bland's “Turn on Your Love Light”? A bravely sentimental place instead? Well, maybe someone does, but probably not us.
A few random notes popped up on the second night.
John Mayer is now highly regarded as a guitar great in both cool and not-so-cool circles, but it seems possible that he will never be regarded highly enough. We need to talk more about John Mayer's guitar playing.
And pro tip: Take a seat during Hart's “drums” extravaganza. This is a command. Let me explain why. On opening night, many audience members were on their feet. The second night almost everyone sat down, not sure if because that's what they do during the “drum solo” (to lighten the load) or if everyone was already in on the secret. And the secret is that every seat in the Sphere has speakers built into it. (Sorry GA floor ticket holders, this doesn't apply to you.) And since the device is designed more to enhance the presentation of movies like “Postcard From Earth,” it's mostly used during rock shows at the venue. It doesn't seem to work. However, these seat speakers stay on during 'Drums' and eventually turn on. Look up to see a CGI montage of percussion instruments rotating around the top of the Sphere dome, with the rear end rattling towards the truly intimate bottom end. Well, I think it's best to avoid the sexual connotations here. Suffice it to say that it would be the worst use of your ass if you chose this sequence to take out your wallet and leave for an expensive cocktail.
There’s no guarantee that “Drums” will be as transcendent every night as it was on Friday. Hart always receives assistance from second drummer Jay Lane and bassist Oteil Burbridge while playing long instrumental parts. He proves that his rhythm section mastery is not limited to one instrument. But he got additional support from Karl Perazzo, who usually performs with Santana at the House of Blues on Fridays but takes the night off. Pictured smiling on the big screen, Perazzo looked like he was in pig heaven. We knew that feeling.
Dead and Company setlist, Sphere in Las Vegas, May 17, 2024:
set 1
Samson and Delilah
Shakedown Street
bertha
Crazy Fingers
drink
good love
transaction
set 2
chinese cat sunflower
i know you rider
putative prophet
cumberland blues
the other one
drum
space
black peter
Altea
american blues
morning dew
Turn on your love light