During Dead & Company’s current run of 30 shows at Las Vegas’ Sphere, no one is exercising the gift of gab on stage. As is typical for the Grateful Dead spinoff group, the music does all the talking, for three and a half hours — with additional non-verbal help from the world’s most advanced concert video design on the dome’s wrap-around screen. Although their playing makes it sound like the musicians are enjoying the experience every bit as much as the full houses every weekend, the band members haven’t stepped up to discuss what it’s been like to perform at the revolutionary venue… until now. And as you might expect or hope, they’re all bullish on playing in this particular china shop.
Grateful Dead co-founder Bob Weir and Dead & Company co-frontman John Mayer both spoke with PvNew a month into the nearly three-month engagement to share how they’re feeling about the unique combination of music and spectacular visuals. Our conversation with Weir is below, to be shortly followed by a chat with Mayer. (We already spoke with co-founding drummer Mickey Hart; read that earlier interview here.)