Photo Credit: Chloe Weir

Last night, Dead & Company added a new cover to their catalog after returning to the technologically advanced Sphere venue in Las Vegas for the onset of the fifth week of their current residency, (June 13). Sticking the script for the initial frame, the group of musicians performed a series of seven songs, ranging from Grateful Dead staples to a classic take on Johnny Cash’s “Big River,” following set break, the motif of seasoned plays resumed leading to the band’s debut, an extended take on Bob Dylan’s “I’ll Remember You.” 

Rather than sandwiching the new addition, Dead & Company put thought into their debut’s placement within the setlist, allowing the cosmic depths of Mickey Hart’s second set instrumental interlude, “Drums” > “Space,” to birth a star forged out of the thunderous rhythmic force–an inevitable drop in tempo, and the arrival of the remaining players for the official run through of the love ballad. Light instrumentation served Weir’s cowboy-tinged vocals on the 1985 Empire Burlesque originator, Dylan’s creation with members of Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, Mike Campbell, Benmont Tench and Howie Epstein.

Rather than stick to studio standards, Weir and his accomplices, John Mayer, Oteil Burbridge, Jeff Chimenti, Jay Lane and Hart, stretched the original composition, which originally clocks in at just over four minutes, to just over the nine-minute mark, scorned by the final emotive croons of “I’ll remember you…” On the other side of their debut, Dead & Company accentuated fan favorites, “Fire on the Mountain,” “Brown-Eyed Women,” and “Black Muddy River,” which led to the expected reel of old news broadcast videos featuring original Dead members across the screens, and final number, a fitting Dead Forever send off, “Not Fade Away.”

Scroll down to watch Dead & Company’s debut of Dylan’s “I’ll Remember You.”

Dead & Company 

The Sphere – Las Vegas 

June 13, 2024 

Set I: Alabama Getaway, Truckin’, Ramble on Rose, Mr. Charlie, Jack Straw, Big River, Althea 

Set II: St. Stephen > Scarlet Begonias > Franklin’s Tower > Dear Mr. Fantasy > Hey Jude > Drums > Space > I’ll Remember You+ > Fire on the Mountain, Brown-Eyed Women, Black Muddy River 

Enc.: Not Fade Away

Notes:

+ Debut