Watch: Dead & Company Welcome Renée Fleming for “Space” Vocal Improvisation, Debut Jimmy Cliff’s “The Harder They Come”
Photo credit: Jay Blakesberg
Over the weekend, Dead & Company returned to Las Vegas’ Sphere to set off the second frame of their three-tiered 2025 residency. After a year of outstanding stagings at the venue, the jam forerunners are still consistently upping the ante with new approaches, reverent historical homages and setlist surprises that more fully match Sphere’s immersive potential. The first three stagings of their new series were some of their most inventive yet; after presenting a residency debut of Kingfish’s “Supplication” and teasing the theme from The White Lotus on Thursday, April 17, the band’s performances on Friday and Saturday brought rare covers, a live debut and bold “Space” exploration with a very special guest.
Dead & Company kicked off their show on Friday night with a rollicking “Alabama Getaway,” which put the crowd in high spirits for an energetic and generally uplifting first set. The highlight of this sprint was undoubtedly the ensemble’s debut cover of Jimmy Cliff’s iconic 1972 reggae classic “The Harder They Come,” made famous for its inclusion in his celebrated music-crime film of the same name. Dead & Company’s first go at the standard, which was translated to their wheelhouse by its time in Jerry Garcia’s solo repertoire, was led by stirring vocals from bassist Oteil Burbridge.
After wrapping the first frame with a sweet treatment of Garcia’s “Sugaaree,” D&C shifted their tone for their second set with the traditional “Cold Rain and Snow,” followed by “Estimated Prophet,” “Eyes of the World” and “Row Jimmy.” Fans waited with bated breath as bandmates Bob Weir, John Mayer, Jeff Chimenti left the stage for a particularly tense “Drums,” charged with anticipation for acclaimed classical vocalist Renée Fleming, whose participation drummer Mickey Hart announced on Thursday. “I’ve been collaborating with Renée for decades,” Hart wrote on Facebook. “Often with my late beloved brother Zakir Hussain in the mix. Some of the best times of my life.”
As the final beats of “Drums” rang out, Burbridge and drummer Jay Lane left the stage to make way while Fleming walked on and took her place alongside Hart. While Hart conjured otherworldly tone poetry on The Beam, Fleming joined with her five-time Grammy and Kennedy Center Honors-awarded lyric soprano for trancelike vocal improvisation, wavering between bright outbursts of laughter, percussive consonance and soaring extended notes. At the conclusion of the unprecedented collaboration, the rest of the band re-emerged and moved fluidly into “Days Between,” then forged ahead to a touching cover of Bob Dylan’s “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” and a finale of “Ripple.”
On Saturday, Dead & Company cooled down from two unforgettable evenings with a more mellow performance, which nonetheless treated attendees to some standout songs. After opening with a romp through “Dancing in the Streets” and the sauntering, bluesy groove of “Truckin’,” the group lit up their second-ever performance of Eric Clapton’s “Lay Down Sally,” which they debuted at the second show of their Dead Forever 2025 residency on March 21. This classic Clapton cut, like “The Harder They Come,” found its way into the Grateful Dead universe through recurring spots in setlists from the Jerry Garcia Band. In Sunday’s second set, the group dug up one more cover from that corner of the canon with a warm and psychedelic run through The Beatles’ 1968 cut “Dear Prudence. Shortly afterwards, the sextet closed out their third weekend at Sphere of 2025 with the fitting “One More Saturday Night.”
For tickets and more information on Dead & Company’s Sphere residency, visit deadandcompany.com. Read on for the full setlists from Friday and Saturday night.
Dead & Company
Sphere – Las Vegas
4/18/25
Set I: Alabama Getaway, Shakedown Street, Althea, The Harder They Come*, Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo > Sugaree
Set II: Cold Rain and Snow, Estimated Prophet > Eyes of the World, Row Jimmy, Drums > Space+ > Days Between, Goin Down the Road Feelin Bad, Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door, Ripple
Notes:
* Dead & Company debut
+ w/ Renée Fleming
Dead & Company
Sphere – Las Vegas
4/19/25
Set I: Dancin’ in the Streets, Truckin’, Lay Down Sally, Tennessee Jed, Jack Straw, Casey Jones
Set II: Scarlet Begonias, Fire on the Mountain, He’s Gone, St. Stephen, Drums, Space, Dear Prudence, Brown-Eyed Women, Hell in a Bucket, Brokedown Palace, One More Saturday Night
