Dead & Company have kicked off their residency at The Sphere in Las Vegas: The show looks completely batshit

(Image credit: Alive Coverage)

Dead & Company have made their live debut at The Sphere in Las Vegas, the revolutionary $2.3billion venue that opened its doors last year. The band, who were formed by former Grateful Dead members Bob Weir, Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann in 2015, completed a 19-song set at the first of 24 shows at the revolutionary venue.

Dead & Company undertook their final tour last year, ending with a three-night stint at Oracle Park in San Francisco in July, but always left themselves open to the possibility of further events, and announced the Sphere residency in February.

The band's set at the Sphere opened with Feel Like a Stranger and included Grateful Dead classics like Slipknot!, St. Stephen and Brown Eyed Woman, plus covers of songs by Jerry Garcia and John Phillips as well as the traditional encore, Buddy Holly's Not Fade Away.

The show also featured predictably stunning visuals, making full use of the venue's 15,000m2 of LED screens and 164,000 speakers. It's a long and strange trip the band have been on, and it may have finally peaked - check out our gallery below.

Dead & Company's current lineup features Weir and Hart, plus John Mayer, Oteil Burbridge, Jeff Chimenti and Jay Lane, who replaced Bill Kreutzmann last year. The band's next show at The Sphere is tonight (May 17), while the residency runs until July 13. Tickets are on sale now.

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Dead & Company onstage at The Sphere, Las Vegas — (Image credit: Rich Fury)

Dead & Company: The Sphere Las Vegas - Opening Night Playlist

Feel Like A Stranger
Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo
Jack Straw
Bird Song (Jerry Garcia cover)
Me and My Uncle (John Phillips cover)
Brown-Eyed Women
Cold Rain And Snow ([traditional] cover)Uncle John's Band
Help on the Way
Slipknot!
Franklin's Tower
He's Gone
Drums/Space
Standing on the Moon
St. Stephen
Hell In A Bucket
Knockin' On Heaven's Door (Bob Dylan cover)

Encore
Not Fade Away (Buddy Holly cover)

Online Editor at Louder/Classic Rock magazine since 2014. 40 years in music industry, online for 27. Also bylines for: Metal Hammer, Prog Magazine, The Word Magazine, The Guardian, The New Statesman, Saga, Music365. Former Head of Music at Xfm Radio, A&R at Fiction Records, early blogger, ex-roadie, published author. Once appeared in a Cure video dressed as a cowboy, and thinks any situation can be improved by the introduction of cats. Favourite Serbian trumpeter: Dejan Petrović.