Las Vegas Strip Sphere brings on huge rock band for residency

The most spectacular music venue to open on the Las Vegas Strip in many years has been Sphere Entertainment's  (SPHR) - Get Free Report Sphere at The Venetian Resort, which opened on Sept. 29, 2023, with superstar rock band U2 opening its U2/UV Achtung Baby Live at the Sphere residency. 

U2 originally planned a 25-show residency, which it later expanded to 40 dates, that concludes on March 2. In April 2023, when U2 was selling out its first shows of its Sphere residency, rumors were circulating that former One Direction member and popular solo artist Harry Styles might be the next performer to take residency at the Sphere after U2 departs. But those rumors faded and the second residency was revealed.

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Phish plays four nights at the Sphere

Sphere Entertainment in November said that popular jam band Phish would follow U2 at the Sphere performing four shows April 18, 19, 20 and 21. The band's website said that these would be the band's only shows at the Sphere in 2024. In December, rumors speculated that Dead & Company would be the next residency, but rumors had been wrong before. 

Grateful Dead spinoff band Dead & Company completed what they called their Final Tour at Oracle Park in San Francisco on July 16, 2023. The band, which consists of original Grateful Dead members Bob Weir, Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann, along with John Mayer, Otiel Burbridge and Jeff Chimenti, is the most recent spinoff from the band.

Previous spinoffs included The Dead and The Other Ones, which formed in 1998 after Grateful Dead guitarist Jerry Garcia's death in 1995.

The Grateful Dead would perform a total of 18 shows in Las Vegas over the years. Sin City had become a regular stop on Grateful Dead tours in the 1980's and 1990's after the band made its first visit to Vegas at the Ice Palace in 1969. The band played the Aladdin Theater in 1981, 1983 and 1984 and returned for two shows at Sam Boyd Silver Bowl (later named Sam Boyd Stadium) in 1991, before booking three-show stands in each year from 1992-95.

Despite completing their "final tour," Dead & Company has not retired from the stage. A video message that showed up Jan. 31 on the band's Facebook page states in text: "In 2023, Dead & Company played their final tour. But there are other ways to make sure the music never stops. And it's gonna be a ball."

The text message is followed by a video clip of the Las Vegas Sphere displaying psychedelic colors with the Grateful Dead's iconic "Steal Your Face" logo superimposed over the Sphere, with a final message on the video, "Forever" that includes a lightning bolt shooting through the letter "o."

Dead & Company will be the third Las Vegas Sphere residency

That gives it all away. Dead & Company seems to be confirming that they are coming to the Sphere soon. The New York Post on Jan. 31 reported that a source close to the situation revealed that the band will be the third residency at the Sphere after U2 closes its 40-show run in March and Phish finishes its four-show residency April 18-21.

Dead & Company is expected to perform a 14-show residency at the Sphere beginning in May, the Post reported. Details about the residency will be revealed within the next few days, the source said.