Dead & Company, Grateful Dead expensive — Photo and producet: StoreYourFace.com

What’s that, Deadhead? You’re complaining that you just spent your kid’s inheritance on last years so-called Final Tour?

But seriously, you didn’t really think that “Final Tour” meant no more Dead & Company shows, did you? Case in point: rewind 9 years to 2015 for the highly touted “Fare Thee Well: Celebrating 50 Years of the Grateful Dead,” extravaganza to know that as long as at least one member of the Grateful Dead is still alive, there will indeed be songs to fill the air.

Call it what you will; a night, a tour, or a run. Bring it and we will most assuredly come—Amex bills be damned.

Long before the final notes of Not Fade Away floated off into the sparkling evening sky at San Fransisco’s Oracle Stadium to close out the 2023 Final Summer Tour, murmurs had begun about the band’s future being focused on “runs" rather than “tours.” The speculation of a residency, such as the one U2 had been performing to great acclaim at the newly completed Sphere in Las Vegas gained legs when Bobby was spotted touring the venue and attending one of their shows.

Sure enough, the boys will be taking up residency for a whopping twenty-four show run, from May 16- July 13, 2024. The shows will be staggered, with each 3 night mini-run spanning Thursday night through Saturday night, other than Memorial Day Weekend, which which begins on Friday, May 24 and concludes on Sunday, May 26.

What is this Tie-Dyed Sphere in the sky?

The Sphere (yes, yes, we know the actual name is “Sphere”, not “The Sphere”, but it just sounds really weird) is a truly unique performance venue, designed by architecture firm Populous, in conjunction with the innovative interior design group ICRAVE, who were tasked with creating the one-of-a-kind interior and lighting plan for the largest spherical structure in the world. Las Vegas Sphere is a whopping 875,000 sq. feet, standing 366 ft tall and stretching 516 ft wide. The venue seats 18,600 people, with standing room for another 1400. For reference, the Syracuse Carrier Dome is 165', the Tacoma Dome is 152', MSG is 150’, although none of these are spherical.

Pre-Sale Clusterf*ck and Ca-freaking Ching!

The Artist Presale for VIP packages and VIP single shows were a highly predictable clusterfuck and just about killed the internet on Feb 5. If you were there, you found yourself in the waiting room que of anywhere between 10,000- 37,000 cursing as the ‘blue spinning wheel of death’ timed out and pushed you to the back of the que again. Those of us obsessive-compulsives who actually got through the were forced to make split-second decisions about which weekend and packages to choose, as they were initially selling out within minutes. After the first wave of ticket purchasing head-banging insanity, the band released additional date options through mid-July, those bastids. This made me long for the days where we created envelope art for mail order to sweeten our chances.

Does anyone remember the FUN way to get Dead tix?? Artist unknown. Dead Envelope art: Philly Spectrum

Pricing varies, depending on the package and section choice, and whether you choose VIP tickets-only, or a whole Vibee VIP bundle of tickets and hotel. For example, the final weekend of July 11-13th runs $3,598.83 per person for a 3-night-stay in a double occupancy room at the Venetian or Palazzo Tower in a luxury suite for up to 4 guests (excluding a daily resort fee). Included in this package is a choice of VIP sections with priority entry and “immersive exhibits and a pop-up shop” plus transportation to/from the airport, and other commemorative keepsakes. As tempting as those packages were, many of us jumped on the VIP train for a '‘3 night ticket-only package" which incorporated primo seat position for viewing.

dead Forever seating price vibee — ViBEE PRE-SALE SECTION/LISTINGS FOR DEAD FOREVER, LAS VEGAS

Currently, Ticketmaster listings of individual seats, using “dynamic pricing’’ (don’t get me started) currently range widely, depending on which weekend or show are searched for. Luckily, “Cash or Trade” and Deadhead groups on Facebook reflect a market glut, and it appears that anyone who wants tickets will get them at a decent price, and many are selling at a loss.

Sphere Report from the Phish Bowl

**PHISH at the SPHERE DURING “YOU ENJOY MYSELF” ON 4/19/24**

Phish friends (and Deadheads) Krista and Scotty from Seattle were among the few lucky ones who managed to obtain several tickets through the lottery, and chatted with me after their two-show Phish run. Both Krista and Scotty reported that while the experience was “phenomenal, amazing and stunning,” they found that processing all of that sensory input was intense. Scotty commented that that his brain literally felt tired after each show from taking it all in.

New Phish fan comedian Drew Carey has been heard gushing, “And then, like three songs into Thursday night with Phish at the Sphere I honestly was like kind of mad,” Carey said. “I wanted to call U2 and get my money back… That made them [U2] look like a bar band honestly.” Now, don’t get Carey wrong, he said U2 put on a “great show,” but he felt like Phish “took full advantage of the audio and the video in that place.”

Logistical Questions Answered by Phish friends:

How on earth are Deadheads going to dance on such a steep incline with a tiny seat space—the incline and slope can be up to a 45 degree angle, and the stairs have 9.7 inch treads!

Despite predictions to the contrary, our Phish friends witnessed no falls on the steep stairs, and commented that the incline and spacing were surprisingly manageable and that fears about falling and injuries appear to have been largely unfounded. Folks danced in front of their seats in the reserved sections without an issue. For fans who placed a priority on proximity and dance space over visuals and sound, General Admission is the way to go.

How was entering the venue?

Photo: VWolfermi on Reddit: Phish bottleneck getting into the sphere 4/18/24

For those fans entering through the Sphere tunnel that connects the Venetian Resort to the Sphere the first night of the 4 night run, it sucked donkey balls, which resulted in a veritable hippie riot and late arrivals to the show for many. By the second night, between group-think of phans avoiding the tunnel entrance, coupled with the venue and hotel adjusting door times, ingress was smooth.

How was the bag search and security? While a thorough bag search was conducted, the 6”x 6 x 2” bag rule was loosely followed, but not measured, despite venue policy (although this could also vary by entrance: your results may vary). Security inside the venue also seemed to vary by section. Important to note: facial recognition is in use throughout the venue, similar to the system used by the related MSG Entertainment Corp. This is a heavy corporate and commercial endeavor, and they are not screwing around. Let this be a warning; if you are spotted and thrown out for smoking a jay, using a Go-Pro, or even for sneaking in the opposite gender’s bathroom (true stories), facial recognition software will prevent you from re-entering the venue the following night, and possibly forever.

Water bottles? Guests were permitted to bring in one empty plastic water bottle, with no cap, so smuggle one in for your drinking pleasure. Are there really people who don’t kick over their drinks?

Altered States? People seemed less inebriated and altered than at a typical Phish show, and with cocktail prices starting at $20 and beers starting at $18 this likely added to the deterrent. One theory is that phans didn’t know what to expect from this venue, so went “lighter” on the hallucinogenics. Sphere has a strict no-smoking policy, but many folks snuck vape pens in for careful use without issue, and the smell of weed filled the air.

cocktail at $20 per. at Sphere las Vegas. NOPE!

Bathroom lines? Phish, whose fans are notoriously ‘bro-heavy’ had lines around the corner for the men’s room, and in a simple twist of fate— the ladies had none! Dead & Company usually has the opposite challenge.

Where did you sit at the Sphere? How were the sounds, haptics and visuals? Krista and Scotty’s seats were far left in Section 201 Row 5 for the first night, with no seat haptics. The second night they sat far right in Section 210, row 16, near an aisle, and although they didn’t love being on the side again, these seats were better because they were equipped with haptics, which enhanced the experience, particularly during Mike Gordon’s heavy bass lines or Fishman’s drum kicks.

Clip above: Sphere’s Speaker and Haptics: Jared Owen’s awesome vid)

Only about 10,000 of Sphere’s seats have haptic capability, which even include subwoofers built into the seats, designed to provide the best sound experience when seated, which actually initiates the haptic effect. Although Sphere does, or will, have the capability of using these haptics to release scents, air currents and movement, they were not in use for the Phish shows. There were some that swear that they felt air currents when airplane visuals were happening, although others wondered if this was the a/c. Krista and Scotty, who usually dance from start to finish, reinforced that the sound in the theater was truly best heard (and felt) when they actually seated, and highly recommended using the slower songs to experience the full sound experience by sitting for a while. Oteil’s bass runs are sure to be amazing. See video clip above for thorough explanation.

Did you have motion sickness or vertigo? Krista, who notes that she struggles with motion sickness, pre-medicated for the shows with Dramamine and had no significant issues, although she did close her eyes from time to time. Out of curiosity, she also made a field trip to Sections 300 and 400, and observed that this area was surprisingly ideal for the wide visual field, without any noticeable increase in vertigo.

Could you see the band from the higher sections? The obvious trade-off, naturally, was the ant-like appearance of the band from the 300-400’s, but since the priority at the Sphere is to utilize special effects and sounds, the screens don’t focus on the band and close ups of playing like fans are used to seeing on the big screens at the larger venues. Regarding General Admission, they did note that the venue sold a what looked like a reasonable and limited number of GA floor tickets, which made for a comfortable experience for concert-goers who preferred proximity to the band and space for dancing as opposed to the gestalt of the experience.

How were the visual effects? “PHENOMENAL!” A couple of reviewers mention some small misses, but an enthusiastic consensus seems to have been that the sphere achieved psychedelic lift-off, and is warmed up and ready to go for the debut of Dead Forever on opening weekend, May 16.

I think that it’s fair to say that we’re all going to hell in a bucket..and, well, you should know the rest by now. And as long as it stays in Vegas, baby…

Please leave comments about your experience at the Sphere, or your thoughts about the upcoming Dead Forever run below, under the social media icons. We’d love to feature your review and or photos!