After kicking off their 2025 Dead Forever residency on Thursday night, Dead & Company returned to Sphere on Friday and treated fans to an outstanding, jam-heavy performance featuring more new visuals and the band’s live debut of Eric Clapton‘s “Lay Down Sally”.

Even before showtime, the energy was electric as fans gathered outside and made their way into the venue. Compared to opening night, there were far more hopefuls with fingers in the air, silently pleading for “miracle” tickets. Whether it was the lingering excitement from Thursday’s show or the weekend finally arriving, the atmosphere crackled with anticipation, setting the stage for a truly special evening.

Upon taking the stage, Bob Weir, John Mayer, Mickey Hart, Oteil Burbridge, Jeff Chimenti, and Jay Lane greeted fans with “Cold Rain and Snow”. Mayer wielded a replica version of Jerry Garcia‘s famous “Alligator” strat, which he previously played with Dead & Company during the band’s 2024 Sphere residency.

After the opening salvo, the Sphere scaffolding once again opened up to reveal the Grateful Dead‘s 1960s stronghold, 710 Ashbury, and a blimp could be seen floating in the distance with “60 years” on the side, a nod to the band’s 60-year anniversary.

The familiar ascension from San Francisco to the celestial realm took place during a high-energy “Shakedown Street”, which saw the introduction of new visuals. After a satellite flew by with a whooshing sound effect, the eye of Horus appeared, and then a tunnel opened up and golden hieroglyphs and symbols from Egyptian iconography zoomed by as the entire venue was sucked in. At the end of the wormhole was a lifelike recreation of Egypt’s Great Pyramids of Giza, where the Dead famously played three shows in 1978.

Burbridge, who represents his own connection to Egypt with an ankh on his bass, danced with crazy legs during an upbeat “Cumberland Blues”, which was accompanied by visuals of iconic venues from Grateful Dead history including Cornell, Winterland, Red Rocks, Radio City Music Hall, Madison Square Garden, and Hampton Coliseum.

One of the highlights of the night then arrived with the Dead & Co. debut of “Lay Down Sally”, which saw the introduction of more new visuals. “Tennessee Jed” was another highlight of the set, which finished with a dynamic version of “Sugaree” that was replete with high energy peaks and masterfully navigated volume dips.

Having gotten warmed up in set one, the band returned for set two ready to get down to business. “Uncle John’s Band” got things off to a jammy start, with the whole band gradually ramping up the energy during the song’s odd-timed 7/4 improv section. Chimenti was especially locked in with Mayer, listening and responding to his melodic phrases on electric piano until the band telepathically navigated from the jam’s peak back down to the song’s outro, which featured well-rehearsed vocal harmonies.

After that incendiary start, Dead & Company cooled down during “Estimated Prophet”, another song utilizing an odd 7/4 time signature, which featured new otherworldly visuals. They jammed right into “Eye of the World”—perhaps the visual highlight of the night with its accompanying collage of Grateful Dead iconography. The colorful display was a psychedelic circus scene, with daredevil skeletons performing death-defying stunts. It was a highly stimulating, near overwhelming amount of visual information, but beautifully done and impressive to say the least. In addition to the in-your-face visuals, “Eyes” featured both a standout piano solo from Jeff and the first of two memorable bass solos from Oteil.

“St. Stephen” was without a doubt the biggest jam of the run so far and included a brief tribute to Phil Lesh. The crowd cheered loudly when the late bassist’s image appeared on the screen and when Bob Weir sang his “lady finger dipped in moonlight” part.

Having jammed on just four songs for over an hour, the band transitioned right into “Drums”, which began with Mickey creating low-frequency rumbles on the beam. Once he joined Jay Lane on their conjoined, backward-facing percussion rig, it was hard to tell if the seats were vibrating because the Sphere’s haptic technology or just extreme bass. It is rare for “Drums” to feature hand drums, but this version saw Jay switch to djembe as Oteil returned to the stage and joined in the fun.

Mickey called commands into a talkback microphone that Oteil and Jay could apparently hear in the in-ear monitors, like a military general leading his troops on the battlefield. He finished “Drums” alone, playing his assorted synths and the beam like an artist painting with his brush, before nodding in approval at the sonic landscape he created and exiting the stage while his final notes still resounded.

It would typically be at that point that John, Bob, Jeff, and Oteil would return to the stage for “Space”, but this time Oteil came out alone and played a gorgeous bass solo, baring his soul to the crowd with a sea of stars and cosmic nebulae behind him. The intimate moment shared between the beloved bassist and congregation of fans was a musical highlight of the show, though it didn’t last long before John, Bob, and Jeff joined him, gently blending in with his beautiful harmonies before segueing into a powerful “Wharf Rat”.

Once the drummers returned to the stage, the band waded into a slow but profound jam, with each member playing their part to create a cohesive whole. The energy then picked back up with “U.S. Blues”, which started out with the familiar sight of skeleton Uncle Sam dancing in a graveyard before mounting his motorcycle. This time, though, his route led to Sin City, where he rode down Las Vegas Boulevard and straight to a virtual Sphere.

The energy stayed high as the descent back down to Earth began during “Throwing Stones”. Upon landing back in front of 710 Ashbury, the same vintage newscast that played at the end of each show in 2024 returned instead of the quote from Phil Lesh that played on Thursday. The band then closed out a truly outstanding set, and night two of the residency, with a triumphant “Casey Jones”.

Click below to view fan-shot videos and a gallery of photos from Night 2 of Dead Forever 2025 at Sphere via Rich Fury/Sphere Entertainment, Jay Blakesberg/Dead & Company, Chloe Weir/Dead & Company, and Alive Coverage.

Dead & Company return to Sphere tonight to cap off weekend one of the band’s 18-show run. Find a full list of upcoming dates and ticketing information here.

Dead & Company – “Lay Down Sally” (Eric Clapton) – 3/21/25

[Video: Connor Young]

Dead & Company – “Estimated Prophet” – 3/21/25

[Video: Drabmols]

Dead & Company – “Eyes Of The World” – 3/21/25

[Video: Connor Young]

Dead & Company – “St. Stephen” – 3/21/25

[Video: Rock N Roll Videos]

Dead & Company – “Wharf Rat” – 3/21/25

[Video: Rock N Roll Videos]

Dead & Company – “U.S. Blues” – 3/21/25

[Video: Rock N Roll Videos]

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Setlist: Dead & Company | Sphere | Las Vegas, NV | 3/21/25
Set 1: Cold Rain and Snow (Traditional), Shakedown Street, Cumberland Blues, Lay Down Sally (Eric Clapton), Tennessee Jed, Sugaree (Jerry Garcia)
Set 2: Uncle John’s Band, Estimated Prophet > Eyes of the World, St. Stephen > Drums > Space > Wharf Rat, U.S. Blues, Throwing Stones, Old News Broadcast of the Grateful Dead, Casey Jones