As Mickey Hart and fans alike await the third album from his Planet Drum percussive collective, the Grateful Dead drummer announced on Thursday that he will incorporate sequences from In The Groove on the upcoming Dead & Company summer tour. Planet Drum’s first album in 15 years is out on August 5th.
Similar to what Hart did on Dead & Company’s 2021 summer tour with Dr. Steven Feld‘s Voices of the Rainforest album, the drummer will incorporate sequences—also known as “Zones”—from the new Planet Drum material. Hart will put these samplings to use during the “Drums” and “Space” sequence alongside fellow Rhythm Devil Bill Kreutzmann. The exploratory instrumental segment of the second set has served as a showcase for Hart’s world influences dating back to the Dead’s 1978 trip to Egypt when Egyptian Nubian composer Hamza El Din joined in on “Drums”.
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Following Dead & Company’s summer tour, set to begin on June 11th at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles and close with two nights at City Field in New York on July 15th and 16th, Hart will celebrate the release of In The Groove on August 5th. To commemorate the release, Planet Drum will stage a two-night run at The Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, NY on August 5th and 6th. Prior to this, the ensemble—which also features Zakir Hussain, Giovanni Hidalgo, and Sikiru Adepoju—performed its first show in 15 years on May 1st at Frost Amphitheater in Palo Alto, CA on a split bill with Bob Weir & Wolf Bros.
Pre-order the upcoming Planet Drum album In The Groove here and visit The Capitol Theatre website for tickets to the release shows. Scroll down for a full list of Dead & Company tour dates and head here for tickets.