After checking in from Sphere rehearsals with Dead & Company in Las Vegas on Monday, John Mayer has shared some behind-the-scenes photos of his custom speaker build-out for this year’s run—complete with scale-model Deadhead living rooms hidden inside.
“CHECK THIS OUT!” Mayer wrote in a post on Instagram on Tuesday alongside photos and videos of two speaker setups. “For last year’s [Dead & Company] run at [Sphere], I overcame a guitar tone engineering challenge through the help of large crates that could isolate the speakers from other mics while giving a little more ambience to the sound. This year, two brilliant minds have taken it to another level. This is the brainchild of my guitar tech Jeremy Nielsen and Chris Owens, who designs and builds incredible (full size) recording studios. The dictionary definition of wonderful.”
The “wonderful” creations to which the post refers are a pair of custom interior jobs that transformed the aforementioned crates from practical necessities into detailed winks at Grateful Dead culture. The first crate has been affixed with hardwood floors, a couch and coffee table, house plants, and a 13-point bolt neon sign, emulating the vibe of a recording studio or an upscale apartment—perhaps a nod to the cleaner-cut, more societally established core of the modern Dead & Co fanbase. The second “interior: speaker crate” scene leans into dorm room stoner cliches with blacklight paintings of mushrooms, cannabis leaves, and lips alongside a lava lamp, a disco ball, and more of the sort of starter-pack psychedelia that has young souls traveling down the Golden Road for decades.
Related: Here’s Where To Find Shakedown Street For Dead & Company Sphere 2025
“Should I put a mic and a GoPro in here during shows?” Mayer asked at the end of his post. John, if you’re reading this… yes. Yes you should. Check out the photos and videos of the hidden rooms inside John Mayer’s Dead & Company Sphere speaker crates and other images from rehearsals below.
Dead & Company will kick off the 18-date 2025 edition of Dead Forever at Sphere in Las Vegas, NV on March 20th, 21st, and 22nd. For a complete list of upcoming dates and ticketing details, head here.
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