Features
Dead & Company Books Summer 2017 Tour
With a Facebook post declaring, “The music never stopped! Summer tour anyone?” Dead & Company unveils plans for a U.S. expedition that will keep the band busy from late May through July.
Dead & Company has had a pretty fantastic year on the road. The band ranked No. 39 on Pollstar’s Mid-Year North American Tours chart, grossing 12.7 million and selling roughly 169,000 tickets between January and June 30. The tour continued in July with a batch of shows that included two nights at Folsom Field in Boulder, Colo., and two nights at Boston’s Fenway Park.
The group is made up former Grateful Dead members Bob Weir, Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann, along with John Mayer on vocals/guitar, Allman Brothers’ Oteil Burbridge on bass and Rat Dog / The Dead / Furthur keyboardist Jeff Chimenti on keyboard.
Dead & Company made its debut in October 2015, four months after the surviving members of the Grateful Dead celebrated the band’s 50th anniversary and said goodbye to fans with a handful of shows in Santa Clara, Calif., and Chicago dubbed “Fare Thee Well.”
In addition to selling plenty of tickets, Dead & Company has been earning glowing reviews from critics.
The Oakland Press reviewed the band’s July 7 show at the DTE Energy Music Theatre in Clarkston, Mich.
The publication’s Gary Graff writes, “With visibly and audibly fresh energy provided by newcomers John Mayer and Oteil Burbridge, the new model Dead held true to the highly improvised, thrill-ride style Deadheads hold so dear. Over the course of an 18-song show whose three hours of music (plus a 40-minute intermission) ran right up to the venue curfew of 11 p.m., the sextet … served up A-list favorites (“Truckin’,” “Casey Jones,” “Playing In the Band”) along with an array of intriguing covers it made its own, everything dosed with epic-length solos that straddled a line between the earthy and the psychedelic.”
The 2017 summer tour begins May 27 in Las Vegas.
May 27 – Las Vegas, Nev., MGM Grand Garden Arena
May 28 – Phoenix, Ariz., Ak-Chin Pavilion
May 31 – Los Angeles, Calif., Hollywood Bowl
June 3 – Mountain View, Calif., Shoreline Amphitheatre
June 4 – Mountain View, Calif., Shoreline Amphitheatre
June 7 – Salt Lake City, Utah, Usana Amphitheatre
June 9 – Boulder, Colo., Folsom Field
June 10 – Boulder, Colo., Folsom Field
June 13 – Atlanta, Ga., Lakewood Amphitheatre
June 15 – Burgettstown, Pa., KeyBank Pavilion
June 17 – Boston, Mass., Fenway Park
June 18 – Boston, Mass., Fenway Park
June 20 – Saratoga Springs, N.Y., Saratoga Performing Arts Center
June 22 – Bristow, Va., Jiffy Lube Live
June 24 – New York, N.Y., Citi Field
June 25 – Camden, N.J., BB&T Pavilion
June 28 – Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, Blossom Music Center
June 30 – Chicago, Ill., Wrigley Field
July 1 – Chicago, Ill., Wrigley Field
General onsales for most dates begin Dec. 9.
Although the band isn’t using its mail-in ticketing service like the old days, Dead & Company is offering a “verified fan presale” that begins Dec. 5. Fans can register for the opportunity to take part in the presale. If you’re selected you’ll receive a text with instructions. Click here for more information.