“A Community of Spirit With The Music”: Dead & Company Conclude 2025 Sphere Residency with “I Fought The Law” Debut, Setlist Shakeups and Message From Phil Lesh

Photo Credit: Alive Coverage

Dead & Company returned to Las Vegas’ state-of-the-art Sphere location for the final performances of their venue-specific residency, beginning on Thursday, May 15. Night one of three brought catalog highlights to the forefront, accentuated by exemplary showmanship as the sextet flexed 10 years of amity atop six decades of Grateful Dead history. 

With five previous weekends and 16 shows [from this specific residency] under their belts, Dead & Company’s stamina remained exhilarated from night to night with a sense of knowing: deliberately placed setlist inclusion that stimulated the crowd with a sense of awe through their song choice, delivery, and galvanizing graphics. 

The group’s 17th residency performance of this calendar year, on Friday, May 16, began with a meticulously measured cover of Bob Dylan’s “When I Paint My Masterpiece.” This seemed intentionally paced for bandleader Bob Weir, who thoughtfully conveyed the emotions of artistic rendering for the first time since June 2024. The song represented a 2025 residency debut for the band, which followed up with the classic “Playing in the Band.”

“Althea” was scorched by Mayer, who flexed his guitar heroics and tonal connection to Garcia, before imparting a subliminal message to the audience on “The Music Never Stopped.” Dead & Company’s initial set on Friday night featured a beloved piece of the Reflections catalog, “They Love Each Other,” before a little time on the mountain, and a little time on the hill, via “New Speedway Boogie.” Eventually, a frame-ending take on “Deal” brought the band to their equidistant pause. 

Upon their return, Dead & Company sought an entry for a first-time cover, picking up The Crickets’ original “I Fought The Law.” According to the setlist.FM, the Grateful Dead performed the song 36 times total, beginning on March 14, 1993, at Richfield Coliseum in Richfield, Ohio, arriving as an encore, a position it typically took, including during its final performance by the Garcia-fronted outfit, on June 22, 1995, at the famed Kicknerbocker Arena in Albany, N.Y. 

The first-time arrival merged into a follow-up of “Dark Star,” which was cut with a rare “Spanish Jam” inclusion. Dead & Company let seconds collect before turning their attention to a crowd-appropriated “St. Stephen,” sans “William Tell” or “The Eleven.” Rather than give weight to the suite, the band worked through a sultry “Sugaree” before the expected second set midsection, “Drums” > “Space.” 

From the outro of Mickey Hart’s dream world came a staggering “Stella Blue.” Fixed on the forecast, the band kept up references to the environment on “Cold Rain and Snow” and “Morning Dew.” Wilson Pickett’s “Midnight Hour” served as the final piece of Friday’s concert, representing the eighth time this specific group has covered the mid-‘60s era release. 

During the band’s Sphere finale, they presented setlist shakeups, with traditional second set pairings making their way forward, including the Blues for Allah suite, “Help” > “Slip!” > “Frank,” which percolated after the concert starter, “Feel Like a Stranger.” The ensemble kept spirits high with the arrival of fan favorite “Tennessee Jed,” and a well-received ode to Jerry Garcia’s archive by way of the Jimmy Cliff original, “The Harder They Come.” 

The band’s final frame conjured a reference to late bassist Phil Lesh on “Passenger” before sister songs “Scarlet Begonias” > “Fire on the Mountain.” For fans of PNW history, the placement of “FOTM” could have alluded to the 45th anniversary of Mount St. Helens’ May 18, 1980 eruption, which the Dead immortalized during their subsequent June 12, 1980 performance at Portland Memorial Coliseum. Listen here. 

“Estimated Prophet” kept the audience on their toes, seizing the Terrapin Station cut, which ran into “Eyes of the World,” and in time, “Drums” and “Space.” Coming out of the latter, the band sought a reflective moment to draw on lovers’ past via “Looks Like Rain.” Set two conjured a pair of Bob Dylan covers that doubled as the final songs of Dead & Company’s 2025 residency, “Tangled Up in Blue” and “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door.”

Ahead of the night’s encore [“Ripple”], the late Phil Lesh delivered a message on “gestalt,” a vital component of the band experience with each other and their devoted following: 

“The way that we thought of our music was kind of our communion ritual. So that we commune with each other for what we thought of as a group mind, and that brings the music about, and when we can transmit that to the audience, they send us energy back. That was the main reason we played music to get that commune going and a sense of community. What we were doing was just in the original sense of the word, which means to bind together. We’re trying to create a community of spirit with the music.” 

After closing out their 2025 residency in Las Vegas, Dead & Company are expected to participate in a three-day celebration at San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park, August 1-3. Read more.

Scroll down to view setlists from Friday and Saturday night.  

Dead & Company 

Sphere – Las Vegas 

May 16, 2025 

Set I: When I Paint My Masterpiece#, Playing in the Band, Althea, The Music Never Stopped, They Love Each Other, New Speedway Boogie, Deal

Set II: I Fought the Law+, Dark Star, Spanish Jam, St. Stephen, Sugaree, Drums, Space, Stella Blue, Cold Rain and Snow, Morning Dew

Enc.: In The Midnight Hour 

Notes:

# 2025 residency debut

+ Crickets cover, First time play/ debut 

Dead & Company 

Sphere – Las Vegas 

May 17, 2025

Set I: Feel Like a Stranger, Help on the Way, Slipknot!, Franklin’s Tower, Tennessee Jed, The Harder They Come, Casey Jones

Set II: Passenger, Scarlet Begonias, Fire on the Mountain, Estimated Prophet, Eyes of the World, Drums, Space, Looks Like Rain, Tangled Up in Blue, Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door

Enc.: Ripple