Band is prepping to say goodbye next summer
Dead & Company will embark on its final tour in 2023. The group shares that next summer will be their final trek together after eight years.
“As we put the finishing touches on booking venues, and understanding that word travels fast, we wanted to be the first to let you know that Dead & Company will be hitting the road next summer for what will be our final tour,” they write on social media. “Stay tuned for a full list of dates for what will surely be an exciting, celebratory, and heartfelt last run of shows.”
Further details will be shared as they become available.
Rolling Stone reported earlier this year that the group was planning to stop touring after this year. However, Bob Weir had refuted that article by tweeting, “News to me” with drummer Bill Kreutzmann replying, “Whew! I thought you knew something that I didn’t!”
The publication then updated their report to state, “Sources close to Dead and Company initially claimed that 2022 will be the last year the band tours together. However, after guitarist Bob Weir tweeted his surprise about Dead and Company suspending touring, the same sources changed their tune and say discussions continue about the fate of the band. The band itself said in a statement: ‘Dead & Company has made no official decision as to this being their final tour.'”
Clearly, a final decision has been made to end the group in 2023 with Weir commenting, “Well it looks like that’s it for this outfit; but don’t worry we will all be out there in one form or another until we drop…”
Kreutzmann also shared his thoughts about the end on social media.
“The Grateful Dead always felt timeless from our very beginnings at the acid tests where ‘time’ did some funny things so we left it behind altogether. This music will always exist, always evolve, always be the soundtrack of our ever changing lives,” he writes. “But the form changes. It always has, from when we invited Mickey to join the band to the many shapes and forms it took after [frontman] Jerry [Garcia] left us. And so it’s almost time for another change. I have loved this chapter with Dead & Company, as we got to explore the music with some new interpreters and different antennas, but we always knew it was just a chapter. The Music never stops. I hope you’ll join us for one final Dead & Company tour next summer and after that… as always… I’m really excited about what comes next. Thank you all for being with us on this journey. It’s far from over so keep those seat belts on because we’ve got some wild nights ahead.”
The group’s annual Playing in the Sand all-inclusive concert vacation takes place from January 14-17, 2023 in Riviera Cancún, Mexico. The group will perform three nights on the beach in one of the most beautiful parts of the world. The unique concert venue sits along the Caribbean, providing a surreal backdrop to this incredibly intimate event. Performances take place at Moon Palace Cancún, an all-inclusive resort which boasts a mile-long stretch of white sandy beach.
The two-week 2022 edition was canceled due to a spike in COVID cases a day before the first weekend was set to kick off. Had they performed, the band would’ve been down by two players as drummer Bill Kreutzmann was advised by doctors not to attend due to health concerns, and John Mayer was diagnosed with COVID-19 right before the cancelation.
Dead & Company was formed in 2015 when the Grateful Dead’s Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzmann and Bob Weir joined forces with artist and musician John Mayer, Allman Brothers’ bassist Oteil Burbridge, and Fare Thee Well and RatDog keyboardist Jeff Chimenti. The result was one of the most successful touring bands of the decade. Since its formation, the band has completed six tours, playing to 3.4 million fans, and has become a record-breaking stadium act. Having toured consistently since its 2015 debut, the band has grossed $255.5 million and sold 2.8 million tickets across 149 reported shows.
