Update: The live stream is now over. Dead & Company shared a few videos from the 2nd set on their YouTube, which you can watch above.
This past Saturday (November 7, 2015), Dead & Company partnered with American Express Unstaged to play a free concert at Madison Square Garden in NYC. The concert was free to get in with RSVP, and for a contribution to the Robin Hood Foundation. A free live video stream was offered, in partnership with VEVO and YouTube.
The show broadcast online beginning around 7:30 PM ET, and then replayed on a loop for 24 hours. The director, Brett Ratner, is best known for the Rush Hour film series and has also done over 30 music videos with the likes of Mariah Carey, D'Angelo, and the Wu-Tang Clan.
The latest Grateful Dead offshoot band, Dead & Company features three core Grateful Dead members — Bob Weir, Bill Kreutzman, and Mickey Hart — with three (relatively) young guns — John Mayer, Jeff Chimenti, and Oteil Burbridge. Below, you can watch a wooly little preview video featuring four of the six band members (sorry Oteil and Jeff) talking about the music. In addition to the YouTube video, the band shared some quotes on amexunstaged.com:
"There is a place where music, dreams and magic come together,” says band member Mickey Hart. "Grateful Dead music is a portal to that place. It was built to last!" “Fare Thee Well proved to me that I'm not done exploring new rhythmic territory with Mickey — I’m recommending that everyone puts their helmet on, because we are going to blast our way into some serious drums and space," said Bill Kreutzmann. "And with Mayer riding shotgun with Weir — we’re in good company, so to speak."
Mayer will join Hart, Kreutzmann and Weir, along with Allman Brothers’ bassist Oteil Burbridge and Fare Thee Well and RatDog keyboardist Jeff Chimenti. “I deeply love the Dead’s music, and it has inspired me in ways I never imagined. To help carry this music is the opportunity and the honor of a lifetime," Mayer said.
"We're not done with these songs and they're not done with us," said Weir. "We're gonna take these old friends on some new adventures."
Last week, the band performed on Halloween and November 1st at "The World's Most Famous Arena." You can listen to audience recordings of those groovy sets on archive.org.
Dead & Company are currently on tour until the end of the year, where they will ring in 2016 at The Forum in Los Angeles, California. For more tour information, as well as the band's latest music and news, check out their Zumic artist page.
