Three-quarters of the Grateful Dead's "core four" and John Mayer have hit the rehearsal studio in preparation for their Dead & Company tour. Mayer took to social media to tease the "evolution" just a month ahead of jamming on stage at Albany's Times Union Center.
On Thursday (Sept. 24), Mayer shared a 15-second clip via Instagram, showcasing his talents alongside those of Bob Weir, Bill Kreutzmann, Mickey Hart, Ratdog keyboardist Jeff Chimenti and the Allman Brothers' Oteil Burbridge as they effortlessly tore through sections of "Tennessee Jed," Billboard reports. The short video showcased Mayer's satisfied grin as he enjoyed the moment ripping on his PRS custom guitar, assuming a role previously held by Phish's own Trey Anastasio.
The video was captioned with: ": #deadandcomany rehearsals have begun... The evolution will be televised! (On Instagram.)" As rehearsals for the string of gigs commence, Mayer added: "This is some magical stuff we have going. Can't wait to take it on the road."
A video posted by johnmayer (@johnmayer) on Sep 22, 2015 at 7:17pm PDT
The group of musicians, including Phil Lesh, Anastasio and sans Mayer, united on stage for the Dead's five 50th Anniversary Fare Thee Well gigs across Soldier Field in Chicago and the Bay Area's Levi's Stadium alongside Bruce Hornsby.
The tour will kick off in Albany on Oct. 28 and head to New York City's Madison Square Garden for a Halloween trick-or-treat before heading across the country on their latest long, strange trip. "Those songs weren't done with us," Weir explained in a statement, praising Mayer's involvement as "the cherry on the sundae that made this project look like a good idea."
"It was a matter of who wanted to get back out on the road and keep doing it. ... It's kind of late in the year to put together a tour, but we're gonna try," he added.
Dead & Company Tour Dates:
10/29: Albany, NY @ Times Union Center
10/31-11/01: New York , NY @ Madison Square Garden
11/05: Philadelphia, PA @ Wells Fargo Center
11/06: Washington, DC @ Verizon Center
11/10: Worcester, MA @ DCU Center
11/11: Buffalo, NY @ First Niagara Center
11/13: Columbus, OH @ Nationwide Arena
11/14: Greensboro, NC @ Greensboro Coliseum
11/17: Atlanta, GA @ Philips Arena
11/18: Nashville, TN @ Bridgestone Arena
11/20: St. Louis, MO @ Scottrade Center
11/21: Minneapolis, MN @ Target Center
11/24-25: Broomfield, CO @ 1stBank Center
11/27-28: Las Vegas, NV @ MGM Grand Garden Arena
12/27-28: San Francisco, CA @ Bill Graham Civic Auditorium
12/30-31: Los Angeles, CA @ The Forum
