John Mayer might not seem like a wild child, but he’s got a bit of that 60’s way about him, and not just in his lifestyle. I don’t know if he imbibes like the jam bands of old, but he can definitely play guitar like them, and that’s what’s taking Mayer on a long strange trip from his pop beginnings. John Mayer and several surviving members of the Grateful Dead are starting Dead & Company.
Dead & Company will be composed of Grateful Dead members guitarist-singer Bob Weir and drummers Bill Kreutzmann and Mickey Hart. Joining those three will be Allman Brothers bass player Oteil Burbridge and keyboard player Jeff Chimenti, who plays alongside Weir in his other jam band Ratdog. And, of course, there’ll be John Mayer. Not joining them will be longtime Grateful Dead bass player Phil Lesh. Dead and Company will make their debut at Madison Square Garden on a special Halloween night show, with tickets priced at $99; a selection of specially-priced $50 tickets will be released in honor of the Dead’s 50th anniversary.
“None of us ever said we didn’t want to play anymore,” Weir told Billboard magazine Wednesday. “We’re gonna kick it around and see where it takes us. That’s what we’ve always done and making plans is something we found out over the years is kind of a waste of time. The music tells us what it wants, where it wants to go, what it wants to do.”
Tags: the grateful dead, john mayer, music, dead & company, dead and company, bob weir, bill kerutzmann, mickey hart, oteil burbridge, jeff chimenti, ratdog, phil lesh, jam bands, john mayer grateful dead, madison square garden, new york city, dead and company to play halloween concert