Las Vegas is crammed with even-better-off Deadheads, now that Useless & Firm has performed the second night time of its second Sphere residency, and captivated multi-night attendees with a present that added loads of recent visuals not seen on the opening night time, in addition to what many readily available had been describing as an much more intense efficiency, and possibly even one of many band’s finest.
Anybody who thought that the group was displaying off all its new video methods on night time 1 was mistaken. Evening 2 had a very good variety of freshly premiering visible setpieces unfold throughout Friday’s three and a half hours, together with the return of some acquainted components from the preliminary 2024 Sphere run that had been lacking from Thursday night time’s first present. What’s clear is that co-creative director John Mayer has been busy overseeing new content material for the 2025 present, solely a portion of which attendees will see on any given single night time throughout the run.
Useless & Firm at Sphere 2025, night time 2
Jay Blakesberg
Two of the video additions in Friday night time’s present rely as main ones. One accompanied the 13-minute-plus model of “Uncle John’s Band” that began off the second set: a backdrop of hundred-feet-tall dancers getting their groove on behind the group, by themselves or with one another, behind the pint-sized gamers. Finally, the dancers’ ft left no matter counted as the bottom on this scenario, they usually swam and/or flew throughout the large oval display, in what you can nearly imagine was a euphoric real-time response to a few of Mayer’s extra fevered soloing.
The opposite main addition was an enormous digital tapestry that moved slowly up or down the enormous canvas behind the Useless, with surreal animation that had extra wealth of element than the bare eye may absorb, even over the course of an prolonged Useless jam. It was faintly paying homage to essentially the most ornate assemblage that U2 put up throughout its personal premiere engagement at Sphere — on this case, a vaguely circus-themed tableau that had, amongst different components, dozens of coffins containing Uncle Sams being dropped by lengthy tubes and became compost as they reached the underside of the display.
Useless & Firm at Sphere 2025, night time 2
Wealthy Fury/Sphere Leisure
Evening 2 additionally provided a recent addendum to an present favourite piece of animation: their signature skeleton’s wild chopper journey. After Uncle Sam received on the motorbike, as beforehand seen on each night time of each residencies, there was an edit, after which a minimize proper to the skeletal avatar driving round a neon cartoon rendering of the streets of Las Vegas. On the earlier night time, Uncle Sam’s full journey received minimize off proper when the track did, because the icon arrived in Sin Metropolis; this minimize went on for minutes past that.
Useless & Firm at Sphere 2025, night time 2
Chloe Weir
There have been different much less high-concept additions, like a easy green-laser-like portrayal of the band’s signature dancing bear in what the curved display managed to make look like a room with corners. However there was additionally the elimination of some setpieces that had premiered on Evening 1 — most notably, the recreation of the again cowl of “From the Mars Lodge” that was such a visible spotlight on Friday.
Deadheads who purchased tickets for a complete weekend’s value of exhibits are little question feeling extra justified in that call, given how there’ll probably be distinctive visible content material throughout all three nights at this level, along with the musical setlists consisting of no-repeat weekends.
Visuals apart, Friday’s efficiency was instantly hailed by some followers as one of many higher ones within the 10 years since Useless & Firm fashioned 10 years in the past, out of the long-lingering ashes of the Grateful Useless. On Thursday night time, reactions had been a bit extra measured, with Selection‘s personal assessment saying that the opening set was a bit heavy on fundamental boogie materials, however the second set was the band at its most expansive and good. Friday night time’s present was structured very in another way, particularly within the first half, which discovered some jazz-fusion-type jams taking place a lot earlier within the efficiency. And from the elevators to the fan boards, almost all reactions appeared to lend a hand that the present was on hearth from the very starting of the primary set by the finale.
Feedback on Reddit included remarks like: “Prime 5 D&C exhibits ever” (from a consumer named “toastypoopdog,” so take that for what you’ll), “What a smoker of a present,” “It was fucking lovely,” and “This was a licensed heater. Haven’t heard them play that nicely in ages.” Within the San Jose Mercury Information, critic Jim Harrington reviewed the present beneath the headline “Useless & Firm bounced again with vastly superior Evening 2 present,” saying “the musicianship was so stellar that even the high-flying Sphere graphics took a backseat to the band itself (and no, that doesn’t occur usually on the Sphere).”
Though a lot of the set was acquainted to followers, there was one quantity that had not been performed by Useless & Firm earlier than: a premiere cowl of Eric Clapton’s “Lay Down Sally.” It’s not with out precedent in Useless offshoot lore, although, because it had been performed many instances by the Jerry Garcia Band.
A few different aberrations: Whereas Mickey Hart’s “Drums” phase is often adopted by the entire non-percussive instrumentalists returning to the stage for a short, quiet, ambient jam. on Friday night time, followers had been delighted by one thing extra off the crushed monitor, as Oteil Burbridge reclaimed the stage, alone, for a number of minutes of pure bass solo.
And whereas the “touching down in Haight Ashbury” second close to the tip of the second set had on Thursday served as a shock tribute to the late Phil Lesh — together with his animed silhouette showing alone within the second-floor window, and voiceover from a Lesh interview — that was apparently a one-night solely homage. In Friday’s present, that bit returned to the way it was in the entire earlier yr’s present, with newsreel voiceover and the total band’s shadows within the window.
Setlist for Useless & Firm at Sphere, Las Vegas, March 21, 2025:
Set 1
Chilly Rain and Snow
Shakedown Road
Cumberland Blues
Lay Down Sally
Tennessee Jed
Sugaree
Set 2
Uncle John’s Band
Estimated Prophet
Eyes of the World
St. Stephen
Drums
Area
Oteil Solo Jam
Wharf Rat
U.S. Blues
Throwing Stones
Casey Jones
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