Mickey Hart says playing Dead & Company shows at the Sphere is like “being in the belly of a giant beast”

Alive Coverage

Dead & Company recently launched their residency at the Sphere in Las Vegas, and drummer Mickey Hart says performing at the state-of-the-art venue has taken the band some getting used to.

Speaking to Forbes, Hart says, “We just came off of a stadium tour. So, coming to the Sphere is almost like your living room in a way. It’s very small. 17 or 18,000 seats and everybody is right on top of you. They can really see you. And you can really see them. Normally, I can’t see the end of the crowd. But, now, I can see their eyeballs. So, it’s very intimate in its way.”

However, he notes, “It’s kind of like being in the belly of a giant beast – a giant robot. It’s artificial intelligence. It’s very complex. And it is a sphere. I had never played in a sphere before. So, it’s a completely different psychoacoustic situation there. You have to deal with the way it sounds and the way it looks.”

“But it is a challenge. It wasn’t easy,” Hart says. “There’s no sound really coming from the stage – it’s all coming from speakers all around … there’s nobody on stage except us – which is a different situation. Normally, it’s a family affair. We just get on the stage and we do what we do. Well, we do it differently now.”

“If the visual doesn’t overpower it, you’re able to find that magic when they come together.”

Hart is also a painter, and some of his artwork is part of a free interactive exhibit running alongside the residency called “Art at the Edge of Magic.”

The Dead & Company Sphere shows continue through July 13.

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