Dead & Company’s 30-show residency at Sphere instantly became a must-see event celebrating the Grateful Dead’s unparalleled legacy, combining their songbook with cutting-edge technology for an immersive experience. Working with Treatment Studio and Creative Directors John Mayer and Sam Pattinson, ILM opened and closed the show with 20 minutes of bespoke visuals drawing on the rich history of a band that formed in San Francisco during the rise of the counterculture of the 1960s.
“As conceived by Mayer, the show’s creative director, with Treatment, the producer of the visuals, and executed by Industrial Light & Magic, these twin moments surely marked peak experiences in a lifetime of entertainment for most of the fans on hand.”
– Chris Willman, Variety
A massive scaffolding on the 160,000 square feet wrap-around screen opens up creating the band’s iconic lightning bolt symbol and reveals a current-day view of 710 Ashbury Street, the original home of the Grateful Dead. In a moment that takes the audience by surprise, the camera slowly begins to rise to a wider San Francisco skyline, punctuated by a gasp when we travel through clouds and beyond Earth’s orbit to the Milky Way.
As we get to the finale of the concert, the audience is transported back to views from space and tilts down to reveal Earth below us and continues descending to 1965 San Francisco and a final intimate silhouette view of the band seen through the upper windows of the original house. The meticulous level of detail in the recreation of these iconic locations took the audience on an emotional journey through space and time.
