Dead & Company is spinoff of the seminal 1960's San Francisco rock band, Grateful Dead. Formed in 2015, the band features a lineup of former Grateful Dead members including Bob Weir, Mickey Hart, and Bill Kreutzmann, along with John Mayer, Oteil Burbridge, and Jeff Chimenti (Jay Lane replaced Bill Kreutzmann on drums in 2023).
The first of Dead & Company's shows at Sphere Las Vegas were in May 2024, with their residency finishing up this Sunday, August 10, 2024. Live Design caught up with the video designers at Treatment Studio, who also designed the jaw-dropping images for U2:UV Achtung Baby Live, which opened this revolutionary performance venue in September 2023.
Live Design: Did the U2 experience help inform the process and design choices for Dead & Company?
Treatment Studio: Yes, there was a huge learning curve for U2 being the first show in the Sphere, both from a technical and creative perspective, so it was great to have those foundations for Dead & Co. We had a shorter production period for Dead & Co so it was invaluable and allowed us to dive head first into the creative possibilities for a band with such a rich visual back catalogue.
LD: What did the band want/expect in terms of the video content for the shows at Sphere — were the shows different or were they the same in terms of content?
TS: The two shows were very different — U2 shows tend to align to a pre-determined set list with a strong narrative throughout the show and corresponding visuals. Dead & Co rarely play the same set list twice so this requires some broader brush strokes in terms of creating content that could work against different songs and different set lists. Although different, both approaches were incredibly rewarding from a creative perspective and allowed us to approach each of the shows with a unique creative energy.
LD: Content creation: who created the images and what software or design tools were used?
TS: The majority of the visuals were created by the extraordinarily talented team at Treatment Studio using Cinema 4D, After Effects and Unreal engine. We also worked with some amazing creative partners including Industrial Light & Magic, Art and Graft, and Adam Smith.
LD: Playback system?
TS: All content was played back using Sphere's in-house Disguise system.
LD: How was the lighting integrated with the video?
TS: The lighting and video integration really came together in our late night programming sessions in the Sphere. We worked with lighting designer Chris Coyle to find the right balance between lights and video. Despite the scale of the video screen, there were some great looks achieved when video took a back seat and allowed lighting to take centre stage.
LS: What are the biggest challenges in working at Sphere?
TS: The scale is undoubtedly the biggest challenge. The sphere is the equivalent of 72 HD TVs, so for every minute of content we create, it’s the equivalent of over an hour of HD content... this produces massive challenges just in terms of data management, storage and render power alone.
Treatment Studio:
Creative Directors: John Mayer; Sam Pattinson
Technical & Camera Director: Brandon Kraemer
Design Directors: Damian Hale; Tim Booth; Sam Munnings
Head of Production: Lizzie Pocock