It’s a good time to be a Hoosier Deadhead. Dead & Company has announced its final tour with their current arrangement, with a performance at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, June 27 at Ruoff Music Center in Noblesville, Indiana.
Dead & Company is a band made up of former members of Grateful Dead, including Bob Weir and Mickey Hart. Additional members include Oteil Burbridge, Jeff Chimenti, Jay Lane and John Mayer. This arrangement of the band in particular has been playing together since 2015.
The band exclusively covers songs by Grateful Dead. Although they have no studio albums released, they have an extensive collection of live albums from their years of touring.
Grateful Dead is known for their improvisational style with elements of bluegrass, rock and roll, and folk. Dead & Company continues to embody this jam band style with their performances today.
Dead & Company has been able to successfully maintain the type of fan base seen with Grateful Dead with their audience becoming a distinguishing part of the band’s culture. Some fans even travel and live with the band throughout entire tours. The commitment and loyalty of the Deadheads is visible at all of their concerts.
Outside of many of the venues, originating at Grateful Dead shows, traveling fans and vendors hang out and sell all kinds of products to concert goers. This area has been dubbed “Shakedown Street,” named after the 1978 Grateful Dead album.
The atmosphere at their shows is truly one of a kind. Fans range anywhere from supporters since the band’s start in 1965 to newer generations of Deadheads. There is plenty of dancing, singing and a strong sense of community across the sea of fans.
The concert in Noblesville is hosted at an outdoor venue, with open lawn seating for general admission and covered seating closer to the stage. The famous Shakedown Street takes place on the venue’s property, between the gravel parking lot and the gates to get into Ruoff.
