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Unlike the Edge, John Mayer is using real amps for Dead and Co’s Sphere shows… but with a unique twist
Good luck finding the amps, though – they’re concealed pretty well backstage in a bunch of shipping crates.
Credit: Denise Truscello/Getty Images for Keep Memory Alive
In recent years, John Mayer has become quite private about his amps. During last 2023’s Dead & Company tour, fans on Reddit pondered why the guitarist was shielding his amplifier from view behind a velvet curtain.
This year, Mayer has gone a step further. For Dead & Co’s run of Las Vegas shows, Mayer’s amps aren’t even on-stage.
Following The Edge’s use of UAFX pedals instead of amps for U2‘s Sphere shows, some have wondered whether Mayer is even using a real amp. But there’s no need to worry – Mayer has revealed that his amps are just mic’d up backstage.
In a recent Instagram video, Mayer has shown that his amps are locked away in shipping crates. While the amps are out of view, stowed away in their wooden containers, you can hear the amps rumbling away as Mayer performs a lovely rendition of Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door.
Mayer hasn’t revealed why he prefers to hide his amps, but he seems pleased with this solution. “File under ‘whatever it takes,’” he writes. “This shipping crate stashed behind some road cases in the loading dock of The Sphere houses a couple of my guitar amps that are mic’d up and being heard with the rest of Dead & Company. If you happen to be walking through, you’ve got no choice but to hear it!”
The group, also comprising of Grateful Dead‘s Bob Weir and Mickey Hart as well as Oteil Burbridge, Jeff Chimenti and Jay Lane, embarked on their ‘final’ tour in 2023. The offer of a 2024 residency at the Sphere changed that. In a reel announcing the residency, they promised “it’s gonna be a ball!”
The residency will be running until 10th August. For more info, head to Dead & Company’s website.