John Mayer will sit out the first weekend of the upcoming Playing in the Sand event in Mexico after positive testing for COVID-19. The event, which is traditionally headlined by Dead & Company, is set to take place January 7-10 and January 13-16 in Riviera Cancun. According to an announcement from Dead & Company, Mayer will be hosting the festivities from January 7-10. Instead, Bob Weir, Mickey Hart, Jeff Chimenti and Oteil Burbridge of Dead & Company will perform as Dos Hermanos con Amigos during the first weekend of the event. Joe Russo’s Almost Dead guitarist / singer Tom Hamilton, Wolf Bros / RatDog drummer Jay Lane and special guests such as Margo Price are scheduled to perform with the Dead & Company members.
A note forming the band reads:
“Today, just before leaving for Mexico, according to his doctor, @JohnMayer tested positive for COVID-19 and will not be able to perform at the upcoming” Playing in the Sand “event in Riviera Cancun January 7-10. This weekend will now feature Dos Hermanos con Amigos: @MickeyHart and @BobWeir with Jeff Chimenti and @OteilBurbridge, along with @LuvrzLane, @TommyHamilton and including special guests and sit-ins including @MissMargoPrice and others … “
Weir also added in a statement, “We came down here to have fun. Unfortunately, some of our brothers can not make it, but fun is what we will have.”
Dead & Company drummer Bill Kreutzmann announced earlier this year that he will be playing Playing in the Sand this year due to a medical issue unrelated to COVID. In 2017, Hamilton also played with Weir and other members of Dead & Company as Los Muertos during a Mexican destination event.