CELEBRATING FIFTY YEARS OF GRATEFUL DEAD, 1965-2015
AMC Empire 25
234 West 42nd St. between Seventh & Eighth Aves.
July 3, 4, 5, $18, 8:00
212-398-2597
www.dead.net/50
www.fathomevents.com
www.amctheatres.com
Following a brief flirtation with Bob, I became a Jerry man, tried and true. I had never seen RatDog or Bobby and the Midnites, two of Bob Weir’s solo projects away from the Grateful Dead, but seeing the Jerry Garcia Band on Broadway at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre in 1987 was phenomenal, even as promoter Bill Graham was running up and down the aisles, yelling at people to put out their joints. When Jerry died in 1995 shortly after his fifty-third birthday, I gave the reconfigured Dead a chance, as well as Phil Lesh & Friends, but I just couldn’t get into it. No Jerry, No Dead became my motto, much to the dismay of many of my friends, who continued to go to various shows during the past twenty years. But now that the Dead is saying farewell forever with a three-night stand at Soldier Field in Chicago, I’ve finally relented; I’m not going to the Windy City, but I will be at the AMC Empire in Times Square, which is broadcasting each show live. (You can also watch the concerts at home via pay-per-view and live streaming, with packages running from $29.95 to $109.95.) Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzmann, Phil Lesh, and Bob Weir will be joined by such special guests as Trey Anastasio, Jeff Chimenti, and Bruce Hornsby as they play for upwards of five hours each night at Soldier Field, where the Grateful Dead performed with Jerry for the very last time on July 8-9, 1995. As always, every show will be very different; to get you in the mood, below are the two setlists from the Santa Clara shows this past weekend. (Yes that’s right; the second night featured “Dark Star” into “St. Stephen.”) Perhaps all that’s left to say is “Fare you well, fare you well / I love you more than words can tell / Listen to the river sing sweet songs / to rock my soul.”
June 27
Set One: Feel Like A Stranger, New Minglewood Blues, Brown-Eyed Women, Loose Lucy, Loser, Row Jimmy, Alabama Getaway, Black Peter, Hell in a Bucket
Set Two: Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodleloo -> Wharf Rat -> Eyes of the World -> He’s Gone -> *Drums/Space -> I Need a Miracle -> Death Don’t Have No Mercy -> Sugar Magnolia
Encore: Brokedown Palace
June 28
Set One: Jam -> Truckin’, Uncle John’s Band, Alligator -> Cumberland Blues, Born Cross-Eyed > Cream Puff War, Viola Lee Blues
Set Two: Cryptical Envelopment -> Dark Star -> St. Stephen -> The Eleven -> Turn on Your Love Light -> Drums/Space -> What’s Become of the Baby -> The Other One – > Morning Dew
Encore: Casey Jones