Grateful Dead to record final shows

By ( Classic Rock ) published

They’ll showcase next month’s Fare Thee Well concerts with series of releases including box set spanning 12 CDs and 7 DVDs

The Grateful Dead will record next month’s Fare Thee Well shows for a live package to be issued on November 20.

Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzmann, Phil Lesh and Bob Weir will play three concerts at Chicago’s Soldier Field on the weekend of July 3, 4 and 5 – and they’ll mark their swan song with a series of releases.

A standard ‘Best Of’ double CD featuring highlights from the three shows will be joined by a 4CD/2DVD, Blu-Ray edition which will include the final gig in audio and video formats.

In addition, they’ll release what the band call “the complete Chicago experience” in a 12CD/7DVD, Blu-ray box set. A total of 20,000 will be made available, each individually numbered and will contain full audio and video from all three performances, along with a disc showing behind-the-scenes footage.

The live packages are available to pre-order directly from the Grateful Dead’s website.

The band set up an extra two dates this weekend in Santa Clara, California after ticket prices for the trio of Chicago shows soared on the secondary market.

Scott Munro
Scott Munro
Louder e-commerce editor

Scott has spent 35 years in newspapers, magazines and online as an editor, production editor, sub-editor, designer, writer and reviewer. Scott joined our news desk in the summer of 2014 before moving into e-commerce in 2020. Scott keeps Louder’s buyer’s guides up to date, writes about the best deals for music fans, keeps on top of the latest tech releases and reviews headphones, speakers, earplugs and more for Louder. Over the last 10 years, Scott has written more than 11,000 articles across Louder, Classic Rock, Metal Hammer and Prog. He's previously written for publications including IGN, Sunday Mirror, Daily Record and The Herald, covering everything from daily news and weekly features, to tech reviews, video games, travel and whisky. Scott's favourite bands are Fields Of The Nephilim, The Cure, New Model Army, All About Eve, The Mission, Cocteau Twins, Drab Majesty, The Tragically Hip, Marillion and Rush.