Grateful Dead Celebrate the Fourth of July With Empire State Building Light Show

The Grateful Dead's "Fare Thee Well" tour continues to span fourth of July weekend—during the second night of the three-gig run at Chicago's Soldier Field, the Dead celebrated with a synchronized Empire State Bulding light show which was broadcast live to concertgoers.

During the encore of From the Mars Hotel's "U.S. Blues," the red, white and blue LED lights atop the tremendous New York City building flashed in harmony with the 1974 track, a fitting color scheme for the holiday as well as the renowned Steal Your Face skull. Coordinated and crafted by the band along with Empire State Building lighting designer Marc Brickman, the show also displayed Grateful Dead imagery, notes Rolling Stone.

The light show can be viewed via the Grateful Dead website but for those hoping to see it in person, the encore performance of the visual display will appear on July 5 at 9 p.m. Deadheads can flip to iHeartRadio's Q104.3 to listen along to the "U.S. Blues" studio version, reports Entertainment Weekly.

Wrapping up its bittersweet farewell tour, the Dead will carry out its last gig on Sunday. The good-bye shows celebrating the band's long, strange trip celebrate 50 years as a group with a heavy cult following as well as the 20th anniversary of guitarist Jerry Garcia's death. For the performances at Soldier Field, Phish's Trey Anastasio stepped up to the plate, strumming the same chords alongside the "core four"—Bob Weir, Phil Lesh, Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann—as Garcia once did so well.

Fans can tune in to SiriusXM's Grateful Dead station, watch it live on pay-per-view, and will soon be able to purchase a CD, DVD or Blue Ray box set titled Fare Thee Well: Celebrating 50 Years of the Grateful Dead.

Set List

Set One:
"Shakedown Street"
"Liberty"
"Standing on the Moon"
"Me & My Uncle"
"Tennessee Jed"
"Cumberland Blues"
"Little Red Rooster"
"Friend of the Devil"
"Deal"

Set Two:
"Bird Song"
"The Golden Road (to Unlimited Devotion)"
"Lost Sailor" > "Saint Of Circumstance"
"West L.A. Fadeaway"
"Foolish Heart"
"Drums" > "Space" > "Stella Blue" > "One More Saturday Night

Encore:
"U.S. Blues"

Tags

Grateful Dead, Fare Thee Well