Fare thee well: Grateful Dead, Soldier Field Chicago, 3-6 July 2015

The inevitable feeling of anticlimax, after a long-awaited event that lived up to expectations, as well as a sadness of another goodbye, make it difficult to write about "Fare Thee Well". This is just a few snapshots.

After deciding not to try to make the trip to Chicago for the 3-night run, back in February, I was all set to watch the webcast at home, but then heard about some guys down the road in Leicester who were hiring a projector for the webcast and inviting people to a "Fare Thee Well UK Party". The venue was Quad Studios, a recording studio with practice rooms in a converted (hosiery?) factory. They'd organised some live music too, so obviously I was going along.

The live stuff was great, the bands including ex and current members of the Cosmic Charlies and a band called Terrapin from Birmingham who did 3 very professional sets including a China Doll which I'd never seen done live before. The venue was ideal with interesting artwork on the walls, very comfy sofas, and bacon butties. (Thanks Bob but I'm vegetarian, hence the need for chocolate bars in the early hours!).

The projected start time was 8 p.m. in Chicago, 1 a.m. here so it was a serious all-nighter, especially with the band taking a 1-hour break in the middle. (I guess they needed it.) I managed the first 2 nights in Leicester, but opted to sleep the final night and wait to see it in the cinema on the Monday evening. (Not seeing the set list in advance was like the Likely Lads trying not to find out the football score before Match of the Day!)

I thought Trey seemed a bit tentative initially but was 100% there by Scarlet, early in Friday's second set. I have a big grin on my face, matching his, just from watching the Youtube clip. (Tim, the guitarist in Shotgun Ragtime Band, said to me perhaps 20 years ago "How can you not dance during a Scarlet?" and I have ever since. These days I can't always keep going to the end of Fire, though!)

Another of my highlights, among so many, was Mountains of the Moon. I'm wary of hearing this again as, at the time, Trey's guitar took my head to places it hadn't been in ages.

I used to be OK with Standing on the Moon (incidentally one of Aung San Suu Kyi's favourite songs) but last year I came across a Youtube clip of Jerry singing it on stage and it brought back all the sadness of August 1995 and the tears just flowed. Sure enough, this performance had the same effect.

(Apologies to the Broadway cinema, Nottingham, if the carpet at the back is showing signs of wear. I blame the Dead for opening with China Cat Sunflower on the Sunday; what do you expect?)

Days Between, predictably, turned up towards then end of the final set. Would Trey pick it up and run with it like Jerry never did? (I always thought this could have been the Dead's Stairway to Heaven!) But no, the band stayed true to the original format.

In summary the gigs were excellent and special. I wish I'd been there. All the jamming, laid back and intense by turns, the little runs, the energy, the joy of the music, the fun, and the feeling was there in spades. The light show wasn't bad either.

A big thanks to Bob for hosting and Richard for organising the Leicester event. My only regret - though I met some really nice people at Quad - was not saying Hello to everybody there. When, again, will I ever get a chance to meet people who love the music as much as I do?

Faring thee well now.
Let your life proceed by its own design.
(Cassidy, Barlow/Weir, 1974)