 runs to a blush under 20-minutes. The scoreboard hanging over the outfield announces that this two-night stand in New York City is part of a Final Tour that will conclude with three dates in front of 120,000 people at Oracle Park in the band's hometown of San Francisco. In their absence, the group, along with their original iteration the Grateful Dead, will leave behind a legacy of remarkable achievements. The only performers to have surpassed their tally of 59-headline appearances at Madison Square Garden, for example, are Elton John and Billy Joel, whose best-loved songs are widely known in a way the Dead's simply are not. But if the band have been hiding in plain sight, they've been doing so long enough to have taken root. Recently the band released a Grateful Dead concert album recorded at RFK Stadium, in Washington DC, on the second-date of a two-night booking performed in front of an audience totalling 100,000 people in the summer of 1973. After wracking my brains for six days now, I simply can't think of another group who have been filling stadiums in the United States for a period spanning 50 years. So I hope you like 'em, cos this is all there is. Given that the group(s)'s opaque popularity makes it difficult to distinguish between specialist and general information, perhaps a full recap is in order. After disbandi){kind=link}
With no hits, little stage presence and few original members, the band now known as Dead & Company are filling stadiums with ease – for now
As 45,000 people await the arrival of Dead & Company, a nice lady in the row behind briefs me on what to expect. After rising to their feet at the very moment the group take to the stage, she explains, every person gathered at Citi Field, a Major League Baseball Stadium in deepest Queens, will remain standing until the show finishes at 11:30pm.
Aside from the announcement of a short break, the six musicians will ignore their audience at all times. Oh, and patience is required. Come the end of the night, in a set that lasts for more than three-hours, the band will have taken the scenic route through 17-songs, the longest of which (St. Stephen) runs to a blush under 20-minutes.
The scoreboard hanging over the outfield announces that this two-night stand in New York City is part of a Final Tour that will conclude with three dates in front of 120,000 people at Oracle Park in the band’s hometown of San Francisco. In their absence, the group, along with their original iteration the Grateful Dead, will leave behind a legacy of remarkable achievements. The only performers to have surpassed their tally of 59-headline appearances at Madison Square Garden, for example, are Elton John and Billy Joel, whose best-loved songs are widely known in a way the Dead’s simply are not.
But if the band have been hiding in plain sight, they’ve been doing so long enough to have taken root. Recently the band released a Grateful Dead concert album recorded at RFK Stadium, in Washington DC, on the second-date of a two-night booking performed in front of an audience totalling 100,000 people in the summer of 1973. After wracking my brains for six days now, I simply can’t think of another group who have been filling stadiums in the United States for a period spanning 50 years. So I hope you like ’em, cos this is all there is.