Come one, come all to this year's special 50th anniversary edition of the Grateful Dead Meet-up at the Movies! The fifth-annual can’t-miss event features the previously unreleased Grateful Dead concert from July 19, 1989 at Alpine Valley. Recorded live from the legendary venue in East Troy, Wisconsin, this exclusive cinema event captures the Dead in a peak era of energy and chemistry on stage and showcases classic tracks including “Sugaree,” “Morning Dew,” "West L.A. Fadeaway,” “Box Of Rain,” and “Terrapin Station,” plus renditions of band favorites such as the Bob Dylan’s “Desolation Row,” and many more.
"Grateful Dead Meet-Up at the Movies: Alpine Valley 7/19/89" will only be playing on the silver screen for one night! Come out and connect with Dead Heads in your neighborhood on Monday, May 4th at 7:00pm local time.
Tickets are now available at participating theater box offices and online at www.FathomEvents.com.
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Come one, come all to this year's special 50th anniversary edition of the Grateful Dead Meet-up at the Movies! The fifth-annual can’t-miss event features the previously unreleased Grateful Dead concert from July 19, 1989 at Alpine Valley. Recorded live from the legendary venue in East Troy, Wisconsin, this exclusive cinema event captures the Dead in a peak era of energy and chemistry on stage and showcases classic tracks including “Sugaree,” “Morning Dew,” "West L.A. Fadeaway,” “Box Of Rain,” and “Terrapin Station,” plus renditions of band favorites such as the Bob Dylan’s “Desolation Row,” and many more.
Feature type
dead comment
and the annual pilgrimage to Emeryville
is on!
Some years Emeryville actually sells out.
Meet-Up at the Movies
all set for Friendship Heights (DC). looking forward to it.
@ Los Angeles Deadheads
Where are you going to be? I'm looking for the venue with most Heads! Anything happening in Westwood? West LA? Please let me know.
Big Island Blessed !!
Thankfully they run the Meet Up at the Movies each year in Kona on the Big Island, only 30 or 40 of us show up!! Peace !!
In for SF Van Ness AMC
Woot woot. hvaen't been in several years. Looking forward to heading downtown for the Alpine Valley viewing.
Fare Thee Well at the Cinemas
http://www.fathomevents.com/event/fare-thee-well-night-two/more-info/de…
Time: 8:00 p.m. ET / 7:00 p.m. CT / 6:00 p.m. MT / 5:00 p.m. PT
Run Time: 5 hours (approximate)
Ticketing: Tickets will be available in May! Sign up HERE for an email reminder or text CONCERTS to FATHOM (328466) for event updates.
Special Fathom Features: Celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Grateful Dead with the four remaining original members — Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzmann, Phil Lesh, and Bob Weir — as they reunite at Soldier Field for a LIVE three-night performance.
Fathom Events, Peter Shapiro, and Madison House are thrilled to bring Fare Thee Well: Celebrating 50 Years of Grateful Dead to the big screen for an unprecedented LIVE three-night cinema event on July 3, July 4, and, July 5.
These epic events, broadcast LIVE from Soldier Field in Chicago, will take place nearly 20 years to the day of the last Grateful Dead concert with Jerry Garcia. The four original members —Hart, Kreutzmann, Lesh and Weir - will be joined by renowned musicians Trey Anastasio (Phish and the Trey Anastasio Band), Jeff Chimenti (RatDog, The Dead and Furthur), and multiple GRAMMY®-winner Bruce Hornsby.
Each concert will be uniquely different and the July 5 concert event will be the last time the band will play together.
Get your front row seats to this once-in-a-lifetime reunion in cinemas on July 3, 4, and 5 only!
Greenville, SC
Anyone going to be in Greenville, SC for the show?
Alpine 89 memories??
Gonna be rockin in Denver tonight, Sheridan River pointe!!
Can't wait.
I've been learning different stories from a couple friends that were at this show. Love hearing the stories from them.
I guess it rained a ton. Jerry's mike didn't work in beginning of really long Sugaree. One of best West LAs and Foolish.
Any other people out there have any stories from that night or Alpine 89 run??
Have tickets and Tour Shirt from Alpine Valley Shows!
So, I was on tour a lot in '89 and have the summer tour shirt, almost in perfect condition, it was not dyed, though I like it a lot, don't wear it so much. Has the "Cooking up a Dead Concert" on a Skeleton's apron.
I have a few tickets, but I don't think I have all the shows I went to though I did go to Foxboro July 2nd, got the shirt there, I recall, Alpine Valley July 18th, but I know I caught a couple.....and Cal Expo for August 6th, busy busy!!
Good times and good friends traveling free and on tour with the Good Ole Grateful Dead. We are about to go to the Meetup, I am psyched to show my bling!!!
Tonight's Movie
Anyone online who went tonight? My chosen theater was pretty empty. Good show, though.
I wish I'd been in your
I wish I'd been in your theater! All 10 or so in mine loved the "Deal" closer of the first set, but it was your basic smattering of applause. It's that way every year here in the Dallas area. Oh, well.....
that was just fabulous
We were truly blessed to live in such times and see such things.
AZ turnout quite fun
This was my 2nd; saw the 1972 Germany last year.
The Theater I went to was LUXARY LOUNGE: Wide, Spacious, (comfortable) Leather: w/ Recliner, & one of those what you call it, uh...Leg Layin' Kickers':
|||>>>ALL THIS: For the Price of a Regular Ticket @ $12:50...
BUT! located in Western MESA, AZ; just across from the new Spring Training Park for the Cubs. Crazy to think I used to live there 2 years ago, for about 10 years, and now they renovate the hell outta this Fiesta' Part of Town.
Anyways, I showed up late, but got to my seat just in time to enjoy some good ol' fashion Grateful Dead.
***I should say, although I "claim" myself to be a Life-Blood Deadhead, I'm not as much of a fan of their later stuff as I am with their brand of style from the Pigpen early mid-early of the 60s years...but I love it all man, just the same.
Tonight was quite fun...It was Awesome to see people actually dancing around.
I hope they do the same for those that go to the "Fare Thee Well" Tour.
I thought the show was excellent; Jerry really surprised me with belting out some of the those great ol' tunes.
Wish there was more...but we'll get that with the "Fare Thee Well" for sure.
Great Times Man, for sure.
Good Ol Colorado was diggin' it
Had a blast last night. Our little group were rockin it out for sure. Rest of theater wasn't too crazy, but pretty filled.
Love Althea. Great version. The Victim was interesting. Cool to actually see Jerry take that solo out the way he did. nice to see that in video.
Morning dew had to be the highlight. Classic outpouring from jerry and the band. To be in that crowd and hear that at Alpine, summer of 89...
Can't wait till the next years meet-up. been to all 5 so far!! At some point, I'd imagine they might run out of video options for this event. Hopefully there are lots of videos out there ready for us to explore and groove to.
And the Foolish Heart last night. That jam sequence in the middle Wow. They were on that night. You can tell they were lovin it and playing well. Jerry had such a nice handle on some interesting phrasing, and the band was patient and sitting real nice in those grooves
Fun in Reno
Decent turnout at the Riverside. I never get tired of watching that Deal first set closer. Weir looks up at Billy like "I thought I was the rock star--what's Jerry doing going off over there?" Also, the West L.A. Fadeaway was a good version of a song I got a bit burned out on during the mid-80's. Of course everyone in the theatre cheered for the Dew and a few extra people got up to dance to the Lovelight encore. All in all, a very fun time as per usual.
@the movies
Same here...people up moving their feet and clapping their hands....Problem is after a performance like that....I realize that I really miss Jerry....he could turn it on 0 to 60 in no time....
And I agree that look of shock on Weirs face was priceless..
Great Show at the Movies
I love the Meet Ups! Please please please keep it up every year. I know there are plenty of shows on tape to make it last for years. I'm even up for twice or three times a year!
I was in Plano, TX. Same as every year: 10 - 20 folks who keep it pretty tame! But I love it. I'm in the younger demographic for Heads, so I never got a chance to see a show live. This is a pretty decent substitute IMO. And I get to take my 9 yr old daughter and get her started in the right direction. The highlight for her was Drums / Space. She hadn't heard much of that sort of stuff because I generally keep the "weird-er" stuff to myself :-). She LOVES music and instruments and was digging the cool sounds Mickey and Bill were making. I love "teaching" her about the Good Old Grateful Dead. Morning Dew was sweet with Jerry really feeling it. And I can never get enough of Terrapin...Thanks and keep them coming!!!
Wonderful
There were probably 130 in our theater, with cheers and applause right on cue, and even a little dancing off to the side. The sound at our theater this time was excellent. Nearly as loud as live, and with plenty of bass, I really enjoyed it. It was incredibly well played too, but man, it was a whole different vibe at Alpine Valley.
We'd stayed in the camping lot for all three shows, and by this the final night, were starting to drag. It had rained on and off overnight which continued all day, so the parking lots were a dark, soggy, wet morass, and the now well worn and elbow-to-elbow oversold super-steep lawn was, mud slides aside, a slippery challenge. It was dark and wet, and the sound was muted by the rain. We needed a pick me up bad, but just look at the songs played! Look at them! One by one! There's literally no joy to be found! We needed a crowd boosting Scarlet-Fire, a China-Rider, an Uncle John's Band, a Music Never Stopped, or a Playing in the Band, but alas, they'd all been played already. Instead it was all dark, sinister, slow, droning, introspective doom and gloom Desolation Row, Victim or the Crime, West L.A. Fadeaway, or Looks Like Rain! Are you kidding me? Even the bouncier danceable tunes were pretty damn dire! Mama Tried, Mexicali Blues, Deal, even Box of Rain in that context are simply not happy-fests at all. Unfortunately Foolish Heart was too new to be known, so that didn't do the trick either, and Terrapin Station didn't seem to have its usual uplifting lilt at the beginning. By the time Bob launched into a get up and dance Lovelight, obviously to pick us all up, it just felt like too little too late, and a bit trite and cheesy to be honest. And for the final straw, as we'd finally started movin' and groovin' a bit, the "Wait a minute!" just put every one's feet right back on the ground. For good, and facing the exhausting weary trudge back up the hill to get out and go home.
Looking and listening back it was obviously a great show, but it sure was a depressingly weird one in Wisconsin at the time. Of course, I'd go back in a minute if I could...
Meet up 2016
There's got to be a 5/8/77 video somewhere or are you saving it for 2017?
Has a great time here in central NJ last night. Dark star orchestra on 5/7 and 5/28.
YMMV... "Just another picky Deadhead"
Only 20-25 folks at the theater in our neck of the woods, but a motivated bunch. ;)
it was a good show from the time period, with some interesting song selections and unusual ordering. Nice to see it after all this time.
I'm of the opinion that the 'circular energy' dynamic between the crowd & the band had more to do with song choices than you might think, however. Might be hard to play a bright-happy-sunshiny day set for a damp & squelchy crowd. It's a synergistic relationship, a 'gestalt', which means that there's a direct correlation between the music, the band and the audience and where it all interrelates in the moment.
It's also not surprising to get a show that doesn't have any of the big rave-up numbers at the end of a multi-day run, considering that they've already been played.
("Choke me off in shallow water before I get too deep. " - EB & NB)
That being said, I do have a few technical complaints.
I remain unimpressed with the sound quality of most of the Fathom Events theater-casts. They seem unable to get a decent low bass full frequency range sound out of even a fully equipped Dolby surround system. It just needed more Phil... Would have been nice to hear the kick drums too. ;p Even on their longest running series of broadcasts from the Metropolitan Opera there is some issue that does not allow the full tonal balance of the source mix to be reproduced in the theater. I'm sure that the audio mix sounded great coming out of Airshow Mastering, but we surely didn't get to hear that in the theatre.
I was also saddened by the overall quality of the camera work, editing, and general murkiness of the visual
elements. Video cameras in that time period were not really capable of capturing the colors or subtle differences in lighting intensities that were a trademark of Candace's work. Felt sorry for the camera operators during drums/space who were desperately searching for anything onstage that had enough light to register an image.
So, it's certainly a product of its time period. No surprise why it hasn't been seen until now, either.
I'm glad it exists, and I did have a good time seeing this show again from a much dryer location in space-time. ;)
************************************************************
Alpine Valley Music Theatre, East Troy WI (7/19/89)
Hell in a Bucket
Sugaree
Mama Tried
Mexicali Blues
Althea
Victim or the Crime
West L.A. Fadeaway
Desolation Row
Deal
Box of Rain
Foolish Heart
Looks Like Rain
Terrapin Station
drums
The Other One
The Wheel
Morning Dew
Turn on Your Love Light
Gestalt. Like that
Thanks Boo Cat for the in depth analysis. I agree on the sound for sure. I've been to all 5 meet-ups and they never have good sound. Not sure who is to blame on that one.
So do you think there are a bunch of videos out there of shows? That might work for future meet-ups? I know the closing of winterland is something they can still play. Maybe the Egypt one, if video exists.
Meet up
I went in Maryland last night, near Baltimore. ~50 people in attendance. Clapping after every song and some good ol' hootin' and hollerin' at times. Was such a joy to see Jerry so lively, especially his interactions with Brent. Interesting song selection and not a ton of jamming, but what they played, they played really well.
I agree the sound wasn't just exactly perfect, but the theater turned it up loud, so that helped. And yeah, the camera work was pretty bad, especially during Drums when they showed a closeup of Billy's face for what seemed at least 5 minutes. Oh, and Bobby's shorts....
Anyway, those are small nitpicks. All in all, I absolutely loved it and can't wait for next year's.
Meet Up
There were probably about 50 of us watching here in Honolulu.I remember being at that show, went to most of them at Alpine as I was living in Chicago at the time. The weather sucked, but I thought the band was really on for this show. Jerry actually looked happy and was quite animated. There wasn't a bad song all night.
I would have like some better camera work. Didn't see nearly enough of Jerry on Desolation Row. And there were other times I found myself saying come on, give me a shot of...whomever.
I'd really like a CD to be produced of that show. They were really good that night.
Haha, totally agree with you boo-cat
concerning the band's synergy with the crowd. And it was as much coincidence and the songs left to be played as anything else of course, but while it was happening there and then standing in the rain waiting valiantly for a jolt of bliss, it really was downer after downer, while the uplifting moments, like the brief Box of Rain's potential and the rave up of Lovelight, seemed superfluous and were neither built upon nor maintained any momentum. For example, The Wheel had already been played there two nights before, which in itself was mildly disappointing at the time, but if you compare the two, the one on this night obviously does not have the same bouncy positive vibe and sounds rather limp in comparison. Not necessarily better or worse, but definitely different. I don't mean to say any of this was a bad thing at all, only that with the expected contrasting emotional ups and downs experienced during Grateful Dead concerts, it was just... weird. And having since heard Desolation Row, West L.A. Fadeaway, The Other One, and Morning Dew, they are absolutely stunningly powerful masterpieces. LOL and dark.
Sorry to hear that some theaters didn't sound great though. The one I went to was perfect this time, and I thoroughly loved it!
Great time in SC
Between 30 to 40 very enthusiastic folks in Greenville SC for the show. Highlights for me were Foolish Heart, West LA, Desolation Row, Morning Dew and Deal. Overall really nice set list. I rate the show highly. The band had great energy and timing. It was great to see Jerry in full flow on some tunes. It was a reminder of the power, grace and beauty of his playing. Keep the meet ups coming, we all had a ball. See you all in Chicago! To the MAX!!!
Meet Up In San Diego
My wife and I had a great time in San Diego. We got thoroughly toasted before the show and chose this time (we've been to all previous) to sit in the back. The last row in the theater we were in (Edwards Mira Mesa) had lots of room behind the penultimate row. We were the only ones back there and we danced our asses off. After Althea, I turned and said "that is Garcia-Hunter at its best" as was the performance. She had never seen GD in person and we felt like we were there. My only complaints are that the theatre forgot to turn the lights out after the show started and there was a knucklehead a couple rows in front of me who could not keep his phone in his pocket, even taking a selfie such that the flash shined right in our eyes! The sound was great, the crowd enthusiastic and we, too, loved watching JG having such a great time. Just don't know how they did it night after night - it is a 'job' but they surely had more fun at their job than I've ever had at mine. Keep 'em coming, folks.
Foolish Heart
Although the singing is always an issue, I can't get this performance of Foolish Heart out of my head (in a good way)....
Happy Jerry
Several have remarked how much they enjoyed seeing Jerry have a good time during the movie.
Here's a rather obscure DVD from one month after Alpine, featuring Jerry playing with Carlos Santana on one cut and Ruben Blades on another. Blistering solos and a very animated Jerry:
http://www.amazon.com/Caliente-Y-Picante-Latino-Session/dp/B000OLHGY8/r…
Also some great footage in the bonus section of Jerry rehearsing with Carlos. Really fun stuff.
Great time in AL!there were
Great time in AL!
there were 25-30 people in attendance for the "show". One remark about 'Box of Rain" , not sure why Phil was watching his fingers while playing/singing? He wrote the song, surely, he knew how to play it?
Bad Sound
This is my second Meet Up I've been to, each one at different theatres. Both times the sound was unacceptable and just plain bad. The Alpine sound wasn't mixed well at all, volume was low, and it was hard to hear all instruments and vocals in some form of proper balance. Everything was soupy. It's not ok, even with an '89 video, to have bad sound at a movie theatre in 2015--especially when listening to the Dead. The whole Dead experience is based on great music and GREAT sound.
I left early, couldn't take the horrible mix. The YouTube video of the show had much better sound.
I don't usually complain about anything Dead-related, since we're so lucky for the ongoing stream of music we're lucky to enjoy. But this has convinced me not to attend the Fathom 50th show theatre event. No way. I'll wait for the DVD.
Re: theatre sound
I'm fairly certain it's a technical glitch, caused by either the encoding for transmission to the theaters, or some form of data compression and subsequent expansion through the theater sound system.
Most movie houses have installed full 7.1 Dolby surround systems these days ( puts the boom & thump into the blockbuster action flicks) which are capable of creating an immersive 'surround sound' experience and huge volume levels.
However, the sound mix for movies are derived onsite from data files that are actually in the theater, and not being transmitted via satellite or internet link to multiple locations. There's also a big difference between the equalization curves you need to reproduce dialog/background music/effects and concert sound.
It's got my 'elephant child' nature interested in the issue now, so I'm researching it. ;)
"...these are the days of miracles and wonders. This is a long distance call. " - The Boy In The Bubble, Paul Simon
Happy Jerry, part 2
For those who don't want to purchase the aforementioned DVD, the Jerry clips are on youtube, albeit in lesser quality than the disc:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XhIVGQCeoaU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yb_0khyDRQs
mkav
Legacy/Plano. The sound was good, just not much of a crowd. It was a good Dead show, too. Nothing special, but as solid as ever.
In reading the comments here, I wonder if a lot of people don't know where these videos are coming from. They are from the era when the idea was hatched to put up screens in large venues to give a better view. It was usually a good idea.
Since there was no script, a director just went from cam to cam as best he/she could with variable results. Obviously, no one knew quite what to do with the drums/space in this case, but I'm not sure any of us could do much better.
If they were saved, there must be loads of these videos around. Hopefully, they are being preserved on a medium more stable than tape and we can continue to attend these things for another hundred years or so.
San Mateo, CA
About 50 Heads, lots of room to sprawl. Gotta love JG tossing cues to Brent, who was borderline maniacal in certain moments. Part of a focused indoctrination effort on my part to the GF, who will be joining me for 4 of 5 FTW shows. She laughed at my palpable discomfort with Bobby's shorts. Comes with being a period piece, I guess. Rock on, brothers and sisters!
Re: MKAV / MJE
Exactly. The camera feeds were usually mixed by an employee/union stagehand specifically for closed-circuit feed to the screens out over the lawn in most shed amphitheaters. "You get what you get..." with most video from that time. No surprises there.
However, afik, the audio was taken from band multi-track sources, remixed & mastered....
My complaints are with the rebroadcast of that thru badly set up movie theatre systems & not with the mix
or mastering. The DVDs will likely sound just fine....Merely turn off the tv. ;)
1989 cause someone asked for storys of back thenat these shows.
I remember these shows very clearly. We were having a blast on this tour. It was over crowded sure but we needed the new "touch heads" they provided a new way of making tons of cash. We all know how that went down. Heads would come to the shows to bring things back to there home town , we counted on them big time. Back then life seemed so surreal if only for the fact that I know I thought the fun would never end in the fairytale type of life. Youth was on my side and I seemed to know everyone on tour by the summer of 88 and 89. Parking lot of Alpine was a show in itself at this point food beer buds and cash hand over fist. Problem was we would spend it faster then we could make it staying at the BEAUTIFUL hotel at lake Geneva . Included skeet shooting ... How many hotels include skeet shooting? Back to the shows, them having broke out "Bid you Goodnight" at the 1st show my crew and I too thought for sure we going to get 3 nights of breakouts. History shows we only got the 1 breakout but still it left a buzz threw out the next 2 days. Having a taper section legally also helped the party in the lot often after a show people would be cranking the show from their car stereo. Biggest bummer of these 3 shows was the weather for sure it got EXTREMELY nasty by the 3rd night mud up to the ankles in some places and that put a serious damper on making enough money to get back to California for the Cal Expo and Greek shows coming up. Lucky for us we stayed for the Who were coming into Alpine next. There the weather lifted and we raked in the cash enough to get back out west at least.
oh to be young again...... thank you for a real good time.
Who set list
The Who Alpine Valley Music Theater
East Troy, Wi. USA
21 July 1989 (1st night)
This is an audience recording. I don't know who I got this from so I can't tell you how it was recorded. It came to me on cassette. I transferred it to CD myself from a Nakamichi MR-2 to a Tascam CDRW-700 standalone CD recorder.
Cassette > CD > EAC > FLAC 6. The sound is very good. I rated it 8.5 on the audience scale. No artwork.
Songs:
(Songs from Tommy)
Overture
1921
Amazing Journey
Sparks
The Acid Queen
Pinball Wizard
We're Not Gonna Take It
Dig
A Friend Is A Friend
Face The Face
I'm A Man
Can't Explain
Substitute
I Can See For Miles
Trick Of The Light
Boris The Spider
Who Are You
Magic Bus
Baba O'Riley
My Generation
A Little Is Enough
5.15
Love Reign O'er Me
Sister Disco
Rough Boys
Join Together
You Better You Bet
Behind Blue Eyes
Won't Get Fooled Again
Eminence Front
Hey Joe
Twist And Shout
Meet up for 50th last night... AWESOME
Looked like many of the Seattle area venues sold out so we ended up catching it in Bellevue...Didn't expect many to be there because... well... it is Bellevue and people are wound just a bit tighter there in my experience but the place was packed, dancing in the aisles, and happy times had by all.
Sound quality and volume were fantastic. I can't imagine what other movie theater attendees that night thought when everyone started the Fadeaway clap at the end...
Just so grateful for the opportunity since I couldn't be in Chi-town.
Gallery Photo
