Fare Thee Well Grateful Dead 50 Pay-Per-View Available
By Scott Bernstein May 1, 2015 • 1:50 pm PDT
UPDATE 5/1 2 p.m. PT: The pre-sale has launched here and is available through May 15 with those purchasing the five-show package able to save $50. Watch the trailer below.
Grateful Dead members Phil Lesh, Bill Kreutzmann, Mickey Hart and Bob Weir will team with Phish guitarist Trey Anastasio and keyboardists Bruce Hornsby and Jeff Chimenti for five upcoming Fare Thee Well -celebrating 50 years of Grateful Dead performances in Santa Clara, California (June 27 and 28) and Chicago (July 3 -5). If you can’t attend in person, Rolling Stone reports all five performances will be available as pay-per-view webcasts “via an as-yet-unannounced online streaming platform” in addition to previously announced simulcasts of the Chicago shows in theaters nationwide.
The Chicago performances are billed as the final time the Dead’s “core four” will perform together. Not only will the Chicago shows be webcast and simulcast in theaters, but Pay-Per-View broadcasts will be available from cable and satellite providers. Lesh, Kreutzmann, Hart, Weir, Hornsby, Chimenti and Anastasio will play two sets each night. A pre-sale for the webcasts is available here and costs $79.95 for all five nights. The pre-sale will run from May 1 to May 15.
Fare Thee Well co-organizer Peter Shapiro had hinted at simulcasts and webcasts during interviews with Billboard and Rolling Stone. Rolling Stone reveals the pay-per-view event will be hosted by CNBC reporter Steve Liesman and feature special guest host Bill Walton. There’s also word the broadcast will be available as video-on-demand for 45 days for those that can’t tune in live.
