The details for the 8th-annual Grateful Dead Meet-Up at the Movies have been announced. Presented by Fathom Events, the special one-night event on Wednesday, August 1st will see Deadheads nationwide head to their local theater to relive a show from the archives in its entirety: The Grateful Dead’s July 7th, 1989 performance at J.F.K. Stadium in Philadelphia, PA.
The Dead stopped at the aging Philly stadium during their massive 1989 tour, and proved to be the [Jack] Straw that broke the old camel’s back. Just hours before the concert, city inspectors discovered piles of combustible materials, numerous electrical problems, and crumbling concrete, telling symptoms that the stadium was on its last legs. The show was allowed to go on, but proved to be the structure’s send-off: Six days after the Grateful Dead’s 1989 show, then-Mayor Wilson Goode condemned the stadium due to multiple findings by city inspectors that the structure was structurally unsafe and a potential fire hazard.
Explains the announcement:
The Philadelphia concert offers a snapshot of the Dead’s 1989 tour, where the band played to some of its biggest audiences ever. The band helped raze the aging stadium, thundering through “Hell In A Bucket,” “Little Red Rooster” and Bob Dylan’s “Stuck Inside Of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again.”
Many sitting at north end of the open-air stadium recall the concrete bleachers trembling during Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann’s drum duet in the second set. The show closed with another Dylan cover, “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door,” the last song ever performed at JFK.
“For nearly a decade now, fans have looked forward to the summer to get together with ‘family’ in movie theaters across the nation for the annual ‘meet-up,’” Fathom Events CEO Ray Nutt expressed in a statement. “We’re proud to partner with Rhino again this year to bring this special event, featuring one of America’s most treasured rock bands, to some of the world’s most devoted fans.”
Head here to check what theaters near you are participating in the 2018 Grateful Dead Meet-Up at the Movies and reserve your ticket today.
Setlist: The Grateful Dead | J.F.K. Stadium | Philadelphia, PA | 7/7/89
Set One: Hell in a Bucket, Iko Iko, Little Red Rooster, Ramble on Rose, Stuck Inside of Mobile, Loser, Let it Grow, Blow Away
Set Two: Box of Rain, Scarlet Begonias > Fire on the Mountain, Estimated Prophet, Standing on the Moon > drums > The Other One, Wharf Rat, Turn on Your Love Light
Encore: Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door