Fare Thee Well Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		3.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		4.0

Fare Thee Well Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman November 28, 2015

Lots of artists have announced supposed farewell tours through the years, only to reconsider and be back out taking the hustings for another go in front of the crowds. With Jerry Garcia now gone for an amazing twenty years, and the rest of the (ironically still living) Grateful Dead all well ensconced in AARP if not in Social Security benefits territory, not to mention the emotional tenor of the group, fans of this iconic group probably were a bit more willing to believe that the Dead’s Fare the Well concerts were in fact the band’s swan song before the public. This mini-tour of sorts had both a west coast and a midwestern component, with two performances taking place in Santa Clara, California, before a triptych of final concerts given at Chicago’s Soldier Field a few days later, a suitable locale given the fact that it was here that Garcia himself played for the last time publically with the band. (The California venue was evidently actually added after the Chicago performances, when the demand for tickets for Soldier Field turned out to be positively overwhelming.) The “core four” surviving members, Bob Weir, Phil Lesh, Bill Kreutzmann and Mickey Hart, were joined by Phish’s Trey Anastasio, along with Bruce Hornsby and Jeff Chimenti, for this final long, strange trip through some meandering if enjoyable passages from the Dead’s iconic discography. (Kreutzmann's son Justin directed the concert video.) Some online forums devoted to the Dead have lamented that this set features the final July 5 performance, when at least some fans argue that some of the earlier Chicago performances were actually “better” (and for those folks, Dead.net is offering a “complete edition” which presents the entire final set of Chicago concerts). What’s offered here is perhaps a bit surprisingly low key quite a bit of the time, but it offers some excellent interplay between the musicians and was obviously rapturously received by the huge and adoring audience.

Fans who take the Dead seriously are well on display throughout several interstitial segments interwoven into the overall concert footage. One guy admits to being close to tears as he is in fact convinced that “this is it”, and that there will be no future live performances by the “core four” coming down the line. Another, younger female fan had never actually been able to catch a live show of the Dead before, and stands outside Soldier Field with a large cardboard sign begging for help getting a ticket. Still other, perhaps more playful, fans talks about various obstacle courses they overcame to get to this show.

The first disc actually takes several minutes to finally get to the band taking the stage (a little bit less time is spent with prepartory elements on the second disc), and even once the boys do come on stage, they’re not in any particular rush to get to the music making. When the playing does start, that kind of laconically relaxed quality continues to infuse a lot of the music, which ambles along with grace and excellent interplay, but more of a stoner ambience than anything more putatively head banging. Weir’s voice has a kind of plaintive, almost Neil Young-esque quality at times, and Trey Anastasio does his best in the probably unenviable position of attempting to fill Garcia’s immense shoes.

Blu-ray Disc 1

• 1. China Cat Sunflower (Live at Soldier Field, Chicago, IL 7/5/2015)
• 2. I Know You Rider (Live at Soldier Field, Chicago, IL 7/5/2015)
• 3. Estimated Prophet (Live at Soldier Field, Chicago, IL 7/5/2015)
• 4. Built To Last (Live at Soldier Field, Chicago, IL 7/5/2015)
• 5. Samson And Delilah (Live at Soldier Field, Chicago, IL 7/5/2015)
• 6. Mountains Of The Moon (Live at Soldier Field, Chicago, IL 7/5/2015)
• 7. Throwing Stones (Live at Soldier Field, Chicago, IL 7/5/2015)

Blu-ray Disc 2

• 1. Truckin' (Live at Soldier Field, Chicago, IL 7/5/2015)
• 2. Cassidy (Live at Soldier Field, Chicago, IL 07/5/2015)
• 3. Althea (Live at Soldier Field, Chicago, IL 7/5/2015)
• 4. Terrapin Station (Live at Soldier Field, Chicago, IL 7/5/2015)
• 5. Drums (Live at Soldier Field 7/5/2015)

CD 1

• 1. Space (Live at Soldier Field, Chicago, IL 7/5/2015)
• 2. Unbroken Chain (Live at Soldier Field, Chicago, IL 7/5/2015)
• 3. Days Between (Live at Soldier Field, Chicago, IL 7/5/2015)
• 4. Not Fade Away (Live at Soldier Field, Chicago, IL 7/5/2015)
• 5. Touch Of Grey (Live at Soldier Field, Chicago, IL 7/5/2015)
• 6. Attics Of My Life (Live at Soldier Field, Chicago, IL 7/5/2015)

CD 2

• 1. China Cat Sunflower (Live at Soldier Field, Chicago, IL 7/5/2015)
• 2. I Know You Rider (Live at Soldier Field, Chicago, IL 7/5/2015)
• 3. Estimated Prophet (Live at Soldier Field, Chicago, IL 7/5/2015)
• 4. Built To Last (Live at Soldier Field, Chicago, IL 7/5/2015)
• 5. Samson And Delilah (Live at Soldier Field, Chicago, IL 7/5/2015)
• 6. Mountains Of The Moon (Live at Soldier Field, Chicago, IL 7/5/2015)
• 7. Throwing Stones (Live at Soldier Field, Chicago, IL 7/5/2015)

CD 3

• 1. Truckin' (Live at Soldier Field, Chicago, IL 7/5/2015)
• 2. Cassidy (Live at Soldier Field, Chicago, IL 7/5/2015)
• 3. Althea (Live at Soldier Field, Chicago, IL 7/5/2015)
• 4. Terrapin Station (Live at Soldier Field, Chicago, IL 7/5/2015)
• 5. Drums (Live at Soldier Field, Chicago, IL 7/5/2015)
• 6. Space (Live at Soldier Field, Chicago, IL 7/5/2015)
• 7. Unbroken Chain (Live at Soldier Field 7/5/2015)
• 8. Days Between (Live at Soldier Field, Chicago, IL 7/5/2015)
• 9. Not Fade Away (Live at Soldier Field, Chicago, IL 7/5/2015)
• 10. Touch Of Grey (Live at Soldier Field, Chicago, IL 7/5/2015)
• 11. Attics Of My Life (Live at Soldier Field, Chicago, IL 7/5/2015)

Fare Thee Well Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Fare Thee Well: Celebrating 50 Years of Grateful Dead is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Rhino Music with an AVC encoded 1080i transfer in 1.78:1. This is a curiously inconsistent looking presentation, and without a surplus of technical information available, my asssumption is that some of the anomalies might be traced to relatively lo-fi capture units like Go Pros and the like. While there's an appealing sharpness and clarity to many of the brightly lit close-ups, some shots look more like upscales, and not particularly good upscales at that (see screenshot 18). Even relatively clear and well detailed shots are often compromised with compression artifacts, with quite a bit of noise and rampant macroblocking littering the imagery. There are also more expected elements like posterizing, especially as the concert tips into dusk and nightfall and the bright stage lighting provides more of a contrast to the blackened backgrounds. Despite the interlaced presentation, there are actually very few incidents of combing artifacts, even in quick motions like the strumming of guitars.

Fare Thee Well Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Fare Thee Well: Celebrating 50 Years of Grateful Dead features a Dolby TrueHD 5.1 surround track as well as an LPCM 2.0 stereo version. Both feature excellent fidelity, with the 2.0 mix perhaps offering vocals a bit more forward and therefore more clearly defined. There's a very heavy emphasis on the kick drum and bass in the 5.1 mix, something that gives many of the tunes an undeniably propulsive atmosphere, but which sounds slightly unbalanced to my ears. Both tracks offer sterling clarity with an admirable focus on the music rather than the sometimes encroaching crowd sounds.

Fare Thee Well Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Neither of the Blu-ray discs has any supplemental content. The trifold packaging comes with the 3 CDs listed above, as well as a glossy illustrated booklet containing an essay by Rolling Stone writer David Fricke.

Fare Thee Well Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Fare Thee Well: Celebrating 50 Years of Grateful Dead is a kind of curiously restrained goodbye, something that's miles apart from more traditional, glitzy, bells and whistles filled send offs from major acts. But, really, isn't that part of the Dead's seemingly eternal allure? This is a concert about the music, and while it's perhaps less energetic than some might want, it's a heartfelt and extremely enjoyable tour through a number of nooks and crannies that proves that all who wander are not lost, though they may in fact be Dead. Video quality has some issues, so at least a cursory glance through the screenshots accompanying this review is recommended, but audio is fine if awfully bass heavy a lot of the time. Recommended.