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Local audiences rock out - at a distance - with final Grateful Dead shows

Phil Lesh, Bill Kreutzmann, Bobby Weir, and Mickey Hart were on stage at Soldier Field, 650 miles away in Chicago, jamming one last time (with friends and feeling) on gems from the 50-years-deep-and-wide Grateful Dead catalog of rootsy Americana rock, blues, and country tunes - "Box of Rain," "Bertha," "Roll Away the Dew" . . .

Crowds at Ardmore Music Hall watch a simulcast of the Grateful Dead's final "Fare Thee Well" show from Soldier Field, Chicago on July 3, 2015.
Crowds at Ardmore Music Hall watch a simulcast of the Grateful Dead's final "Fare Thee Well" show from Soldier Field, Chicago on July 3, 2015.Read moreYong Kim/Inquirer

Phil Lesh, Bill Kreutzmann, Bobby Weir, and Mickey Hart were on stage at Soldier Field, 650 miles away in Chicago, jamming one last time (with friends and feeling) on gems from the 50-years-deep-and-wide Grateful Dead catalog of rootsy Americana rock, blues, and country tunes - "Box of Rain," "Bertha," "Roll Away the Dew" . . .

But at the Ardmore Music Hall on Lancaster Avenue on Friday, Deadheads in tie-dyes seemed equally in the moment and part of the community, turning on and tuning in to a polished, closed-circuit video feed of the purportedly last Grateful Dead hurrah, called "Fare Thee Well." They were bouncing and twirling with enthusiasm, especially revved up when TV cameras focused on Soldier Field dancers, too. They were cheering, singing along on message lines, even shouting requests - at the screen.

And they were hardly alone. The same three-night stand was and will be playing (ending Sunday night) outdoors on Maennerchor Field in Doylestown, and at suburban movie theaters in Bensalem, Warrington, Oaks, Somerdale, Trenton, and Wilmington, all aligned with Fathom Events. Most admissions top out at $15 (not bad). And at least one theater - Movies 16 in Somerdale, N.J. - is offering a senior discount for the "Touch of Grey" contingent. (Union Transfer shows were reluctantly canceled due to technical problems.)

Also true to the band's heritage as social (and tech) media pioneers, Deadheads can likewise share the last rites (if not "the women and the wine") as a cable and satellite TV pay-per-view ($29.99), a webcast at mlb.com, or in audio form (one hour delayed, oddly) on Sirius/XM's Grateful Dead Channel (23). CD and videodisc versions are promised for November.

The three farewell concerts fall 50 years after the formation of the band (originally as the Warlocks) and 20 years after the old soldiers' last stand (July 9, 1995) as the Grateful Dead at the same Soldier Field in Chi-town. Lead guitarist/singer and titular head Jerry Garcia died precisely one month later (Aug. 8, 1995).

The remaining Dead were clearly reinvigorated by the temporary addition of Phish's Trey Anastasio on guitar - even Garcia's daughter Trixie voiced approval after a rainbow-blessed warm-up show last weekend in Santa Clara, Calif.

But the Chicago stand is still being proclaimed their last. Maybe that's to make sure the buyers of $4,000 VIP show packages aren't upset - "the hippies-turned-stockbrokers who traded in their VW Microbus for a private jet," cracked Denny Horn, a seasoned Philly-based fan with "more than 200" Dead shows under his belt.

Horn picked Ardmore to take in Friday's Farewell because "the vibes are good here. The Meyer Sound system is the same kind the Dead use. It's kind of taken over as our town's jam-rock headquarters. And the club decided to slip in Splintered Sunlight" - a popular Dead cover band that regularly plays the Music Hall - "as an added attraction." They played a crowd-rousing, five-song set during the Dead's hour-long intermission, then jammed again from 12:30 a.m. to closing.

How does it feel to be playing in the same "room" with their idols? "Humbling, unbelievable," said Splinter's super-shredding guitarist, Butchy Sochorow.

"Just to be a small part of this is magical," added the group's sometime keyboardist Mike Borowski. "It seems like tonight they've taken over the whole world."

215-854-5960@JTakiff