Grateful Dead Meet-Up at the Movies is an annual event that began in 2011. At the Meet-Up, which occurs at multiple locations in the United States, concert videos and films of the rock band the Grateful Dead are shown in movie theaters. Each yearly screening occurs only one time. Fathom Events organizes and manages the presentations. The event provides a venue and opportunity for the band's fans, known as deadheads, to gather in celebration and camaraderie.
Contents
2011
The first Grateful Dead Meet-Up at the Movies, in 2011, screened The Grateful Dead Movie in U.S. movie theaters. The Grateful Dead Movie is a music documentary that focuses on the band's October 16 to 20, 1974 performances at the Winterland Arena. It also includes interviews with the band members, and archival footage from earlier in their career. Shot on 35 mm film, it was co-directed by Jerry Garcia, and was originally released in theaters in 1977.
2012
The 2012 event occurred on April 19 at 7:00 pm local time in selected movie theaters around the U.S., and aired the Grateful Dead's July 18, 1989 performance at the Alpine Valley Music Theatre near East Troy, Wisconsin. This concert took place one day after the Alpine Valley show documented in the feature-length music video Downhill from Here, which was released in 1997.
2013
The 2013 event occurred on August 1 and featured the music documentary film Sunshine Daydream in select U.S. movie theaters. Sunshine Daydream was shot at the concert performed on August 27, 1972 at the Old Renaissance Faire Grounds in Veneta, Oregon, and includes extensive footage of the audience as well as the band. In 2013 the movie was re-edited and restored from the original 16 mm film negatives, and remastered to a high-definition digital projection for the screening. The audio was also completely remastered. The film was shown in about 450 movie theaters in the U.S. The following month, Sunshine Daydream was released on DVD and Blu-ray, packaged together with a 3-CD album of the complete Veneta concert.
2014
The 2014 meet-up occurred on July 17 in movie theaters nationwide in the United States, and aired the Grateful Dead's April 21, 1972 performance at the Beat Club television studio in Bremen, West Germany. The screenings began at 7:30 pm local time nationwide. The presentation was prepared from restored video from the original Beat Club broadcast and re-mastered audio from the original analog magnetic tapes. It also included a behind-the-scenes look at the production of an upcoming Grateful Dead release, with Bob Weir on guitar and vocals, and Jeffrey Norman performing mixing and mastering.
2015
Grateful Dead Meet-Up at the Movies 2015 occurred on May 4, 2015, with the presentation of a previously unreleased video of the Grateful Dead concert performed at the Alpine Valley Music Theatre near East Troy, Wisconsin on July 19, 1989. The performance lasted approximately 160 minutes. This was the show performed the night after the one shown at the 2012 meet-up. The 2015 event took place in over 400 movie theaters in the United States. Screenings began nationwide at 7:00 pm local time. The concert was recorded in analog video format using multiple cameras, and the sound in movie theaters was in Dolby Stereo. Some of the content aired included additional content that was exclusive to the cinema presentations, which was previously unreleased. The concert was also aired on YouTube, but the additional exclusive content played only in cinema presentations was not included in the YouTube presentation.
2016
The 2016 Meet-Up featured a previously unreleased video of the Grateful Dead concert performed on July 2, 1989 at Sullivan Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts. The concert was screened on May 11, 2016.