Courtesy of The Grateful DeadThe Grateful Dead will launch a weekly streaming concert series dubbed “Shakedown Stream” this Friday, April 10, at 8 p.m. ET on the band’s official YouTube channel.
The series will begin with a screening of Truckin’ Up to Buffalo, a film documenting a July 4, 1989, performance at Rich Stadium near Buffalo, New York. It will be accompanied by an on-camera live pre-show featuring Grateful Dead archivist David Lemieux and historian Gary Lambert.
The livestream will feature a “donate now” button where you can give money to support the MusiCares COVID-19 Relief Fund.
You can also submit questions for Lemieux and Lambert to answer during the pre-show at the “Shakedown Stream” submission page. A limited number will be chosen.
“Shakedown Stream” was devised as a way for Grateful Dead fans to congregate remotely while having to remain isolated because of the COVID-19 crisis.
Explaining why the 1989 Buffalo concert was chosen to kick off the series, Lemieux says, “[I]t’s excellence is indisputable and is something that we think pretty much everyone will enjoy in the absence of actually being able to see live concerts; and, as a tribute to the many rabid, loyal Dead Heads from the hard-hit tri-state area, which has been affected more than anywhere else in the country.”
Truckin’ Up to Buffalo features the Grateful Dead playing 21 songs, including renditions of such popular originals as “Bertha,” “Terrapin Station” and “Touch of Grey,” and covers of Bob Dylan’s “When I Paint My Masterpiece” and “All Along the Watchtower.”
“Shakedown Stream” will continue on April 17 with a screening of the 1977 concert flick The Grateful Dead Movie. Future installments will include never-before-seen concerts from the band’s archive, as well as previously released shows.
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