Wow, what a movie. Not only is it filled with great music but it also is a great time capsule of the late '70s Dead scene. It's a movie that non-Dead fans will enjoy because it's truly a movie that brings you to another place and time but it never feels dated in it's presentation. A timeless classic. (Just for the record, I saw this movie in the theater. It was a midnight movie screening somewhere on Long Island, NY. I was in high school at the time. I'm guessing 1980.)

In 1970, while a freshman in college, I purchased "Workingman's Dead", a studio album that was a snapshot of The Dead in that moment. Only recently did I learn that the album's sound was heavily influenced by CS&N. It's a great album, but it does little to help one understand the phenomenon that was The Grateful Dead.

If we go back to "the garden", Woodstock in 1969--their live performance that was uninspired but natural--it is a good starting point for understanding the Experience that became the band's trademark. Woodstock had a freewheelin' energy and it reflected the anarchistic vibe of the counterculture. Unfortunately, that performance was also a portent of the consequences that befall those who abandon reason for the sake of experimentation or pleasure; and the LSD-inspired sloppiness of their Woodstock set was indicative of the drug-fueled illnesses that would end Jerry Garcia's life in his fifties.

"The Grateful Dead" does a good job of making this a documentary by showing backstage scenes, the group interacting with fans inside and outside the venue (Winterland),the crews setting up and tearing down, etc.

But this film is about the legacy of a countercultural institution. And the live performances that were edited for this film shot in 1974 feel unself-conscious, organic and true to The Dead's oeuvre and style.

Their music is a blend of folk country and psychedelia, reflecting Garcia's many musical influences, his personal style, and perhaps even his early use of the banjo. As is to be expected in their concerts, extended solos and jams are de rigueur.

The film would get average marks if that was all it showed. But the fans, the Deadheads, were as much a part of the experience as the group they followed, so it is in showing the audiences that the film rises to more than a concert documentary. Shots of their lyrically dancing fans, and those possessed by frenetic intensity, are an integral part of the film. And they demonstrate how their performances were like a moveable Woodstock that continued for decades.

Each performance was a celebration of the Deadicated for whom concertgoing was a way of life, a calling. Other bands had their groupies, but The Dead inspired legions of faithful attendees. Fortunately, this film does a fairly solid job of depicting the obsessive and transformational commitment of their followers, the Deadheads. We see the nearly religious devotion that was a gift, not deserved, in exchange for the gift of the band's preservation of an eclectic ideal.

The photography is average, though comprehensive, but the sound is-- fortunately--quite good.

Near the end, we see a banner proclaiming "Dead Don't Die". It's a prayer, perhaps, that flies in the face of reality, but it somehow helps quantify the spirit of the group and this film.

This captures the GD in their prime and in front of a loving, hometown audience in 1974. There is concert footage mixed with some trippy animation, but the real time capsule is all the footage of their fans that is included. You get to see a lot of Deadheads grooving to the music, goofing around, dancing, and verbally expressing themselves. Apparently the post-production and editing were very expensive, time-consuming, and stressful. I don't think it was a big hit in the movie theatres, but like most of their music, it stands the test of time very well. There would be plenty more live GD videos in the years to come. The same group of shows also led to their "Steal Your Face" live album and its famous logo.