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Video: Empire State Building Light Show Syncs With Grateful Dead On July 4th
By
Ben Yakas
Published Jul 5, 2015
Modified Jul 6, 2015
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By
Ben Yakas
Published Jul 5, 2015
Modified Jul 6, 2015
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If you thought the Empire State Building's patriotic LED light show last night was just another July 4th celebration, then you'd be Dead wrong.
The lights were actually synced up to the Grateful Dead's "U.S. Blues," in celebration of their three-day Fare Thee Well shows at Soldier Field in Chicago this weekend. The band posted the light show, with the song, in the video below.
JamBase, which reported on last night's Fare Thee Well show, has all the details about the final song of their set:
The smart money was on "U.S. Blues" serving as the encore for Fare Thee Well's July 4th show and those who bet on the tune ending the night won out. "U.S. Blues" came after Phil Lesh delivered his "Donor Rap" imploring fans to donate their organs as his life was saved by a liver transplant he received in 1998.
The lights at the Empire State Building's LED tower were synchronized to the band's live performance of "U.S. Blues." ESB lighting designer Marc Brickman teamed up with the band to create the vision and technical design of the music-to-light show, which featured an assortment of Grateful Dead imagery in the mast of the building. The feat will be repeated for New Yorkers featuring a "U.S. Blues" soundtrack on Q104.3 radio at 9 p.m. ET on Sunday night.
This is not the first time ESB has gone full-tie dye for the Dead. We suppose it was the least NYC could do to pay homage to the longest-running jam band in rock history. The band, who were bolstered by Phish frontman Trey Anastasio for the farewell shows, played "The Golden Road (To Unlimited Devotion)" for the first time since 1967 last night as well. It happens to be one of my favorite Dead songs, so check it out below.
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Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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