There at the back of the stadium floor you'll see the symbol of all things Dead and tech: the tapers all but synonymous with the band. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images) Hulton Archive/Getty Images Left to right, Bill Kreutzmann, Bob Weir, Ron 'Pigpen' McKernan (1946 - 1973), Jerry Garcia (1942 - 1995) and Phil Lesh. The Dead’s obsession with technology was almost inseparable from the band's psychedelic ambition and artistic independence.Ĭirca 1965: American psychedelic rock band The Grateful Dead poses on Haight-Ashbury, San Francisco, California, 1960s.

Long before it became necessary (or cool) to do so, the band embraced a DIY ethos in everything from manufacturing its own gear to publishing its own music to fostering a decentralized music distribution system. But the Grateful Dead remains one of the most innovative and tech-savvy bands in pop history. The Dead, long stereotyped as hippies stuck in the Summer of Love, surely seemed anachronistic by the time it disbanded in 1995 after the death of guitarist and songwriter Jerry Garcia. What sets the band's 'Fare Thee Well' gigs apart isn’t that these options are available, but that they exist in large part because of the Grateful Dead itself: The group and its associates pioneered rock concert broadcasts, making it a regular practice starting with a show at the Carousel Ballroom in 1968.

As with any high-profile event these days, fans can tune in to pay-per-view streams and satellite radio feeds, watch theatrical simulcasts, or attend any number of viewing parties. When the musicians once and forever known as the Grateful Dead take the stage in Chicago this weekend to cap a two-city, five-show 50th anniversary run, Deadheads the world over will have myriad ways to join the fun.

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