UNLOCKED! Enjoy The Grateful Dead Movie while there’s still time.
The Grateful Dead Movie, released in 1977 and directed by Jerry Garcia, is a film that captures live performances from rock band the Grateful Dead during an October 1974 five-night run at Winterland in San Francisco. These concerts marked the beginning of a hiatus, with the October 20, 1974 show billed as “The Last One”. The band would return to touring in 1976. The film features the “Wall of Sound” concert sound system that the Dead used for all of 1974. The movie also portrays the burgeoning Deadhead scene.
To document the Grateful Dead experience, the film showcases the fans more than was usual in a concert movie at the time. They are shown enjoying the show, discussing the music and the band, and what it was like to be a Deadhead in the mid-1970s. The film also includes interviews with members of the Dead and vintage footage from their colorful history and early days in the band. The film opens with a uniquely Grateful Dead animated sequence, featuring the “Uncle Sam skeleton”. The psychedelic animation was created by Gary Gutierrez, using techniques that he developed specifically for the project. Stanley Mouse did the title art.
UNLOCKED! Enjoy The Grateful Dead Movie and please donate to Feeding America if you can.
Jerry Garcia directs this concert film of highlights from the five-night run at San Francisco’s Winterland Ballroom that capped off the Grateful Dead’s 1974 tour. The film is distinguished among concert films for its unusual focus on the band’s fans and their often extreme commitment to the Deadhead lifestyle. The documentary also features interviews with band members, including Jerry Garcia, Bob Weir, and Phil Lesh, and includes a short but lively recap of the group’s history.
