Reds announce Grateful Dead Night to honor band's 50th anniversary
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}August 9, 2011; San Francisco, CA, USA; Grateful Dead band members Phil Lesh (left) and Bob Weir (center) sing the national anthem with San Francisco Giants third base coach Tim Flannery (right) before the game against the Pittsburgh Pirates at AT&T Park. Mandatory Credit: Jason O. Watson-USA TODAY Sports
Grateful Dead concerts are like baseball games: no two are ever alike. The plays are always different, and there's always fresh hope. Sometimes the game's an all-timer even though individual performances are sloppy; sometimes everybody plays great but the team loses anyway.-- David Gans, from his book The Official Book of the Deadheads
Sure, NBA legend Bill Walton might be the most recognizable Deadhead of them all, but the Grateful Dead, America's most legendary touring band of all-time, was always most compared to the great game of baseball for even more reasons than listed above.
The band used to typically park its traveling tent in cities for three nights at a time, a three-game series if you will with its diehard fans, just like baseball's, keeping score every song, hit and error.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The Dead's original four members finished up a three-night run in Chicago over the July 4 weekend to celebrate the band's 50th anniversary, and now the Cincinnati Reds are doing their part to keep the party going with Grateful Dead Night at Great American Ball Park on Sept. 4.
The Reds have created a special ticket package that includes an exclusive Reds-themed Dancing Bears item. The post-game fireworks show will feature a soundtrack of songs from the newly released CD, "The Best of the Grateful Dead" celebrating the band's 50th anniversary.
Hailing from San Francisco, the Dead members are noted Giants fans and have often answered the call to sing the National Anthem and AT&T Park and Candlestick Park before that.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The Grateful Dead played many legendary shows in the Queen City over the decades and as far as the Reds honoring the boys, well the Grateful Dead's late, great guitarist and soulful vocalist Jerry Garcia will certainly be smiling down while singing, "I'd rather be with you!"