The Best of Fare Thee Well

Celebrating 50 years of  The Grateful Dead

Rhino, 2016

Disc One opens with the Phil Lesh led “Box of Rain,” and is more than a little symbolic here. “Box of Rain” was the final song the Grateful Dead performed live alongside iconic founding member, Jerry Garcia, in 1995, at Soldiers Field, in Chicago, no less. If we want to read into it, The Dead came to properly wrap up their legacy, whose end was abrupt and the last show wholly unnoteworthy, save for the footnote as Garcia’s final performance.

Reformed here, with Trey Anastasio filling in for Jerry Garcia, and Bruce Hornsby and Jeff Chimenti, both on keyboards, rounding out the line-up. The band is by turns, brilliant, sloppy, inspired and occasionally, distracted. There are a million wonderful moments that transpire during a Dead performance. It would be great if said moments of genius could be more closely consolidated in individual songs. Stand out tracks here include “Bertha,” “Not Fade Away,” and “Scarlet Begonias” sliding into a lively “Fire on the Mountain.”

There is neither spit or polish to be found on either disc. At times these songs sound like they were captured on fan recordings for all the flaws and dropped moments found herein. They’ve never been concerned with perfection before, why start now?

If you’ve never quite gotten the appeal of the meandering 13 minute ditty full of musical asides, this will not suddenly convert you. It is a very honest, very real document of a band who were never too concerned with pleasing anyone but themselves and their core fan base. A fitting conclusion to a long, strange, trip indeed. Also available in 12 CD, 7 DVD, box set for purists, but they already knew that.