The Grateful Dead is closing the lid on its storied half-century of concerts this weekend in Chicago, where the Field Museum has captured the band's prankster heart by displaying its artifacts, skeletons-and-roses iconography included, in the shadow of a world-famous dinosaur.
Soldier Field, which was the last place legendary guitarist Jerry Garcia played with the band before his death in 1995, is hosting the final three shows of the short "Fare thee Well" tour in what the remaining core members — rhythm guitarist Bob Weir, bassist Phil Lesh and percussionists Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann — say will be the last.
The lakefront stadium will be a sea of tie-dyed shirts, and the sounds of bootleg concert tapes will fill the air in the parking lots.
Many of those who followed the band around decades ago have become lawyers, accountants and, in at least one case, a member of the U.S. Senate.
"Yes, my wife and I are coming for the Saturday and Sunday shows," said former comedian and avowed Deadhead Al Franken, who now represents Minnesota in Washington.
The Democrat began seeing the Dead about the time he was getting out of college in the early 1970s, and later became friends with members of the band when they appeared on "Saturday Night Live."
"To me they represent a big part of my life, they are a touchstone for a long time and they still are," he said.
Married: Tyler Hubbard of the country duo Florida Georgia Line has tied the knot. The 28-year-old Georgia-born singer and his wife, Idaho native Hayley Stommel, also 28, were married in an outdoor ceremony in Sun Valley, Idaho, that included Hubbard's bandmate, Brian Kelley, as the best man.
