Empire State Building lights up for the Grateful Dead

Veteran rockers the GRATEFUL DEAD were celebrated with a special “once in a lifetime” light show atop the Empire State Building in New York City on America’s Independence Day on Saturday (04Jul15).
The band is due to perform their final night of a three-show run at Soldier Field in Chicago, Illinois on Sunday (05July15) to mark their 50th anniversary.
They were also feted in the Big Apple over the holiday weekend as the skyscraper’s lights swirled into a montage of colour complete with Grateful Dead graphics in tribute to the band’s Fare Thee Well shows, and the display was broadcast into the Chicago venue for the crowd to see.
The Empire State Building’s lighting director Marc Brickman tells Billboard.com, “The lights were incorporated into the Chicago show on the screens as a huge video-tribute to watch while they performed. It was specifically designed for this show as a gift since it’s a special night and it’s never been done before for a rock band of this magnitude. We also had some iconic Dead graphics dancing in the mast of the building… The Empire State Building has long recognised the historic and cultural significance of the Grateful Dead and asked me to do this show for the band’s highly anticipated reunion and final shows… It’s a once in a lifetime experience.”