In this retrospective episode of The Light Side, legendary Grateful Dead lighting designer Candace Brightman discusses her 40+ year career lighting live music and explains her design process through four decades of technological evolution. She also reflects on being a woman in a male dominated industry and the role psychedelics played in her career.

The second annual Skull and Roses Festival brought Deadheads from all over California, to the Ventura Fairgrounds, for three days of music inspired by The Grateful Dead. The campground area was nearly full by the time the music started early on Friday afternoon, April 6th. Festival publicist Dennis McNally, who was the publicist for the Grateful Dead from 1984-95 choose the spot because of its significance in the history of the Dead.

Guitarist Tom Hamilton (Joe Russo’s Almost Dead, Ghost Light) and pianist Holly Bowling (Ghost Light) will delve into the legendary catalogue of the Grateful Dead at Port Chester’s The Capitol Theatre on Friday, June 1. Ushering in a new level of intimacy, Hamilton and Bowling will utilize acoustic instruments to explore the vast realms of the Dead’s music.

On Sunday, May 6th, the much-anticipated documentary, Olompali: A Hippie Odyssey, will premiere as part of DocLands Film Festival at CineArts Sequoia Theater in Mill Valley, California.

The doc explores a fascinating thread of the 1960s San Francisco counterculture.

Every once in a while, an extraordinary being comes along who recognizes the obvious where no one else does.  Working with a Nobel Prize winning astrophysicist and a cutting-edge neuroscientist, Mickey Hart continues to be an undeniable force within the human mind.  Just as Newton brought gravity to sight, Hart brings sound to light; and while his achievements are mind-blowing, they’re not nearly as magnificent as the vision that drives them.

Multifarious guitar player Stephen Inglis is no stranger to the music of the Grateful Dead. A life-long Deadhead through and through, Stephen took his native Hawaiian guitar playing roots and mingled it with the band that changed his life. In conversation with Grateful Web, Stephen opened up about his ambitious solo Slack Key Guitar-centered album Cut The Dead Some Slack.

GW: Can you talk about your musical beginnings? Who are your influences?

As you entered the theater, you were given a postcard which had instructions for the “cue” for when to sing happy birthday to the birthday boy. Some of my fellow attendees were already wearing birthday hats and even giving them out to their friends. The theater was hoppin’, and the vibe was that of a celebration. It was a sold-out crowd (GA/LOGE/BALCONY). Of course, it really didn’t matter if you had a seat anyway when I looked around, people were standing and dancing everywhere.

The rumor mill was in full force with speculation of which special guest would accompanying Bob Weir and Phil Lesh on stop two of their mini “Duo” tour in Boston. The two Grateful Dead founding members were joined by Trey Anastasio in NY, and many expected that John Mayer would guest in Boston.

Originally released as part of the sold-out Fillmore West 1969: The Complete Recordings, the Grateful Dead’s Fillmore West, San Francisco 2/27/69 show will be issued on vinyl for the very first time exclusively for Record Store Day 2018. Pressed on 180-gram vinyl, the limited-edition 4-LP set (8th side etching) will have a worldwide run of 9000.

Legendary Grateful Dead drummer and three-time Grammy-award winning artist, Mickey Hart and the American Museum of Natural History are collaborating to present a dynamic artist-curated program at the Museum on the evenings of April 13th-14th. Tickets are now on sale here.