Every two years, the Venice Biennale brings together the world's most interesting artists, musicians, and performers for a unique, high-energy gathering. This October, Rex offers a chance to immerse yourself in the Art and Music Biennales, with concerts, in-house events, and plenty of opportunities to engage with the artists, your fellow travelers, and Venice. Among the resident artists are longtime Rex supporters Nicki Bluhm, Tim Bluhm, and John Kadlecik.

This one's truly all about the music! We're pleased to add the Municipal Auditorium, Nashville, TN, April 22, 1978 to list of "officially released" Grateful Dead shows. A spitfire of a performance that helps mark the band's "end-of-1977 sound," we find the seven firing on all cylinders, hitting high notes on crowd-pleasers like "Bertha>Good Lovin'" and "Jack Straw" in the first set and on "Not Fade Away">"Wharf Rat">"Sugar Magnolia" in the second, lest we forget to mention one of the finest versions of "Wharf Rat" ever performed.

San Francisco's Beats Antique has released a cover of the Hunter/Garcia gem New Speedway Boogie. This version includes Clint Maedgen of the Preservation Hall Jazz Band on vocals and sax.

It dawned on me half a year before I boarded a plane to Chicago for the final three Dead shows. The King Sooper’s (Western Union) teller laughed when I told him why I needed seven money orders to purchase, potentially, just three tickets. “So there are different price points for various seating levels.

After 20 years since their last performance at Soldier Field, the Grateful Dead performed to record crowds each of their three nights. Last night's final show will live long in the memories of those that saw the show and in the history books of Soldier Field. Soldier Field's previous ticket sales record was set by U2 at the iconic stadium in 2009 during their 360 Tour. The Grateful Dead's first performance on July 3rd had 70,764 tickets purchased. Their second performance on the 4th of July had 70,844 and their last on July 5th had 71,000.

A one-of-a-kind Fare Thee Well commemorative guitar was auctioned for $526,000 during intermission of the Grateful Dead's July 5th concert in Chicago, benefiting 17 charities tied to the band. The D'Angelico EX-DC guitar was played on stage by the Grateful Dead's Bob Weir on June 28th, and was signed by the four living original members of the group and the three guest performers.

It was purchased by Bill Rathburn of Dallas, TX.

The funds will be split among the charities, with each organization receiving approximately $30,000 from the guitar alone.

Yes, I am a fan of the Grateful Dead. There was a period of time when they occupied an important part of my life when I was traveling to see many shows with friends and immersed in the Dead community.  While I didn’t care much for some of the personal grooming habits, appearances, or recreational habits of some hard cored Deadheads, I did love their sense of adventure, warm personalities, and iconoclastic lifestyles. The music united us all regardless of our backgrounds or appearances.