The Dead are coming back to Barton Hall.
Exactly 46 years since they trucked into Cornell and delivered one of the most iconic and beloved performances of their long, strange career, remaining members of the Grateful Dead will return, as Dead & Company, to play a benefit concert in Barton Hall on May 8 as part of the band's final tour.
The Grateful Dead at Barton Hall, May 8, 1977.
"Cornell 1977 holds a special place in Grateful Dead lore. That magical night lives forever and will always link Cornell and the Grateful Dead," said drummer Mickey Hart. "On that fateful night in 1977, my wife Caryl was a student at Cornell but missed that performance. Many twists and turns later, we wind up once again at Cornell to celebrate that 1977 performance with a benefit concert at Barton Hall. If anyone finds some of my old brain cells that I lost back in '77 in Barton Hall, please advise."
The concert - brought to campus by Alumni Affairs and Development - will be a fundraiser for Cornell's 2030 Project, to develop and accelerate tangible solutions to climate change, and MusiCares, a nonprofit established in 1989 by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences to support the health and welfare of music industry professionals.
"The legacy of the 5/8/77 show is well-known to fans around the world. That Dead & Co. would come back to Cornell and play at Barton Hall, and do so while supporting the Cornell 2030 Project and MusiCares on their farewell tour, is truly special," said Rob Klein '97, an ILR major and a longtime fan of the Grateful Dead and Dead & Company, who was instrumental in organizing the upcoming show via his professional networks in the sports media entertainment industry.
