I lack the concert credentials necessary to be considered a Deadhead, especially as my first outing was a bit of a lark. Two years ago on the Fourth of July, I called Paul Lauricella, the only other middle-aged, white-guy, suburbanite friend capable of getting a hall pass and convinced him we should immediately go to Chicago to see what was billed as Fare Thee Well, the final shows with the Dead's core four (Phil Lesh, Bob Weir, Mickey Hart, and Bill Kreutzmann). To cap their 50-year career, the Dead played two dates in Santa Clara and were finishing in Chicago, where they'd last played with Jerry Garcia before his untimely death two decades prior. Since then, different members had gathered under alternative names including the Other Ones, Further, and now, Dead & Company. For Fare Thee Well, Trey Anastasio from Phish was Garcia's stand-in.