The Dead

The trip just gets longer and stranger.

It’s been over 40 years since the Grateful Dead first walked us out in the morning dew and almost 20 years since the seminal psychedelic rock band recorded their celebrated live record Dozin’ at the Knick at what’s now the Times Union Center. The death of guitarist Jerry Garcia and almost a half century’s worth of change in the music world haven’t been able to derail the remaining sexagenarians—or, for that matter, the nation of devotees who’ve followed every note.

In what’s being billed as the “final area performance” of a “reunion tour” (hey, “The Music Never Stopped,” right?), original band members Phil Lesh, Bob Weir, Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann are joined by keyboardist Jeff Chimenti (of Weir’s solo band Ratdog) and guitarist Warren Haynes (of the Allman Brothers Band and Gov’t Mule).

The whole cosmic circus rolls into the Times Union Center (51 S. Pearl St., Albany) on Friday (April 17) at 7:30 PM. Tickets are $56 and $96. Call 487-2000 for more info.

Albany Symphony Orchestra

The Albany Symphony will close out this season with Playing the Piper, a program of two prodigious works. The evening takes its theme from the first work, John Corigliano’s Pied Piper Fantasy, a theatrical piece that will feature flute virtuoso Alexa Still. Pied Piper will also be “lightly staged”—can’t wait to see those rat costumes!

The second piece on the program is William Walton’s majestic Symphony No. 1.

Albany Symphony Orchestra will perform Saturday (April 18) at 7:30 PM at the Palace Theatre (19 Clinton Ave., Albany). Tickets are $25-$49. There will be a free preview of the concert with maestro David Alan Miller today (Thursday, April 16) at noon at the Albany Public Library (161 Washington Ave., Albany). For more info, and tickets, call 465-4663.

onedotzero_adventures in motion festival

This festival, organized by the London-based onedotzero arts organization, will feature performances, installation and screenings of cutting-edge video work at that shining mini-city on the hill in Troy (aka EMPAC).

The fun begins Friday night with an audiovisual performance by Scanner & Olga Mink in the theater, followed by local favorites skfl and jenks working their mysterious magic with laptops and such. Jesse Styles will perform Saturday night; the video installations are by Troika and Quayola.

The all-day screenings consist of “compilations of short-form videos that represent the latest innovative work in moving images, including music videos, character animation, experimental digital shorts and motion-graphic design.”

The onedotzero_adventures in motion festival opens tomorrow (Friday, April 17) and continues through Sunday (April 19) at EMPAC (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy). A three-day screening pass is $10; the Friday evening performance by Scanner & Olga Mink is $15. For a complete schedule and other info, visit empac.rpi.edu or call 276-3921.