Long Strange Trip

Emerging from the Bay Area's vibrant 1960s counterculture, the Grateful Dead were a motley crew whose unique sound sprang from an eclectic blend of influences: bluegrass, folk ballads, R&B, free-form jazz, classical, and jug band. Put to the Acid Tests, they passed with flying colors, becoming one of rock and roll's most unlikely success stories. A band, an experience, a quasi religion, they were also a family - albeit a dysfunctional one. Through their unworldly musical connection they formed a "group mind," one they shared with their enthusiastic tribe of fans throughout three decades of legendary concerts-cum-spiritual experiences. (Sundance Film Festival)