University Forum Brings Grateful Dead Celebration Downtown

Tue, 10/27/2026 - 09:36am

Downtown Hattiesburg will get an early start on the music Tuesday, Nov. 17, when The University of Southern Mississippi’s University Forum brings a Grateful Dead celebration to the historic Hattiesburg Saenger Theater.

The evening begins at 5:15 p.m. with a block party outside the Saenger, giving fans a chance to gather downtown before the program. Doors open at 5:15 p.m. The event is free and open to the public, with wristbands distributed at the door.

At 6:30 p.m., David Lemieux, the Grateful Dead’s official audiovisual archivist and legacy manager, will take the stage for a look inside the history, music and archive of one of rock music’s most enduring bands. The evening then moves from the vault to the stage when The Stolen Faces perform at approximately 8 p.m.

The event is presented by University Forum and sponsored by the City of Hattiesburg, the Saenger Theater, Prospect on Main and Rock 104. It brings Forum into downtown Hattiesburg for a night designed to feel as much like a community music event as a traditional lecture.

“We are excited about the November University Forum event with David Lemieux because it involves a collaboration with the City of Hattiesburg. Forum has always been free and open to the public, but it is particularly meaningful to collaborate with our community and host Forum at the historic Saenger Theater. It is a wonderful opportunity to bring Forum to the community and to encourage Southern Miss students, faculty, and staff to visit downtown Hattiesburg and see this premier speaker series through a different lens,” said Dr. Joyce Inman, dean of the Honors College.

The event grew out of a connection between Lemieux and Andy Reese, a Southern Miss professor of geography and geology who is teaching an Honors course on the Grateful Dead.

“As I prepared for the course, I reached out to David Lemieux to explore materials that would help students better understand the band’s music and improvisational style. That conversation developed into an opportunity to bring him to Southern Miss for University Forum,” Reese said.

Lemieux has served as the Grateful Dead’s audiovisual archivist since 1999 and as the band’s legacy manager since 2010. His work has placed him at the center of preserving and sharing the Dead’s recorded history. He has produced scores of archival releases and served as supervising music producer for the Martin Scorsese-produced documentary Long Strange Trip: The Untold Story of the Grateful Dead. He also hosts Today in Grateful Dead History on SiriusXM’s Grateful Dead Channel.

Following Lemieux’s presentation, the Saenger shifts into concert mode with The Stolen Faces, a Nashville-based band that has spent more than a decade exploring the Grateful Dead catalog. Rather than simply reproducing recordings, the group approaches the music with the improvisation and spontaneity that made the Dead’s live performances legendary. Its repertoire spans hundreds of songs from the band’s history.

The combination of the block party, Lemieux’s behind-the-scenes perspective and a full live performance makes Nov. 17 more than a lecture or concert. It is an evening built around the culture that has always surrounded the Grateful Dead: music, stories, discovery and people coming together.

EVENT AT A GLANCE
Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2026
Hattiesburg Saenger Theater, 201 Forrest St.
5:15 p.m. – Block party and doors open
6:30 p.m. – David Lemieux
Approximately 8 p.m. – The Stolen Faces
Admission: FREE. Wristbands will be distributed at the door.

University Forum events are free and open to the public.

About the Honors College
Established in 1976, the Southern Miss Honors College was the first honors college in Mississippi and the sixth-oldest public honors college in the nation. The college is home to almost 500 scholars and administers University Forum, the Drapeau Center for Undergraduate Research, Nationally Competitive Programs and Awards, and the USM Beckman Scholars Program. The Honors College provides enriched academic opportunities for high-achieving students through interdisciplinary learning, research and community engagement.