Feb. 25--"I need a miracle."
Grateful Dead fans share many parking-lot traditions tied in with the music of their beloved band, and at least one of the rituals has an air of desperation. A single finger in the air or a sign reading "I need a miracle" that quotes one of the Dead's song titles means that the fan needs a ticket to a sold-out show. Soldier Field and the surrounding streets will likely be filled with such signs and raised digits July 3-5 when the band stages its 50th anniversary reunion concerts.
That's because the band has received way more ticket requests from its fans than it can possibly accommodate. More than 60,000 individual pieces of mail poured into the band's office, with total ticket requests exceeded 300,000 for the weekend. It is expected that only about 10 percent will be filled because tickets need to be saved for the public sale through Ticketmaster on Saturday.
"There were many, many times more order requests than anyone imagined, thousands and thousands with beautiful art," the Dead's office said on its web site. In other words, it's going to take a miracle to get one.
greg@gregkot.com
