April 10--It turns out the Grateful Dead's three sold-out 50th anniversary concerts at Soldier Field July 3-5 aren't the only shows the reunited band will play this year. On Friday, the Dead added two more farewell shows, this time in their home state: June 27-28 at Levi's Stadium, a 65,000-capacity venue in Santa Clara, Calif.
Demand far exceeded capacity for the Soldier Field concerts, which in part prompted the addition of the two West Coast shows, the band said on its web site. A large number of tickets for the Soldier Field shows fell into the secondary ticket market, where brokers are selling them at prices far above face value, prompting an outcry from ticket-less Deadheads. "That would piss us off too," the Dead said.
Tickets ($199.50, $149.50, $119.50, $99.50, $79.50, $59.50) for the Santa Clara shows are on sale through an online ticketing platform designed to "ensure that the tickets for these shows will get into ... the hands of our true fans," the Dead said. Details are at Dead50.net.
As with the Soldier Field shows, the core four surviving members of the Grateful Dead's '60s incarnation -- Bob Weir, Phil Lesh, Bill Kreutzmann and Mickey Hart -- will be joined by Phish guitarist Trey Anastasio, and keyboardists Bruce Hornsby and Jeff Chimenti.
The band also announced more definitively than ever that these five concerts will be the band's "final stand."
"We will not be adding any more Fare Thee Well shows," the band said, " ... this is it."
greg@gregkot.com
