Grateful Dead Original Members To Perform Together Again One Last Time

Features

January 15, 2015
https://www.dead.net/features/bill-kreutzmann/grateful-dead-original-members-perform-together-again-one-last-time

Grateful Dead Original Members To Perform Together Again One Last Time

Grateful Dead Original Members Reunite to Celebrate 50th Anniversary

“Fare Thee Well: Celebrating 50 Years of Grateful Dead" at Chicago’s Soldier Field on July 3rd, 4th, and 5th, 2015

Marks the Grateful Dead Members' Final Performance Together

Event information available at Dead50.net

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of Grateful Dead, the four original members — Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzmann, Phil Lesh, and Bob Weir — will reunite at Chicago's Soldier Field, nearly 20 years to the day of the last Grateful Dead concert, which took place at the same venue. “Fare Thee Well: Celebrating 50 Years of Grateful Dead" will occur over three nights on July 3, 4, and 5, 2015, marking the original members' last-ever performance together. The band will be joined by Trey Anastasio (guitar), Jeff Chimenti (keyboards), and Bruce Hornsby (piano). The group will perform two sets of music each night.

Jerry Garcia's daughter Trixie Garcia announced the shows in an exclusive interview. You can check out her announcement here.

Joining the original members of Grateful Dead are three musicians who have embodied the band’s spirit of musical innovation throughout their eclectic careers. Guitarist Trey Anastasio is best known for his work as the principal songwriter and lead guitarist for touring juggernaut Phish, but he has also found time to score and arrange music for orchestras and Broadway productions such as “Best Musical” TONY nominee ‘Hands on a Hardbody.’ Pianist Bruce Hornsby had already won the first of his three Grammy Awards when he first guested with Grateful Dead in 1988. Following the death of the band’s keyboard player Brent Mydland in 1990, Hornsby toured with the group into 1992, and he has maintained a collaborative relationship with its members ever since. Bay Area native and jazz keyboardist Jeff Chimenti joined Bob Weir’s Rat Dog in 1997, and has since worked on projects such as Phil Lesh & Friends, The Other Ones, The Dead, and Furthur.

In the tradition of the original Grateful Dead Ticketing Mail Order, tickets will first be made available via a first-come, first-served mail order system. All additional ticketing information is available at Dead50.net.

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Grateful Dead Original Members To Perform Together Again One Last Time

Grateful Dead Original Members Reunite to Celebrate 50th Anniversary

“Fare Thee Well: Celebrating 50 Years of Grateful Dead" at Chicago’s Soldier Field on July 3rd, 4th, and 5th, 2015

Marks the Grateful Dead Members' Final Performance Together

Event information available at Dead50.net

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of Grateful Dead, the four original members — Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzmann, Phil Lesh, and Bob Weir — will reunite at Chicago's Soldier Field, nearly 20 years to the day of the last Grateful Dead concert, which took place at the same venue. “Fare Thee Well: Celebrating 50 Years of Grateful Dead" will occur over three nights on July 3, 4, and 5, 2015, marking the original members' last-ever performance together. The band will be joined by Trey Anastasio (guitar), Jeff Chimenti (keyboards), and Bruce Hornsby (piano). The group will perform two sets of music each night.

Jerry Garcia's daughter Trixie Garcia announced the shows in an exclusive interview. You can check out her announcement here.

Joining the original members of Grateful Dead are three musicians who have embodied the band’s spirit of musical innovation throughout their eclectic careers. Guitarist Trey Anastasio is best known for his work as the principal songwriter and lead guitarist for touring juggernaut Phish, but he has also found time to score and arrange music for orchestras and Broadway productions such as “Best Musical” TONY nominee ‘Hands on a Hardbody.’ Pianist Bruce Hornsby had already won the first of his three Grammy Awards when he first guested with Grateful Dead in 1988. Following the death of the band’s keyboard player Brent Mydland in 1990, Hornsby toured with the group into 1992, and he has maintained a collaborative relationship with its members ever since. Bay Area native and jazz keyboardist Jeff Chimenti joined Bob Weir’s Rat Dog in 1997, and has since worked on projects such as Phil Lesh & Friends, The Other Ones, The Dead, and Furthur.

In the tradition of the original Grateful Dead Ticketing Mail Order, tickets will first be made available via a first-come, first-served mail order system. All additional ticketing information is available at Dead50.net.

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John Perry Barlow

John Perry Barlow

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TeddOrba

9 years 8 months ago

@sam3b
Thanks, that's hilarious!
sam3b

9 years 8 months ago

the cluster
This mega cluster is the alignment of the moons. The core 4 couldn't fill the stadium. So they suck in phan dollars by adding Trey. A lot of hype ensues. Enough to wake the dead. GDTSTOO doesn't anticipate the volume and they get slammed. They realize they don't have nearly enough tix. So powers that be decide to give more tix to GDTSTOO. But Ticketmaster has to have their cut or no show. A deal is a deal. The light bulb of cluster goes off. "Hey! We'll give Ticketmaster the no view seats that we weren't going to sell and give Ticketmaster's previous sections to GDTSTOO. More seats! More money! Problem solved!" GDTSTOO has more seats to fill, but even with more seats, tix are still 1 in 10 odds. Three day passes you say? "Yeah 3 day passes. You know, one person gets to go to all the shows." "But doesn't that mean that 3 people could go to one show if you broke up the 3 day pass?" "Well, I suppose if you want to look at it that way, but really 1 in 10 odds aren't that bad. Besides doing more mailings means more work and with more seats now, we already have more index cards to file." GDTSTOO is even more overwhelmed filing index cards (huh, 2015?). So overwhelmed that they can't email all the winners let alone losers by the TM date. Wait!?! "Email?" "Yes, that's right, we're copying email addresses off index cards." The cluster of all clusters subsequently increases mass. While the Ticketmaster GA date approaches, CID dusts off their servers in anticipation of VIP sales. That's right, VIP sales for a Grateful Dead show. Somebody rolls over in his grave. You can hear a pin drop at 10:00 AM as a bazillion people sit, hand on mouse, waiting to refresh the CID page. Some jump the gun and at 9:55 there is a far distant cry from a CID server. "We're not made for this" they scream. Pages stop loading, by 10:00:30 CID is sold out. Yep, even the $5000 travel package complete with cheap shitty poster and free beer. At 10:05 a few less than a bazillion people just got their page to load to find the magic words: "Sold Out" "What just happened?" they say. "Damnit" they scream and think to themselves "At least we still have Ticketmaster". Few beers are drunk that night as weary would be ticket buyers want to be ready in the morning. After the worst night's sleep in years, morning comes and even those without pinkies or emails get ready. The computers boot up and the TM app is loaded on phones. Deja vu ensues. The seconds tick and at 10:00, TicketMaster enables the buy tickets button. Pages load. A million searches are launched. The magic revolving circle speaks to them. It says, "6 minutes" "22 minutes" "45 minutes" They believe the magic circle. Some break out of their hypnotic state in frantic realization that the magic circle lies. Windows are closed and new searches are made. But alas, too late. All that's left are no view seats. Many try for those, but even then for the vast majority it's too late. Some get lucky with two seats behind the stage. "We'll bring oxygen" they say. Credit card entered. Address typed in. Button pushed. "Sorry, but those seats are not available" replies the magic circle. "Fuck you magic circle." Later that evening, several Ticketmaster shutouts are injured as they fall out of their chairs waiting on the magic circle lies. The cluster grows beyond comprehension. As if Stubhub itself was the ticketmaster bot of all bots, $75 no view seats get listed on Stubhub for $1000 in mere seconds after 10:00. Many still haven't received their ticket emails or their money orders back. But there's hope! GDTSTOO tells in secret email that they are building a database for bounced back emails. A database you ask? "Yes a database." "Why do you need a database for a few bounced back emails" "We made some typos" Evidently, the few bounced back emails is really about 1000 typos made when copying email addresses from index cards (yes, index cards). Limbo ensues. Cluster swells. Massive number of shutouts need an itch scratched. Rumor mill is jump started. Santa Clara you say! "oh, please have mercy. I can't go through this again!"
properlejdi

9 years 8 months ago

Sorry Spacepiggio
Again, no disrespect brother, either way, just debating...as for the female reference, I have made the mistake before and I was not suggesting you are a woman, actually, more implying an apology IF I made the mistake and assumed you were a guy and you were a woman...that is a weird one communicating with people you have never seen before and only have an avatar to go by - that and the voice of the writer. I wish it were done differently, actually I wish it were done as a couple of people here suggested, give first crack at those subscribing to DP and the Almanac - that would be a good 15 k right there so at least a good 30k of tickets for each show (give or take). I just don't know how else to do it to be honest...

Grateful Dead Original Members Reunite to Celebrate 50th Anniversary

“Fare Thee Well: Celebrating 50 Years of Grateful Dead" at Chicago’s Soldier Field on July 3rd, 4th, and 5th, 2015

Marks the Grateful Dead Members' Final Performance Together

Event information available at Dead50.net

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of Grateful Dead, the four original members — Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzmann, Phil Lesh, and Bob Weir — will reunite at Chicago's Soldier Field, nearly 20 years to the day of the last Grateful Dead concert, which took place at the same venue. “Fare Thee Well: Celebrating 50 Years of Grateful Dead" will occur over three nights on July 3, 4, and 5, 2015, marking the original members' last-ever performance together. The band will be joined by Trey Anastasio (guitar), Jeff Chimenti (keyboards), and Bruce Hornsby (piano). The group will perform two sets of music each night.

Jerry Garcia's daughter Trixie Garcia announced the shows in an exclusive interview. You can check out her announcement here.

Joining the original members of Grateful Dead are three musicians who have embodied the band’s spirit of musical innovation throughout their eclectic careers. Guitarist Trey Anastasio is best known for his work as the principal songwriter and lead guitarist for touring juggernaut Phish, but he has also found time to score and arrange music for orchestras and Broadway productions such as “Best Musical” TONY nominee ‘Hands on a Hardbody.’ Pianist Bruce Hornsby had already won the first of his three Grammy Awards when he first guested with Grateful Dead in 1988. Following the death of the band’s keyboard player Brent Mydland in 1990, Hornsby toured with the group into 1992, and he has maintained a collaborative relationship with its members ever since. Bay Area native and jazz keyboardist Jeff Chimenti joined Bob Weir’s Rat Dog in 1997, and has since worked on projects such as Phil Lesh & Friends, The Other Ones, The Dead, and Furthur.

In the tradition of the original Grateful Dead Ticketing Mail Order, tickets will first be made available via a first-come, first-served mail order system. All additional ticketing information is available at Dead50.net.

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TALKIN' ABOUT "FARE THEE WELL: CELEBRATING 50 YEARS OF GRATEFUL DEAD"

“I have a feeling this will come out just right. Can’t wait to find out…HERE WE GO!” - Mickey Hart

"The Grateful Dead lived an incredible musical story and now we get to write a whole new chapter. By celebrating our 50th, we get to cheer our past, but this isn't just about history. The Grateful Dead always played improvisational music that was born in the moment and we plan on doing the same this round." - Bill Kreutzmann

“It is with respect and gratitude that we reconvene the Dead one last time to celebrate - not merely the band's legacy, but also the community that we’ve been playing to, and with, for fifty years,” - Phil Lesh "Wave that flag, wave it wide and high…"

"Lookin' forward to this one, oh boy, you bet. Let's see just how much fun we can have this 4th of July." - Bob Weir<

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Rejected

Rejected 02/05 Central CA. Post Marked the 20th, artwork, two tickets, 3 & 4 for reserved. Two money orders 431.00 each. Sniff, sniff

Finis

I've nothing left to say here. Good luck to you.

Not rejected...

Just not selected.... hang in there, BV, and be the first to get that golden pair thru Ticketmaster, then repeat for the next day...and you'll be fine....peace brother!

AXS tickets on sale 2/14?

I thought online pre-sale was eliminated but the AXS site still says tix available 2/14 10am. Could be outdated, but if it isn't....shhhh....

Helplessly hoping

One way or another this darkness got to give...

Rejected too

Silicon Valley, CA - I only asked for one night, either Friday or Saturday, sent in all 3 money orders on the 20th; very sad -- been getting tickets through mail order for many many years and only rejected a few times. Sorry that this was one of them.

You're right it's a lot of

You're right it's a lot of money to see Further....

Dejected!

Yep, getting that lightweight envelope back in the mail last week was a BUMMER. And I did it the right way- even used the new Janis Joplin stamp! Here's my concern- I've been the Ticketmaster route and it sucks- the scalpers don't give us a fair shot. We're all going to be stationed by our computers at 10AM on Feb 28th and experience tells me that it's going to be mighty frustrating. I'm already seeing sites offering tickets for, get this... $503 each. Really?! Maybe rethink doing another round of mail order for us First Round Dejected Rejected.

I need a miracle

I hope I can get two tickets for any night! ;-Q

Lot of anxiety out there...

I didn't realize that rejections had started coming back already. I just jumped on the Dead 50 site to see if any word was out there yet, and saw they moved open sales (Ticketmaster) to Feb. 20. I'm a Chicagoan, been to well over a hundred of their parties here over the decades - all the Soldier Field shows and many at venues that don't even exist anymore - and I feel bad for any of you who got lousy news in the mail the past couple of days. I'm still holding out hope for my order. This will be the close to a nearly-life-long part of my life. I went to my first show when I was 17. I turned 57 last month. Always felt terrible about missing their first 10 years live! Now I'll have to cope with no more Dead (or Allman Bros.) as we all move onward. The only thing I've been able to decipher about this is that for a couple of last shows, they decided to go to the middle of the country. That works well for me, obviously (if I get in!) but doesn't force anyone to travel clear across the country to get there. It's Chicago, early July, the weather will be nice in the evening, and to contradict one writer earlier, Soldier Field is a pretty good venue: sound is good everywhere, probably holds close to 75,000 with seats on the playing surface, easy to move around...I've always had a good experience there (as long as we're not talking about the Bears). But I'm wondering if there is more to it than that. Anyone who was at Jerry's last performance in '95 at Soldier Field will tell you there was a weird, unsettling vibe at that show. It was the end of a short tour in which there was a lot of trouble. Some violence, some busts, and just before they got here, some kids lost their lives near a show they did in central Indiana (if I recall correctly, a porch or deck collapsed). I walked out of Soldier Field that night and told the people I was with that I thought that was it, we're never going to see them together again. Even the encore number was Box of Rain, so the last words we heard were, "such a long, long time to be gone and a short time to be there." Unfortunately, I was right, and tragically, for a reason I didn't see coming. In the intervening years, I've gone to Furthur (the band and the Fests), the Other Ones, Phil & Fiends, Ratdog, the Dead...many of those were excellent and the shows a couple years ago in Chicago as "the Dead" with Warren on lead were outstanding. But I've been thinking that maybe the real reason they are coming back, as one, to Soldier Field is to set things right. That last show in '95 left unfinished business, and they are doing their last stand there to gain closure. But then, hell, what do I know, I'm 70% water.

the anxiety, the vibe, the venue, etc

Hey Colonel- If you send in your mail order and haven't ehard anything, you are looking a wole lot better than many of us. BTW, the Ticketmaster sales are 2/28. Great thoughts regarding bringing it back home, saying good bye in style, and on their 50th year celebration no less. I've been blessed to be part of this scene since I first saw them in '72, and think that is a perfect way to describe their return to Soldier field. The boys did not like leaving things undone...they proved that in song over and over and over....and now they have a chance to prove it to the fans, expensive as it may be, and "set things right" as you so eloquently said. I say Right On! Even though my rejection letter came back early last week, I have every intention of joining in and saying goodbye, or hello again, in style...the memories, the love, the sharing, and the music never stopped, and it never will....peace to you and wave that flag, wave it high, and wide!

Changing the Rules

I get that not everyone is going to get tix but to change the seating after mail order was sent in was bullshit. I based my ticket selection and odds on what was advertised. Then they removed probably 60% of the $215.00. Yea I know I could have selected other ticket options but I didn't see myself flying out to chicago from Boston to sit up in the stratosphere. Fighting the GA on the floor doesn't sound fun either. I've been going to shows since 75' and listening since 72' , just wanted one more shot. The late 80's and the 90's especially became so crappy I couldn't get myself to go even when they played 45 minutes away. Now my sour grapes..... I wasn't really looking forward to Trey anyway. Was neve a phish fan and never saw the attraction,I tried both live and studio and the sound just wasn't there for me. Well now I have a hefty money order in my hand as of Friday to go back into the bank. The people planning this and the band are doing a disservice to the legion of fans that want one more shot.

Typos when you're 57...

...typing in low light and your eyes aren't what they used to be: Yes, Feb. 28, for general public sale of tickets. Thank you. I also went back this morning and noticed that I typed "Phil & Fiends," which should not be construed as a commentary on the character of either the musicians personally or the band as a whole.

Dead Phish

Saw the Grateful Dead for the last time with Jerry at the helm at RFK on their final tour, and Jerry saw me, so I'm going to keep that as my final memory of the band and all the old songs, and just leave it at that. Six proud walkers on the jingle-bell rainbow...indeed... The long sobs of autumn's violins wound my heart with a monotonous languor. Verlaine-

To all of us with MO back from gds

Just wondered how many people have been denied that had done mail order 95 or earlier to previous shows or tours?

lol yea man i hear ya and

lol yea man i hear ya and have to agree somewhat with comment,its definitly a money grubing opurtunity sadly!most my friends not to pleased with how much this little reunion costs and thats not even talking about travel and room and board expenses,my last show was brents in chicago 1990 which is my last memory of the dead as i remember the close of the 80s,sure i have seen bobby and phil few times over the years but just not the same,after some years of touring and the death of jerry i still never have gotten over it and probly never will.i feel that my concious havin a hardtime supporting this endevor.but right on enjoying the dead at home,nothing like a soundboard on high blasting in ones den kickin burnin one and dancin away lol : )

dead 50 remote viewing?

hey folks for all you guys worried about getting tickets,my guess is the powers that be will probably sell remote viewing for the venue across the street at Northerly Island.not as good as being there but a pretty cool venue right on the lake.it makes sense that they do this ,Chicago and everyone else will be able to cash in even more.besides what else could they possibly put at that venue on a holiday weekend.

Motoman,

That sounds like a genuinely brilliant idea. You are now in charge of making that happen as one of the Jubilee city hosts.

102 tickets for sale on stub hub right now

You can get a pit ticket for the Low low price of $50,000 WOW..Is Jerry coming back from the Dead to play these shows..U2 is in town too their last show is July 2..what a mess that airport is going to be Sounds like they are going to have to add shows in other cities or Chicago is going to be one big mess July 4th week..Hopefully the Grateful Dead aware of this and will add more shows in other cities

Priced out

Dang!!! $58,000 for ONE ticket? Geez. I think I'd be priced out at $1,000 a ticket. Heck. $500 a ticket would be a stretch.

Pink Slips

Pink Slips are coming in like crazy. I hate pink slips!!!! NOOOOO Stay away!!!!!!

Pink Slips

My return envelop lays on my kitchen table with the other mail, coupons and yet another college calling on my daughter. It replaces the happy and hopeful decorated envelop that laid there on Jan 19th. The Stinson Beach return address stamp says "this is what you've been waiting for!" But it's as thin as the promise made in the first place. It sits with no expression or emotion. It really doesn't give a shit if I open it or not. I will open it and I will emerge grateful for the chance to dream.

RE: Pink Slips

Well? What did it say?

Got my money orders back today

I'm pissed! I was in line first thing when our post office opened on the 20th. I have a feeling thier holding out for the high profile people. If not, then who GETS A ticket? I even live in Chicago! It's gonna be bad! Theirs gonna be an army of pissed off people!

Dead shows

Your right! They're gonna have to find a way to distract an army of people from rushing in the front door!

nice one.... turd head

Pink Slips

It said GDTSTOO has received too many orders and can't fill mine. I was thanked for keeping the Grateful Dead spirit alive. And my MOs were returned.

still have not heard my "fate"

i'm looking forward to one more show, or 2 or 3. I did not know rejections were already coming out until i saw these posts tonight. I am not feeling lucky but ...so far, no pink slip.someone posted the unfairness of being a loyal concert-goer for in some cases 50 years, and we'll be shut out. but life ain't fair and i'm certain hunter has plenty of tunes to remind us of that...just cant think of any right now. we all know it will not be the GRATEFUL Dead but should be the next best thing, I guess. i hope the dead reconsider, see the $$ to be made, joy to be spread, closures to be made, and at least do a mini tour so others can see one last tour. for some of us, the music never stopped even if we cant see it ourselves anymore

simulcast/pay per view

Are there any rumors of a simulcast/pay per view/TRI feed of these shows for all those of us that can't make it? Really wanted to go but there's just no way... For those of you that do go have an awesome time!

grrrrrr, stream

This show is guaranteed to be streamed, if not professionally then by fans. My guess is AXS TV/GD Theatre shows, will air the show live too. But I doubt they would announce anything like that until after tickets are sold out or have been on sale for awhile. Don't fret, there will be lots of ways to be apart/see these shows if cant make it or cant get tickets. Gather your friends and throw a party all three nights! Let people camp out in your yard! Phil already scheduled to play LOCKN in the fall as well! Splintered Sunlight(local cover) is playing out my way in a week! The Dead Beats are playing the flurry festival in a few days! I know this song it aint never gonna end!

Waa Waaaaaa... & I hope it's not a bear to cash money orders...

My envelope came back today. I'd ordered 6 tickets. Any 2 Tickets for all 3 nights. As instructed ( At least I hope I got it right...) I had 9 postal money orders 3 for each to account for any ticket type PLUS one for $9 for Priority Mail Postage Return. My envelope came back and inside was the letter plus my 10 money orders. My envelope came back unstamped. Just a weird fuzzy postmark. I'm lucky I got it back!!! -- I almost put a stamp on my return envelope. It looked like trouble when I was packing the envelope out. But I did have that Extra Money Order for 9 bucks. I'm thinking GDTS must have used a postage meter on it. It's really weird looking. Wish I could attach a photo here. -- Question: --- Does the Post Office routinely keep all this cash on hand? People carried an unusual amount of CASH into the Post Office on Jan 20th 2015. What happens when everyone comes back? Maybe they'll issue some kind of check? I can't go there today ( and I'm not looking forward to doing it....) Has anyone cashed their money orders?

Maybe I'm a little relieved????

It was a stack of cash to lay out for the tickets. Plus it's a big trip to Chicago from where I am in California. I was looking forward to it. Planning to drive. Gas prices seem like the 90's! Maybe fans would be coordinating and camping out and meeting up driving out there could be fun. Where do you stay in Chicago for 3 or 4 nights? Some big hotel downtown? $$$ Somewhere by the airport??? I think Airbnb is the best option. There seemed to be some cool places in the neighborhoods to the near north. Easy elevated train / subway to Soldier Field. I was actually going to bring my bike too. I wonder if some Airbnb hosts will be wary of Deadheads? Summer in Chicago can be great. It can also be hot and humid and ugly. Actually -- If you are a fan with a house or apartment in Chicago you could probably rent out an extra room (or living room floor) to other Deadheads. Could be fun. You never really know who you might be bringing into your home though... Ha. I might try for the general onsale. I'm not sure. I wonder how many tickets they held back??? That's kind of weird. Why not just let it SELL OUT to Mail Order? Okay they could hold some back for their "VIP Specials". But why not just sell out in Mail Order? Plus -- JERRY'S STILL DEAD. Very sorry to say it. I have nothing against Trey Anastasio. But no one can replace Jerry Garcia. This band isn't the Grateful Dead. I had great seats to a show at Soldier Field in 93. It was a great night. Hopefully these shows will be special. Will Robert Hunter show up? How about Bob Dylan? I'd hate to miss that. I still mostly want to go... Hopefully they will stream it....

I did all of the things you said maybe you should have...

I incremented and asked for any. 3 Sets of money orders for each night -- $200, 191 and $40. For all three nights. Mine came back too.... I wonder if it was totally random??? They just stacked up two piles??? Weird

Waa Waaaaaa...

Dude, you were supposed to put a stamp on your return envelope no matter what. This is what probably doomed you. Just sayin'. Hope you get Tix from TM though, good luck. I am checking my mailbox in a moment. I might be joining you.

waaa, etc

Hey Chaser of the sun- I did cash my MO, at the post office...they gave me a wad of 20's and it tapped them out. Might try multiple trips, go in the afternoon, etc. peace, and good luck. G

U owe GDTSTOO

Hey Sunchaser, Big bummer to hear you got the slip but if you didn't put a stamp on your return envelope, then I'd say you're lucky to get your money orders back. Guess you owe GDTS 49 cents... I hear they accept money orders ;)

Might Get rejected

Good idea feelmorewest. But what if the 49 cent mail order gets rejected? Will he have another shot with Ticketmaster??

I know; it was dumb.

I thought they would drop it into the priority envelope. I'm really lucky it came back at all!!!

Probably less than half the tix are mail order

I know it's a bummer to not get your mail order filled - I'm still waiting and hopeful but prepared to join the vast majority in not getting tickets that way. Realistically, most of the tickets are probably being sold by the venue/Ticketmaster and I'm sure that the band had to do some serious negotiating to get as many as they did to sell directly to fans. Ticketmaster has a contract with Soldier Field and will not be denied - it is unfortunately part of the society we live in that everyone gets their cut. So - the good news is lots more tickets will go on sale on the 28th. If everyone buys what they need plus a few more to sell (at face value) to friends and other heads the right people (that would be us) will be inside when the music starts. Think positively - nothing is cast in concrete ticket-wise just yet.

Money orders

I have held off asking this question as long as possible (don't want to jinx myself)... I have not recieved a rejection letter, but I have checked the status of the money orders I sent and so far as I can tell they have not been cashed. Has anyone else that hasn't got the dreaded letter yet confirmed that their money orders have been cashed? Neurosis is setting in and I am now convinced that my letter I sent to GDTSTOO fell behind the mail bin and never even got to CA. Any insight will be helpful...

Re; Money Orders

I am in the same boat your are: No rejection letter - No cashed money order. And most of the people I have been in contact with are also in that same boat (Ship of Fools, for sure...) So I think all we can do is hope that that dreaded SASE does not come in the mail and our mail orders are cashed soon. From what I can tell, not too many money orders have been cashed yet. Definitely A LOT more rejection letters have come back than mail orders cashed. Hang in there. We're in the home stretch all hoping to score that Golden Ticket to the Golden Road to Unlimited Devotion to the Greatest Show on Earth!!!!!!

Good company

Thanks for the quick reply! Fingers are crossed. Good luck to all those who remain "unrejected"

same here

same boat.montana.

Percentage of tickets through mail order

This is a good question brought up below. When I first sent out my mail orders, I read up a bit on the history of GDTS - it is quite interesting. The Dead had historically been tough dealers with ticket agencies, and they generally had been able to wrangle 50% of tickets out of the agencies' hands to sell by mail order. That was apparently unprecedented (so much so that it takes up an entire chapter in a recent book on the history of ticket brokers - http://www.amazon.com/Ticket-Masters-Concert-Industry-Scalped/dp/155022…). The question is whether the family is still as good at negotiating as they once were. If estimates I have read are correct, there should be 67000 tickets a night - that is 201,000 tickets. If they were able to negotiate getting half for mail order, that would be about 100,000, giving people who sent in requests between a 1/3 and a 1/4 chance of getting tickets. This is all reading tea leaves and assuming they have half of the tickets. In fact, it is all speculation, but not much else to do while we wait... SPECULATE!

Ticket exchange here?

We were lucky enough to have the +/- $2700 in cash to go all-in for the mail order; 4 tix x 3 nights for "any". Still "unrejected", Crazy Fingers crossed! Many friends were able to do the same. Kinda bogarting the lottery I suppose, but we all went for extras trying to see that we're covered (20+ of our old gang trying to go, all on the bus late 70's/early 80's). If we fluke it and somehow end up with extras, would naturally try to find them a good home at face - maybe through dead.net private messaging (?), with an eye on users' registration dates, to try and deny the scalpers. Hope you all will think about the same or equally fair-ish way to see the dirtbags denied if you're lucky enough to get extras, or find you can't make the scene.

Where are all of the people going to go?

If the first couple of days worth of M/O sold 320000 tickets and most of the fans were foregoing Mail Order for internet pre-sale or general sales, then where are all of the ticketless fans going to go who show up? Will there be a couple of east coast west coast shows before Soldier Field, so the fans have one last chance to see the band? That only seems fitting for such a long lasting legacy.

Cashing Out a Returned USPS Money Order

Went to my local Post Office 90066 and they were only able to cash out $129 of my money orders.I still have just under $1200 they couldn't cash. They were very nice about it. Apparently, they have no vault in the back like Scrooge McDuck where they keep piles of money. I asked. -- I wonder if anyone thought to rob a Post Office on Jan. 25th! Ha!! They need to see your receipt stubs for the money orders! If you put them in order together it will make it easier for them. They will have you endorse each (in front of them) and then they will copy your drivers license # down on each. As for the CASH -- She recommended coming later in the afternoon. I went at about 10:30 AM. Also said that the last few days and first of the month are best. Probably lots of people buy money orders for rent and bills. I took them over to where I bank and they couldn't do anything with them since I'd made them out to GDTS. No Additional Fees To Cash Them At USPS. -- I think Western Union has like a $6 per money order charge for returns. I'm sure they have the cash on hand to exchange them though!!! I guess I could drive all over town to different Post Offices...

Insurance?

I wonder if one of the reasons they limited this reunion to Soldier Field was related to insurance. I had read that one of the issues that they were having with setting up a 50th anniversary reunion was that insurers were demanding hefty premiums to guard against Bobby falling down and cancelling, a keyboardist dying, etc. 3 shows (albeit with 60k+ tickets to each) is probably easier to insure than 20 shows; it's certainly on the band, including its older members. Thoughts? Anyone? Bueller??