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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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  • Default Avatar
    Cassaundra
    9 years 9 months ago
    Hmmmm
    Still waiting for MO return or maybe an email. I haven't heard of anyone receiving one yesterday or today. Shut down on TM and CID. so after weeks of rushing to my mailbox and frantically checking my emails I'm finally calm. Thinking...first show Fox Theatre 1978. Many many many shows to follow. Beautiful times I can remember always. After Jerry died I caught The Other Ones and a few Further. FTW in Chicago seems huge to me. I'm not letting go of the room until I get my MO returned which would be really appreciated as its a LOT of $$$ floating around. But no jacked up priced seats for me! My daughter and I want to go to Europe next year so...no Mail order miracle..that $$ will be spent making a life time memory with her. That's how I roll with this. One of my longtime friends got his email night 27th. That made me smile.
  • unkle sam
    9 years 9 months ago
    Just don't go, just don't buy, just don't look
    boycott this show. Just don't go. Don't go to the simulcast, don't go to the show. How can we get the people who screwed us to heed our voice? Unfriend the grateful dead (which we all know is not band) on facebook, dump all ties with this fiasco and all their coconspirators, refuse to buy anymore merchandise. If the only thing they understand is money, let's hit them where they will feel it, in the wallet. anyone who had anything to do with this can F@%K off. I for one will no longer support this. I will support all things Jerry, but not these clowns. I would love to see something, anything from the powers that be stating that they are sorry for this, but I'm dreaming a dream that ended years ago. They could care less as long as they got the check. Sleep well remaining members, on top of your pile of cash, sleep well.
  • Underthevolcano
    9 years 9 months ago
    PS
    I, for one, have no desire to engage in the negativity which some have unleashed in these forums. I certainly understand it however. But let us wait and see what may transpire as we go forward. The obvious solution to high demand is a meet up at the movies on the three nights in real time. At normal movie event prices as they have done in the past few years if possible contractually. Sirius/XM broadcast if possible. We,as fans, don't know the details of the contactual rights to the performances so we must wait and see what develops. The band members have over the years been very savvy and hip to the manipulators and have tried to be fair to the fans so let us wait and see. How much power they reserved to have a say in the marketing of these events we don't know. Also Mr Peter Shapiro is a fan as well so let's give him a chance. Perhaps they really were blindsided by the demand as they say they were. I have been shut out so far as have a lot of others but let's go and see.
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Submitted by lilgoldie on

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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Fare Thee Well
July 2015

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Submitted by Jdown on Fri, 02/13/2015 - 03:50

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I'm still in the running too, but if it doesn't pan out, including back up plans and you and your crews are all set.....that would be Amazing :) Downtown
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Submitted by tenn2maine on Fri, 02/13/2015 - 05:36

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I'm not a superstitious person generally, but today I have to admit I will be nervous walking to the mailbox, no rejection letter yet and I don't want one today
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Submitted by chucku on Fri, 02/13/2015 - 07:34

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I was just on the Ticketmaster site. It says the on sale date is now 2/28/2015. Is this true?
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Submitted by geomeister on Fri, 02/13/2015 - 08:12

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Yes, that has been the date for a week or so now.
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16 years 9 months

Submitted by Underthevolcano on Fri, 02/13/2015 - 12:14

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around here from the powers that be is deafening. Don't take this the wrong way-but is there any official word about whether all the rejections have already been sent or what? Still hoping to be in the batch of acceptances. Are they opening the whole circle up or what and what is maximum seating capacity and how many tickets did they hold back from the commercial outlets? I'm all ready to go-just need the tickets.
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Submitted by marye on Fri, 02/13/2015 - 13:13

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I would watch the Dead50.net site, as well as the GDTSTOO site, for updates.
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Submitted by fillmore on Fri, 02/13/2015 - 18:23

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Yea, you bet. Especially now that I see the letters have hit Illinois. So far no letter and MO's haven't been cashed. Same boat as a lot of you. Good luck to all and believe me, I feel really bad for everyone that got letters.
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Submitted by texasdeadhead71 on Sat, 02/14/2015 - 17:29

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Stop complaining. If you don't get tickets and don't want to pay whatever it's gonna take to see them that is your choice. It's sucks that there is only going to be 3 shows but it's better than nothing. It's gonna cost some cash. Simple economics. It's 2015. Times have changed. GDTS will do the best they can. Keep it positive folks. Nothing left to do but smile, smile, smile.
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Submitted by Underthevolcano on Sun, 02/15/2015 - 04:31

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I will check in there in the next few days as we go towards the public sale date
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Submitted by mandamoose on Sun, 02/15/2015 - 06:12

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Like others here, I am slowly going out of my mind waiting for The Envelope. My money orders have not been cashed, which until now I've taken as a bad sign, but I've yet to hear of a single person whose orders have been cashed. Has anyone else? I suppose no news is better than bad news, but the waiting is downright torturous!
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Submitted by Snapperhead on Sun, 02/15/2015 - 06:37

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Heard several days ago that some of the Western Union MO's were being cashed. However, the USPS MO's is still unknown. Someone who had there MO's returned went and cashed them in last week. Several days later, he checked the USPS website to see what it would say (when he entered the serial #), and it still did not show that it was cashed.
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Submitted by giantnerd on Sun, 02/15/2015 - 09:37

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I saw one thing on Facebook where someone had an email saying that GDTSTOO cashed their MO, but I haven't seen anything else. I am cynical enough to think that someone would fake something like that to play with our emotions, as pranking the Internet is a popular pass time these days and our irrational obsession for getting tickets makes us easy marks. Logic dictates that if golden tickets are going out we would see a lot more posts about it, and there have been none here. Anybody have more info? There is a cool article on the team sorting the tickets, and they upped their numbers from 6 to 60 employees just to get through this.
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Submitted by christopher gl… on Sun, 02/15/2015 - 20:44

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I'm still not hearing of anyone who has had their MO's cashed but you have to think they have started that process. I'm not angry by any means (yet) but I'm not happy by how this is playing out. Its kind of ironic how Trey is involved but was wondering if his input on how to produce a " Farwell" show was taken into consideration seeing that he was successful at perpetuating a less than honorable good bye shows himself? Don't want to have a negative opinion of our boys but will take some time to get over if I don't get to go! I hate feeling like the psycho ex-girlphriend!
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Submitted by mandamoose on Mon, 02/16/2015 - 06:05

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I read the same thing on reddit -- a guy cashed his returned MOs and they still were not registered as cashed several days later. Apparently USPS takes considerable time to update the MO system. So for those of us who have heard nothing and whose MOs have not been cashed, there's still hope.........
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Submitted by Cassaundra on Mon, 02/16/2015 - 14:14

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I read that one and just praying that magic stick chooses my enveople. Funny though there are a LOT of unopened ticket seekers
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17 years 3 months

Submitted by skepticalbuffalo on Mon, 02/16/2015 - 18:06

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It is ridiculous that they are now selling packages at 1500 for all three nights!! If they don't announce a tour soon, I will never get over thIs resentment. I'm sorry, but fur those of us who toured with the real grateful dead, and have spent thousands on weir and lesh since jerry's passing, we deserve tickets. The quotes abOve from Phil and others say they can't wait to be with their "fans", well, 20 year old phish Heads are NOT their fans!!! I hope Jerry is looking down in disdain. This is wrong on many levels. I didn't realize that I'm suddenly trying to go to a rolling stones show. I really don't mean to sound mean, but I am very upset by the people I have loved for so long. Goes to show that the love is not reciprocated
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17 years 5 months

Submitted by kraven024 on Tue, 02/17/2015 - 12:02

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MandaMoose, thanks for the WSJ link - really filled me in on the process of the envelopes, magic! Postmaster send some good lovin'!
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Submitted by bigdaddyjb on Mon, 02/16/2015 - 20:35

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Now there's one they should knock the dust off of. Bobby on vocals of course. Sweeeeeet!!!
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Submitted by redemption searcher on Mon, 02/16/2015 - 22:33

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I got my mailorder returned and rejected on the 9th. Can anyone say if there has been any word on whether or not there may be a movie theater live simulcast for any or all three of these shows, as Phish did for their last two "retirement" shows back in 2004? That would be the next best thing to being there, and way cooler than any live web broadcast.
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9 years 11 months

Submitted by deadgeek on Tue, 02/17/2015 - 05:34

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The trek to the mailbox gets harder every day but happy to still have hope I'm in it!
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16 years 9 months

Submitted by Underthevolcano on Tue, 02/17/2015 - 08:04

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I was listening to Gary and David on "The Golden Road" show this past Sunday and this topic was mentioned. They did not yet have any information concerning what if anything has been decided about that aspect of this event. Cost, bidding process, permissions, etc. all still not yet decided and/or disclosed.
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14 years 4 months

Submitted by Syracuse78 on Tue, 02/17/2015 - 10:09

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The odds that they decide to *not* sell this as some kind of PPV are about the same as the odds that I receive fills in my request for GA tickets for all three days. This may be a last hurrah, but it is also a major money making venture. $200 tickets to see Further in a 65,000 capacity football stadium? This ain't intimate shows at Sweetwater or Terrapin Crossings. See it for what it is. It's ok with me if they try to make a lot of dough with this -- they earned the right and have provided me with many, many hours of joy. And I have supported them financially like no other entertainers. But be realistic...
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Submitted by reijo29 on Tue, 02/17/2015 - 16:14

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Got my rejection letter. I was just trying for 2 tickets. What a disappointing feeling. I should have had my daughter decorate the envelope, my feeling is anything without artwork does not even get considered.....
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Submitted by bigdaddyjb on Tue, 02/17/2015 - 16:38

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F**************¢k. I feel yas. Got mine today too. It is disappointing! sooooo bummed. On to plan b for me as well. Gonna keep the faith and hope for a miracle! To everyone still in, God bless and good luck! And remember people, no matter what the outcome is on your mail orders, stay grateful!!!
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17 years 6 months

Submitted by marye on Tue, 02/17/2015 - 16:47

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reports that his decorated envelope was even featured in one of the articles, and he STILL got rejected! So I think it's not just the art...
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Submitted by Syracuse78 on Tue, 02/17/2015 - 19:52

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I know someone who fits that description. Probably the same guy (from SC). I heard you have to know Mary E! (just kidding)
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Submitted by reijo29 on Tue, 02/17/2015 - 19:55

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Ouch that's tough to put in all that time decorating the envelope & still get rejected. It's a shame but I guess many of us are in the same boat. I still hope there are others that get lucky. It's going to be a real special event.
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Submitted by redemption searcher on Tue, 02/17/2015 - 22:16

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This must be the toughest mailorder ever, worse than any new year's run. Remember doing the last one they played in '91, and got the 27th, 28th (the best show as it turned out), but rejected for 30th and new year's eve. Then ended up going in to all four, and new year's for free, meeting an old BGP employee/buddy from back east! The end of the road for the bus, and everyone wants to be there. They should do a truly GLOBAL simulcast, into theatres around the world. The satellite technology is there nowadays, and you had articles in last month about Israeli deadheads, among others, mailordering.
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Submitted by CRED on Wed, 02/18/2015 - 02:59

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Was you mail order processed on day 1, Jan.20th? Just curious to know if they are going off 1st in 1st out as it implied or more random. Still holding out and hoping to get tickets. Going to be a great weekend in Chicago.
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Submitted by reijo29 on Wed, 02/18/2015 - 08:55

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I went to the NYC Grand Central post office on Tues Jan 20. I bought money order & postmarked the envelope that day. Took about an hour between waiting on line & processing. Eventually I'll head back there to get my money back. I started to get a feeling last week that I may get lucky cause I did it all correctly the first day. It was so terrible receiving the rejection letter yesterday. They really should add a couple stadium shows in New York as well as California area. It seems so unfair that so many of us will be shut out from this finale. Phil, Bob, Mickey, Bill, Trey what do you think?
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Submitted by mandamoose on Wed, 02/18/2015 - 10:37

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Kraven024, I'm still hoping for a miracle here too....but am just seeing news of upstate NY rejections coming in so I'm feeling rather nauseous. I need that good lovin' from the postmaster too!!!
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Submitted by CRED on Thu, 02/19/2015 - 03:08

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WoW... Thanks for the feedback, I'm still waiting on the return letter and hoping it has some tickets enclosed. I agree that more shows should be offered for East & West coast venues...
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Submitted by hockey_john on Thu, 02/19/2015 - 05:27

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To me the music stopped working for me back in late 80's if I were to go it would really only be to reunite with my touring friends and catch up on our lives. With that said I am so far glad they have not committed to any other city's or dates. Said this before on this site, If they were to put a tour together we wouldn't have the chance to all see each other. By only playing one venue those of us who do go will have the chance to catch up with each other. Some might say with a crowd of 50'000 how can you find each other? We all know the answer to that one is we all knew each other back in the day and word travels faster these days with cell phones.( can not imagine what roaming lot's would of been like with phones back then. Easier transactions or more big busts?) I do have a feeling after these 3 summer shows they will play in NYC and the Bay Area in the fall. If I do go to these 3 I still cant see the music portion doing much for me . With out Jerry it just doesn't work. And without Jerry in his better days also.
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Submitted by cozmicconnie on Thu, 02/19/2015 - 07:14

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There is no age requirement and the fact is that the 60 something crowd can probably afford the more expensive packages much easier than the 20 somethings you seem to dislike so much. FYI - I'm part of the over 60 crowd but I honestly love having the younger set join us - the music and the scene transcend generations - and that is a good thing. No one "deserves" a ticket - we all "want" tickets and will jump through some hoops to get a few and failing that will enjoy whatever streaming feed is available with friends and family. I hope to be in the mix at Soldier field but I also know that no one owes me anything as far as that goes. We're all in the same position when it comes to desire versus a limited number of tickets - "try to keep a little grace". take care, connie
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Submitted by alanw630 on Thu, 02/19/2015 - 10:50

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Has anyone, anywhere, actually received a letter or email stating that they are going to receive tickets? All we hear are about rejections. And as far as complaining about pricing, the process, that you toured and "deserve" this and Trey crap. Just Shut the F*#k up about it already! Stop complaining about everything. No one "Deserves" tickets. We all hope to get them. And Trey is as good a choice as anyone in the world to play with the band. He is a master at what he does, respected the Dead immensely and will work harder than anyone to put on the performances of his life. As far as tickets, I still hold out hope, no rejection letter yet, but still wonder if anyone, anywhere has actually been informed they are getting tickets?
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Submitted by giantnerd on Thu, 02/19/2015 - 11:20

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I have seen two posts on the GD facebook page where people have said their MO had been cashed, and one of them had an screen shot of an email from GDTSTOO stating they had started to cash them. I still am dubious, as if they were cashing MO's there should be hundreds, if not thousands, of people posting this. There has not been one person on this site that has reported MOs being cashed. Also, GDTS has been so quiet it would be weird if they decided to let one person behind the scenes and not make a general announcement. That being said...I have my 11 digit code to my money orders memorized and check them often!!! When there are real problems in the world I am embarrassed at the amount of anxiety this has caused me!!! Good luck to all!!!
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Submitted by Velveteen on Thu, 02/19/2015 - 11:32

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This whole thing is just hilarious. Other people looking in are like.."what the f&*k is wrong with these people?" So funny. BUt yeah, I hear what your saying about the lack of MO cashed stories. But I did hear from a friend that she had her MO chased on Feb. 10. So maybe a lot of the people with MOs cashed either have not checked or are not on these forums. I guess it doesn't really matter. Just gotta wait and see what happens here in the next week.
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Submitted by giantnerd on Thu, 02/19/2015 - 12:18

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So it is true!!! MOs being cashed. Cool. I have been cycling through the stages of grief so I'll probably have to stop on "acceptance" next time it comes around, meaning accept the fact that my pink slip is coming!!!