Grateful Dead

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.

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!

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.