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    joennn24
    9 years 5 months ago
    Mix
    Listened to KFOG replay and the mix had Trey so out front I couldn't hear the rest of the band. Could just be the radio replay, but I wanna hear Phil, Bobby and the rest of the band. Can't wait to see it at the movie theater on Friday (and maybe Saturday and Sunday)
  • goverlid
    9 years 5 months ago
    Write on, Bros. Stephen & Eric!
    Thanks for my morning eye-opener!!
  • Eric Abrahamson
    9 years 5 months ago
    Fare Thee Well Grateful Dead, Pt. 2
    Watch 'em knock 'em dead in Chicago. I must've gone to at least 100 shows. The first one was in 1966 in the Golden Gate Park Panhandle, or the Furthur Fesival at San Francisco State College, whichever was first. I actually felt like Phil was addressing me personally when he made his speech at the end and thanked everyone for coming out, because I tried to get tickets to as many Phil Lesh and Friends at Terrapin Crossroads shows as I could. He came up to me there and let me say, "Hi," which rock stars don't have to do. However I couldn't afford to follow Bobby around like I used to, and he always lets me know, which is flattering that he invited me. He sang a song about losing money, which is true. He sang some other songs which might have been directed at me, and I instinctively responded by singing along. Then, at the beginning of the last song, "Fare Thee Well, My Honey", "Brokedown Palace", I thought he was like, he wanted me to sing along, so I did, and then he ended it abruptly, got in line with their arms on their shoulders, did their bow, and it was over, but I'm planning to see the live stream of all 3 Chicago shows at Terrapin Crossroads. When I went to UCI in 1987, my dad gave me $100,000/year, an apartment in grad student housing, a car, and a bunch of credit cards on his account. They tracked me into the Information and Computer Science major. Then he came down and took some of the credit cards back, and my sister took all 6 of my Irvine Meadows Grateful Dead tickets. Like William Burroughs wrote, "When did they ever give anything that they didn't take back if they could, and they always could!" and he went to Harvard. I went out and bought 6 more, at the inflated price of $50, for $300, and canceled the aftershow party at my apartmnent I'd posted on the Well. Because of losing the credit cards, I got a bad grade and had to go to CSUB. Laurie Senit moved in, and life was pretty good. We lived across from the campus in an apartment complex with 4 swimming pools and 4 jacuzzis, the 2nd best in town. My parents bought me a brand-new Toyota Tercel. Then my mom said, "We're going to send the two of you to Hawaii. Pick out a hotel from this brochure." I picked the Big Island because I'd been to Maui, and the Kona Hilton because the Dead liked Hiltons. In nearby Paradise Cove the scuba boat captain claimed he was on a first-name basis with Jerry. When Jerry died the Rolling Stone article said his house was in Kona, which I didn't know, and gave the name of his dive shop. I called information and the dive shop, they said it was across the street from the Kona Hilton, and Jerry probably did used to go scuba diving at Paradise Cove. They were showing videos of him scuba diving tonight. That's why I wanted to do it, but I had to do it straight, not being a rock star. I proposed to Laurie on the beach in Kona. We stopped at my parents' house in San Francisco on our way home. My dad, James Abrahamson, had 3 restaurants, Pam Pam East on Geary and Taylor, Rosebud's English Pub next door, and Biff's Coffee Shop on 28th and Broadway in Oakland, and he sold institutional furniture, commission contract sales, for Thonet and American Chair Co., and later Serta Mattress, in the Merchandise Mart on 10th and Market. My mother, Lucille Abrahamson, was elected to the San Francisco School Board twice, two years as President, worked in Mayor Dianne Feinstein's Office of Childcare, and was appointed S.F. Human Rights Commissioner by Mayor Frank Jordan, the former Police Chief. I told them we were engaged and my Dad said, "Don't marry her, I can't afford it. We sold the restaurants to Mama's, they went bankrupt, didn't pay, we went to court, the judge fined me $160,000, and they wanted me to declare bankruptcy." My little brother said later it was his half-partner, Bill Munro, the manager's fault. He abused the help, especially the head cook, who really ran the place, the union went on strike, won so many benefits they had to go out of business and sell it. Munro had cooked the books, the judge saw it, and hence the fine. My dad said it was because I had spent too much money on Grateful Dead concerts, but I don't think that was correct, although I may have spent too much money. They wanted me to go to this psychiatrist in Bakersfield, Dr. Perelli-Minetti, who was a nice man. He said the Grateful Dead was OK. He was always telling me expensive restaurants to which to take Laurie, like where he took his wife, and encouraged me to spend lots of money on her, buy expensive dresses, jewelry, etc, so I thought it was OK. He gave me Risperdal when it first came out, in 1994. We didn't really go to that many Grateful Dead concerts. My dad didn't like the Grateful Dead and Bill Graham for other reasons. When I first got back from the New Mexico Hog Farm after Woodstock, I tried to turn him on, he thought about it for a minute and decided no, he was afraid to get busted, he was too square to get on the bus. Later he said that Bill Graham had applied to join their Jewish men's club, the Concordia-Argonaut, on Van Ness and Geary, and that he was going to vote against him. Not only was he a hippie, and made his money that way, but he was an orphan, an immigrant, and a Holocaust survivor. What it really was is that Graham was more successful than him in the role of Jewish businessman. My brother moved to Mill Valley, said he saw Graham's house and was impressed. Graham made more money than all of them, and he started as a hippie, and that filled squares like my dad with jealousy, anger, envy, and rage. My dad said, "I wish the Grateful Dead were dead," in his outrageous way. When Bill Graham's helicopter crashed on the way home from the Concord Pavilion and they had his funeral in my dad's temple, Temple Emanu-el, my dad said, "I hope it didn't hurt the helicopter!" He even hated them during the Haight-Ashbury and helped the City Fathers drive them out of town. My family was spending a lot of money at first, and I thought they were encouraging me to emulate them. When he first gave me the $100,000/year, the credit cards on his account, and sent me to UCI, my dad was acting like he could afford for me to buy anything I saw that I wanted. Then he told not to buy anything over $200, and I complied. They were all spending lots of money. He had 2 new BMW"s and a new Mercedes-Benz. He and my mom went on a temple tour of Eastern Europe and stayed in the King David Hotel in Jerusalem, she said it was a five-star hotel. My sister went to Yale after me, in Art, then got a Masters in Art Education at Stanford, an Ed.D. at Harvard, a J.D. at Cal, got a job in the White House as Assistant Chief-of-Staff to Vice-President H.W. Bush in the Ronald Reagan White House and then Founding Chairman of the Barbara Bush Campaign For Family Literacy (me at UCI) in the President H.W. Bush White House. There's a photo of her and Vice-President H.W. Bush having an audience with Pope John Paul in Sweden, and she is shaking hands with the Pope. That dress must have cost something, not to mention the travel. In her closet I saw hundreds of French gowns, and more shoes than Imelda Marcos. She met this guy from the Council of Foreign Relations in Washington, D.C., a USC Professor of International Relations, Jonathan Aronson. He went to Harvard and Stanford in Political Science, and his father was a rich St. Louis banker. They bought a mansion in Bel-Air near the Reagans', put in an Italian marble bathtub, baby grand piano, swimming pool, his self-portrait in the living room, pirates' table, Persian rug, and he drove a Jaguar S3. He said, "We're going to Paris for 2 weeks," "I'm going to Thailand to speak," and they had their son's Bar Mitzvah in Bali, so they didn't hold back on the spending. They took the whole family, including me, to the Club Med in Ixtapa, but they went bankrupt because I spent too much money on Grateful Dead concerts! My brother spent $2000 of my dad's money for a Rolex watch to keep up with the other Oshos and flew back and forth to India every few weeks for years. They flew me there, to Europe twice, and to Hawaii twice. I guess my dad was having problems, and he asked me to spend less money, but he didn't really communicate that I should spend less money because he was having financial problems. I was spending too much money on Laurie. So I ignored him. So he took away some credit cards, and I kept spending at the same level. I couldn't comprehend that commission contract sales is an up-and-down business. Then two new credit cards, each with a $5000 limit, came in the mail. I should have sent them back, but I couldn't resist the temptation. Soon I realized that I couldn't let my dad find out about them, because he would take them away, too. I set out to get revenge on him for taking away my credit cards by charging even *more* money. The first thing I did was take Laurie to the most expensive restaurant in Los Angeles, Spago's, $140 for salmon for two. Then the 2nd most expensive, Palms in West Hollywood. Then dresses, jewelry, and when we went to Hawaii we did the same thing with the recreation. Maybe *that's* what drove my dad into near-bankruptcy, not the Grateful Dead concerts. We really didn't go to that many. I just spent a lot of money on her. She just liked to go to movies, comedy clubs, country-western dance halls, miniature golf, roller skating, she was always thinking of something. They cut my allowance from $100,000/year to $40,000/year, my sister and brother-in-law, Joan and Jonathan, became "trustees of your trust fund", keep the Blue Cross PPO. They took away all 12 of my credit cards and defaulted on them, leaving me in debt to the credit card companies for $15,000, with bad credit to this day, since 1993. They raised it up to $60,000 and I moved to New Mexico, near the Castagnas who used to live at the Hog Farm. Alberto asked me to call my mother, father, sister, and brother-in-law and ask each of them for $10,000 for a liver transplant for his Hepatitis C because his job as Director of Taos County Ambulances, working his way up from paramedic and EMT, didn't have good insurance. They said no. Maybe that's what set 'em off. They asked me to go to a psychiatrist, who dismissed me. Then Laurie wanted me to come back to Los Angeles and move in to her apartment. They wanted me to find another psychiatrist. I found psychedelic therapist Dr. Robert Newport online at the Island Group in Santa Cruz, referred by Bruce Eisner, but my sister fought with him and he lost his license for prescribing medications, including Risperdal, without seeing the patients. I called him and he said, "Did your sister let up on you yet? I'm not a psychiatrist any more, I'm a painter." So they took me to Dr. Lisa Fine, who also gave me Risperdal, which gave me diabetes. Laurie got it too, from Seroquel. They found the diabetes when a cardiolgist wanted to do an emergency heart surgery,an angiogram and an angioplasty. My brother drove my sister-in-law's Ford Escort to L.A. from Sedona. They said they were going to give it to me. He showed it to me and said, "This is your car." They said they were going to give it to me after the surgeries, but they changed their mind and never did. My car had totally broken down at a job interview in Irvine just a few days before my appointment with the cardiologist, who decided I was going to have emergency heart surgery. When I recovered I stopped by at some friends from the Cubensis shows and they talked me into starting going to shows again, to the Phil Lesh and Friends show and the Ratdog show at the Wiltern, and the Ratdog show at the House of Blues. I'd told Richie on the phone I'd stopped going to shows when Jerry died and he'd said, "I did too." They had a picture of them with the 4 original members in an airport on the way to a concert called The Dead. After that, this psychologist Eric Asa-Dorian from the Life Adjustment Team, probably a drug rehab, they said her mother called, shows up in our living room, posing as a Deadhead, except with more, better tickets than me. Then they got me to go to LAT and I never knew it was a drug rehab, it was disguised as marriage counseling or something. In the end they took the $60,000/year except for meds, medical bills, Anthem Blue Cross PPO, SSI, and put me in Brentwood Manor board-and-care home for two years, I think illegally, before I had learned how to treat the diabetes, so it had developed another complication besides the heart disease, metabolic syndrome, diabetic neuropathy, or diabetic nerve pain, or "burning feet". When they moved me out of Laurie's apartment 12 years ago with the Comcast that was the last time they let me have cable, except for a brief period. No police, no arrest, no charges, no hearing, no trial, no sentence, no jail, no prison, no due process. No evidence or proof that *I* ever did anything wrong, as far as I'm concerned, frames and smears I've never heard, let alone allowed to answer. I said I'd sue all of them for $2 billion for attempted murder, elder financial abuse, false imprisonment, psychiatric torture, medical malpractice, emotional anguish, pain and suffering, and my attorney, Bruce Margolin, who'd been Timothy Leary's attorney (I went to a fundraiser they had at Timothy Leary's house in Beverly Hills when he was running for State Senator), said, "Where'd you get the $2 billion?" so $200 million is more in the range, I think. I had to get a job selling Sprint phones B2B to small businesses in the South, work my way out of there and get some financial aid from Cal State East Bay. I'd been a junior Computer Science major at Cal State Northridge when I was living with Laurie before the surgeries. And Tina Kimmel, a Cal Ph.D. in Social Work I met at the New Mexico Hog Farm after Woodstock got my sister to give me a $68,000 annuity that my dad left me, so that was pretty good, so I got to go to Monterey and Camp Winnarainbow, and they're paying for a lot of things now. That's my story and I'm stickin' to it. I'm still a senior Computer Science major and pre-law. Afterwards Alberto died, I called Richie from the board-and-care, he called my sister, I called him back, and he had terminal liver cancer. Alberto flew out and carved his tombstone, and he picked out wood for Tinker to make his coffin, but my sister wouldn't give me $100 to visit him at Camp Winnarainbow before he died. Steve had died of hep C. Then Hunter Thompson committed suicide. When I was going to the LAT psychiatrist to whom they forced me to go, I emailed Cap'n Skypilot to post something I could show him on his office computer, and he wrote a story about a man whose parents he said were responsible for the death of Ken Kesey and the assassination of JFK. When I got up here Vince Welnick committed suicide. I ran into Lou Todd, then he got sick and died, and then Tinker, who I once saw drive the Furthur bus. Charlene said her landlady wouldn't rent her house anymore, she moved in with her daughter; her other daughter got accused of murder, and she didn't do it. Laurie's elementary schoolteacher friend's apartment caught on fire and they blamed her. My Deadhead lawyer friend said his SUV caught on fire. I can't figure out the reason for all this. I would be interested if anybody, especially with legal knowhow, had any helpful advice. I'm thinking of appealing to my Yale classmates, to see if any of them are big-time lawyers yet, and I don't think any Democratic politicians have seen it, since most of them don't have email addresses. They were telling people I was dying, but the doctors said my numbers were good, so you can't die from controlled diabetes, maybe it was just wish-fulfillment. And Jerry famously died of a diabetic heart attack in a drug rehab, maybe someone got ideas. While I was in Brentwood the lawyer sent me a copy of the trust instrument where my parents had initialed that when my mom dies, the inheritance, which it originally says was divided into thirds between me, my brother, and sister, they rubbed me out and divided it in half between my brother and sister. She'll get my mom's house worth about $2 million, and she has a $4.3 million house in Bel-Air, and a house in Telluride, and my dad bought my brother a house in Sedona. I was living in Laurie's apartment. My brother will get my dad's commercial property in Oakland, a tire and party store. And there's some money they'll divide in half. Eric Abrahamson Yale University Class of '71 Pierson College
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<? // pull in news from "50th Anniversary" feature type taxonomy $news = views_embed_view('story_lists', 'block_50news'); echo $news; ?>

Grateful Dead Original Members Add Two Dates To Final Concerts

April 10, 2015

The original members of Grateful Dead have announced two additional shows at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California on June 27th and 28th, as part of their “Fare Thee Well: Celebrating 50 Years of Grateful Dead” run. Along with the three shows at Chicago's Soldier Field on July 3rd, 4th, and 5th, the run will mark the original members' last-ever performances toget

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16 years 4 months
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Also post marked 3/2 from SF. Knew it was coming but still. First show Beacon Theater 6/14/'76. 200+ shows. Never been shut out before.
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I was of the mind that I would not pay over face or at least much over-- never have and wasn't going to in this case. I got lucky-- we got shut out of mail order, but a friend was able to order tix through the Bears PSL presale. So, I am in all three nights in decent seats, commemorative tickets to boot. The secondary market is like the antiques market-- tickets are worth what people are willing to pay. They list the tickets high right off the bat-- if people order them at that price, that sets the market. Seeing how crazy highly priced tickets are right now, fans are better off waiting it out and letting the price drop, which they certainly will. Easy for me to say as I am already in with a place to lay my head afterwards. Good luck to all! Chicago invaded by Deadheads will be a sight to see-- especially on a major holiday weekend. Going to be a blast.
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I, too, received my rejection letter in the mail today -- postmarked 3/3. Not surprised, but as many of us have said, tremendously disappointed and also really confused about how this process went down. I am still going to resist the urge to pay anything higher than a LITTLE bit more than face value. It really does seem logical that the closer we get, prices will come down, although I don't think they'll drop substantially. I sound like a broken record by now...but if anyone is looking for 2 hotel nights for $500 (total) and wants to work out a deal to trade for 2 tickets for 7/3, please PM me. Love reading all the posts...what an amazing group of people.
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Hope you're right about the prices coming down... I got my pinky this past Friday, kinda expected it, but it really bummed me out just the same (sigh). As far as the resellers, I've been checking pricing daily on stubhub and vivid and the prices are see-sawing...down and up..up and down...Hey Klangstone: I read your post earlier on coming close to purchasing.. Don't do it! Weren't you the one that told me last week not to cave in? Hang in there! It's soooo hard to resist purchasing now. I personally just want it to be over and get a tix to KNOW I'm going - but Velveteen may be right! Try to hold out as long as possible...I know I am but its HARD to do so! I am going to try Friday for tix for MD show, but I am already so disheartened, I am expecting I will lost out on tix there, too...(trying not to get my hopes up, you know?) Yeah, its tough to feel shut out of all this, especially when you are a true deadhead! I'm hoping that tix prices will come down, and hey..I may even get surprised this Friday and land tix for the MD show! Keepin' the faith...
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I play this game a lot with tickets, where I will wait and see and play the market as it unfolds.That is why I LOVE when it rains or is bad weather - then all the ticket prices go way down. Perfect scenario for the buyer. But it's always a tug and play between the buyer and the seller. Same relationship exists in many market-based systems. This event is definitely not your regular show, so different norms may apply. However, it seems highly unlikely that prices will go UP. They seem way too high already. And like I say, new show and festival announcements and the high cost of hotels and flights. as well as people already having 4th of July weekend plans,might work in your favor in getting those costs down.
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"2. People will have plans by then and be way less willing or able to travel last minute to Chicago (plus, no Hotels will be available, or at least ones that you can get for a good price)." Any what this says is that it's probably more important to pursue hotel and airfare now rather than tickets. Of course, setting this up without a tix adds to the anxiety. Booked airlines shouldn't be a problem for an aitport such as ORD, but you never know. I'm sure all the nearby hotels are booked by now from both the CID packages and others. I know the hotels I checked in the two plus miles from the event had only a handful of rooms (one handful) right after the TM fiasco. Historically, (if this follows history) aftermarket ticket prices remain fairly flat, with fluctuations up and down, up to two weeks prior to the event. At this point, the prices spike up and then crash down in the last 7 days. Don't think I could wait til the last 7 days. As both GDTSTOO and TM know, this isn't your typical concert so how it plays out probably won't be typical either.
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I certainly wouldn't expect the prices to come down to face value. I'm just saying that Deadheads are a bit unique and may have an effect on prices due to their ethics. We all seem to agree that supply and demand is the key issue. Right now, I'm not seeing demand, which is encouraging.
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9 years 10 months
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It would be nice to have a Deadhead Ticket exchange system. I know that already exists to an extent on these forums, but maybe something more robust. That way, it's deadhead buyers and deadhead sellers. That roots out all those scammers and scalpers. With 210,000 tickets out there, you can guarantee that people are going to have to cancel for various reasons, etc. Working your immediate friend groups is always the best way to try and grab a ticket as it becomes available. Any way to avoid the scalpers that have absolutely NO IDEA what it even means to be a deadhead and what we are all about.
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Nothing wrong with Phish. I have no idea how many times I've seen them. I was around during the beginning at Nectar's, The Front, etc. I recall getting a bit sick of seeing them as every time I went out, they were playing. So I ended up not seeking them out for a while. Then I kinda got into them again, but then dropped back out when they started filling stadiums. I like small shows. One of the more disappointing shows I've seen was when Phish opened for Santana in Stowe. It was a huge let down because Carlos let them (and Trey) be the show. I really wanted to see Santana, but instead got Phish. Last time I saw them was at the Irene benefit in VT. It was a good show. Going into this was a bunch of fear for another show like Santana, but I'm fairly certain that won't happen.
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did not even get a bid which started at $5000. Cheapest on Stubhub right now is $6000, next is $7310. The pricks are not getting their prices!!!
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Good advice, I didn't do it but I was tempted. Just sat there looking at the screen for about 5 minutes and in the end I said to myself, "NO WAY, F#CK THE SCALPERS!"
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Update to the group, FWIW: Received my rejection today- in New Orleans, postmarked March 4th.
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15 years 11 months
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Wow! Wouldn't it be great to have some sort of "private" way to buy/sell tickets to each other and avoid the secondary market altogether? I know we have this forum to talk to each other but I agree, something more robust, as you said, makes a ton of sense. Anyone have thoughts on that?
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14 years 10 months
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sank into the deep sea of love, i guess. what is the next Dave's pix? This FTW stuff is OLD. sad and old. Come on, well come on no fun (without Dave's pix) no fun WELL COME ON!
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I just received my rejection letter in the mailbox. It was postmarked 3/3
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If you were lucky to get tickets from GDTSTOO. Why are they sending them out in June?????Don't they know how long it to for some people to get there pink slips ect ect.If you were the lucky ones to get your tickets don't want to get them in the last min.if I was going I was going 5 weeks before the show to see people on the way and also see some of the sights on the way.This way you don't have much time or any.Does any one out there want to comment?
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Hey. to all you good people thinking how it would be great if there were a private marketplace where heads could buy, sell, and trade face value tickets, it already exists. It is called cashortrade.org and it is fantastic. Check it out. I will not promise that you are going to find your Chicago tickets there because the demand simply outstrips the supply. However, when people do buy/sell/trade on the site, it is done for face value.
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16 years 8 months
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Hi Blakesmith007 - the sad truth here is that no one has any of the answers. All we can do is intelligently guess and speculate. Lots of smart and experienced Heads on this blog and it's been therapeutic for someone like me to read them daily. I was shut-out of all viable ticket chances. We need to help each other. E-bay I simply don't "trust" to get tickets. StubHub will guarantee the validity of your purchase. But fact is, no tickets are physically in the marketplace yet. And finding out one version of the truth on how this ticketing process works and where and to whom these 210K seats have been allocated is impossible. The band has clammed-up and TM will never disclose anything. Hang in there all and whatever you do - DO NOT PATRONIZE THE SCALPERS. Wait them out - we have just under four months to show time. This landscape will radically change in 8-10 weeks.
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Back in the day when it was printed tickets without barcodes the waiting to send out tickets would help deter counterfeit ticket printers. I would think that some of that would still apply. It used to suck to buy a ticket in the lot and then be turned down at the gate due to the ticket being counterfeit. If I buy a ticket on the lot, I am taking a photo of a driver's license with my cell phone, so if they are fake I can track down the individual. If they are not fake and the price is face value, then I will have the address to send the person a christmas card, every year, forever.
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I am definitely having trouble waiting it out! But like you, I read this blog daily and yes, I too was shut out from obtaining any viable tix...its depressing but -- it is what it is -- just trying to hang in and keep the faith that something will give! As a last resort, the reseller market is my only option, except what Velveteen suggested as far as an internal market. You mentioned stubhub but I did notice Vivid has cheaper tickets by far. And they say they guarantee tix too. Do you know if vivid is reputable? I know they all are crappers, but if it's my only choice in 8-10 weeks, I'll have to take the dive...
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16 years 8 months
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I've never dealt with Vivid so I honestly have no opinion of them. StubHub pretty much pioneered the space into a pretty big business model and for years, I've bought tickets from them for all sorts of events (concerts & sporting). SeatGeek is another good site by the way...
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I used them once before. Got the seats advertised. That's all I have to say about that. *Gump voice. Got my reject today. Never so depressed to get an envelope full of money.
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although i am not suggesting buying from scalpers, vivid is just as legit as stub hub. i delt with them both many times in cases like this. never for this kind of $$$. but they are one and the same if it helps u. good luck
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9 years 9 months
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Thanks for the input guys...I appreciate it. I never heard of SeatGeeks. Will be checking that one daily now as well... I chuckled when I read your post MadSwanDisease!! That's exactly how I felt...I was never so depressed to open up an envelope full of money (lol)! I got lucky on my first run to the PO office. They were able to cash the MOs right away. I've read here that some had trouble. Well, I guess I have SOME luck, but not particularly where it counts... but hey, gotta be grateful! (smile)
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No pinky and no email yet. So I paid the $6.10 at USPS on Friday and called the MO tracking line. According to Cosmic C over there, who prefaced the update with, "you ready to be happy", that particular MO (friday, 2 pit tix single MO for total of $231) was cashed. I sent in on the 20th, some medium artwork on envelope courtesy of my 12 old daughter, to whom I gave some concepts to work with (what can I say, she's the artist, I ain't). Sent in for 2 pit on friday, and 1 of any on Saturday, ($115.50 and $100 MOs), plus a $9 for postage. Cosmic verified all 4 were cashed on Feb 17th. Just sharing for what it's worth for all those in limbo...you may try doing this alos, $6.10 is worth it at this point vs. the anxiety, and if you sent in a single env. this will tell you what you need to know.. My brief "dead" and incomplete bio, as there seems to be some type of "hey you are brand new on this forum, what are your creds?" thingy here; frankly because I wasn't sure what is cool on this dead.net, all the music is on archive.org. anyway have lurked here, only since they announced the 50 shows. 1st show was Dec 31st, 1988, from...parking lot of Oak Coliseum, (road trip with my buddy from Madison, in a rusty Chevette that barely made it over the Sierras). 1st real one at Rosemont Horizon in 1989, then about a 100 shows mostly in midwest, including the very last one. MSG w/B. Marsalis was my favorite show, it was Halloween circa early 90's. Live in SF now. I could go on, but it its not about me, its about relaying a small useful tidbit in para 1, to those in limbo. Peace and love to you, we are one tribe!
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Hey Klangstone, check your private messages.
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9 years 9 months
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Hey Klangstone, check your private messages.
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9 years 9 months
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I've used Stubhub with good success. One time for a Merriweather show the print out tickets I had purchased were already scanned at the gate. I called. They got me new tickets, and gave me a large credit for the inconvenience. I've bought tickets off of Ebay before with no problems. Check the seller's feedback. People with good feedback and whom sell items often aren't going to ruin their Ebay account for a one time fake sale of tickets. You're also protected by Paypal. That being said, unless you don't mind spending the money, WAIT. When people get tickets in June cheaper seats will become available. I have no problem with the June mail out. I'm sure tickets will be at people's houses well before the show unless you're going three weeks early. The June roll out hurts the sales of professional scalpers and it prevents the "one off scalpers", basically fans who are going to sell tickets to help pay for their trip, from having a lot of time to sell their tickets. It again decreases after market sales since everyone is skeptical of buying tickets when their not in hand. *see this thread for skepticism* As far as hearing from the band or TM as to the "where have all the seats gone conspiracy"... you're not going to hear a thing. I've never heard from bands, TM, or promoters on seat allocations after the on sale. Why would this be any different? There is nothing to see and nothing out of the ordinary. In fact, there are less tickets available on the aftermarket than usually available for such an event. There are half the number of tickets available for all three days of the Fare Thee Well for a single day of baseball at Wrigley Field, and the dead show has 170000 more seats in those three days. The system worked. Fans have an overwhelming majority of the tickets. If not, there wouldn't be such a small percentage on the aftermarket. The reason it feels like so few people have gotten tickets is due to the fact it broke the record for demand. Furthermore, a majority of fans don't use message boards and many older heads probably don't even use fakebook.
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17 years 6 months
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I too am still in deep space, awaiting an imminent interstellar e-mail or conversely, terrestrial death blow. I've avoided the money order oracles in vain hopes that ignorance winds up delivering bliss. Where's the dog star? No word here. No tix, no m.o.s back. Thought the hammer would fall today. As a Chicagoan i'll be there regardless, but it sure would be nice to have some tix in hand. Each day that passes is going to make the death knell all the more stark. As the scalpers laugh and shake their bones.
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'All this machinery making modern music can still be open hearted, Not so coldly charted, it's really just a question of your honesty, ya your honesty, One likes to believe in the freedom of music, but glittering prizes and endless compromises, shatter the illusions of Integrity.' - Spirit of Radio - Rush
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14 years 5 months
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Lifelong resident here again. In a previous missive, I recommended the Art Institute, A Wendella boat ride, and Oak Street Beach as great things to do in Chicago. I'm trying to give you stuff you can do within walking distance of most downtown or Near North hotels. So, I thought I mention one of Chicago's favorite pass-times, restaurants! Here's some 'classic' Chicago joints I enjoy, you may as well. You should be able to find reviews, addresses, and opening times online. These are all 'workingman's' places. I'll put together a list of splurge spots later. Mr. Beef - Cheep, communal seating at picnic tables, and IMO, the BEST Italian beef sammiches in town. Greek Islands - On Halsted in Greektown. No better whole grilled fish anywhere, even the coasts. Italian Village - Red sauce heaven. Cool, whimsical room. It's the restaurant on the top floor. There are three in the building. Heartland Cafe - This one is at the far north end of the city. Fresh, local, organic foods, great bar, and an atmosphere closest to 'the old days' for Deadheads. Tell 'em Wild Bill sent you!
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14 years 1 month
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I was Patient and have held back from making or responding to Negative comments throughout this process.But today, 3/9/15 = 10 Days after the presale, I received my "Sorry Sucker" letter which was post dated the 4th. Like many, I stupidly believed, No returned money and no Email stating I either Was or Wasn't getting tickets before the on sale date was good news. Or, still left me a chance. Silly me (us). To say that this whole process was Amateur hour would be an insult to amateurs everywhere! One mistake after another, An amateur promoter, clearly incapable of "properly" organizing an event of this scale, Horrible venue choice, Greed and other bad judgement left only the fans Phucked over. If I read again that it was the venue of the Deads last performance, as if that is any more significant than their First, Biggest, Most Played, Worst etcc) I am going to be sick. Soldier Fields (Torn Down and rebuilt) relevancy in 2015 is the same as The Archaic GDTSTOO with it's 3x5 postcard is = Why ask for our emails and Phone Numbers if you are incapable of using them to notify EVERYBODY? Both are Free in 2015 so they can't even use the cost excuse. They postponed the on sale date once, why not twice? What difference would it have made? Theres no way they should have sold one single ticket online, until EVERY mail order envelope was either returned or the people were notified as to their order status. At the very least their Lame "you may want to consider on line ticket sales to increase your chances" - should have simply read - IF YOU HAVEN'T BEEN NOTIFIED BEFORE THE 2/28 ON SALE DATE - YOU ARE - NOT GETTING TICKETS - Now go Beg Borrow or Steal the money you need to try and get them through ticketmaster. And we will eventually send you your money back. What would have happened if they postponed the onsale date another week or two? The Scumbags at TicketMaster and CID would have 14 weeks instead of 16 to sell their tickets that EVERYBODY after the Mail order inundation, knew would sell out in minutes - Genius Move! They could have postponed the TM onsale date for months, it wouldn't have made one bit of difference. Would notifying me and the others that we were NOT getting mail order tickets changed anything? - No! Would it have Improved our chances of getting Tickets on TM? - No! Would it have, in any way, made the ultimate disappointment any less inevitable or hard to swallow? - No! But sometimes you just have to do what is right. I know several people who got their "Congratulations" emails well before the 28th. Maybe the better move would have been to: notify ALL the people who WEREN'T getting Tickets instead of those who were! With that said; All the Ticket issues, Venue / Guitarist choice arguments, Lack of Guests - Special or Not. And the absence of any acknowledgement to all the "OTHER" X Band members aside. What makes this whole fiasco really painful is the simple reality that Bob and Phil or some other combination of the "Core Four" Don't like each other. Or more simply put, they don't want to perform together anymore. Which is fine, I get it. But why perform at all then? Knowing, Weeks before the onsale date, the absolutely HUGE demand the Celebration generated. How difficult would it have been to add another night or two? Couldn't you four bury the hatchet for another night or two? The arguments they (Shapiro) used saying the three shows were billed as the last and people would get upset if they added more. Is as lame as every other EXCUSE floated before and since. Adding a show or two before or after the 3-5 dates at the same venue would have been welcomed by Everybody involved (the Fans) All the expenses. Logistics, planning etc were already done. Adding another show or two was the ONLY "Right" thing to do. Pay per view or Simulcasting is worthless, People want to be there and are willing to pay for it. The Only obstacle in the addition of dates, were the Band themselves. Like I said, If you can't bury the hatchet for another 3 or 6 hours together why bother in the first place! Soldiers Field is Vacant 330+/- Days a year so thats not an issue, As luck would have it is vacant almost the entire Month before and for a few days after the 3-5 dates. No Excuses!
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9 years 9 months
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I could not have said it any better.this whole thing is a complete and utter disgrace!! Well said!
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13 years 1 month
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Thanks for the suggestions! How efficient is the public transit in Chicago? Can you get to where you need with a 3-day pass? I'm not presently planning to go without show tickets, but I still have a plane ticket so you never know. Cheers.
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9 years 9 months
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PLEASE... Since they sold the extra tickets beside and behind the stage in Chicago, please keep the stage design simple and not hang banners everywhere to block all the views. People have paid lots of money to get these extra seats and will be very upset if there is no view at all! Thanks so much!!!
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11 years 7 months
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Well brother (assuming you are a guy - and sorry if you are not), all I can say is that it gets better. That letter really stings and in fact was my avatar for a while after getting it. Take a deep breath and try to calm down a little. A lot of us (myself included) went through a lot of sadness (utter sadness to be honest) and hurt about the way things went down. I totally wish that TM, stubhub and ebay would all rot in hell as would all of the "heads" that are paying for their trips with their extra mail orders, but that is what happened. After the TM craziness, I was in a sadness tempered with mild anger for several days after. Guys like Klangstone and rgergelis were great at talking with. Vent away, but understand that there is really no one to blame for this - it happened and there are a lot of happy people on this site too who DID get lucky. There was no question word could have gotten out sooner, but the reality is there were 60k+ letters. Yes email is faster than mail, but we all knew the rules - some didn't abide by them by sending in multiple letters, but again, you cannot possibly fault GDTS for not immediately excluding the multiples, it simply would have been impossible. Based on the shear numbers too, it still was impossible for everyone who mailed in to go - over 300k requests for only 210k possible seats. Now as a mail order, would you be happy if they gave all the tickets to mail order, but you got stuck behind the stage w/out a view? I wouldn't. I mean I would be glad to be in, but seriously? No view at all? That would totally blow. Basically get pissed, do what you gotta do, but know that acceptance is going to come sooner than later - we all have gone through it and now that the mail is getting through, a lot more people are seeing that they got their pink slips too - we're here for you and hang in there. This family is tight one and we (try to) stick together - that is what the Dead were about, doing good as a society. Peace
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17 years 5 months
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Hello, finally got my rejection letter and money orders back today. Does anyone on here know how to turn these back into cash? The only thing I can figure out so far is that you have to request a refund for each money order and pay a $15 fee per money order. Man, really adds insult to injury. Hoping someone can confirm the refund process is the one to use, or is there an easier way?
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9 years 9 months
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lono sorry to hear. it can go back to your own bank account, just write "not used for intended purpose" on the back of the check where you endorse it, sign below that, & deposit
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i took a chance and crossed off GDTSTOO, initialed it, then write my own name in and deposited my returned MOs and it worked, but jambo's approach sounds more legit. Either way don't pay the post office for the privelege.
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Keep the info coming. I'm staying in the South Loop neighborhood of downtown. .7 miles from Soldier Field. Any recommendations for the South Loop? I can't wait. It's going to be a great weekend in Chicago.
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12 years 7 months
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here's a bit of info...2 of my very good friends were asked to help out @ the 'sorting house' here in NorCal... they were privy to lotsa info, which continues to trickle in, so i&i hope this helps some of the "still in limbo" group... 1st & most importantly, u still have hope!! one of those 2 friends got their email TONIGHT @ 9:30pm confirming their order had been filled (containing a 3-day Pit Pass for yours truly, btw, THANK YOU, u know who u are... ANYWAY, the important aspect of this is THIS person was one of the OVER 1000 PEOPLE to have their emails entered incorrectly, thus one of those elusive 'bounce back emails' the tix were part of Batch 121, of over 430 is what i'm told... i'm truly blessed to have friends like these folks whom i've known well since my 1st shows in 1992 (55 shows between 92-95 BEST TIME OF MY LIFE!!!) & they clearly remain great friends... the only other thing i'll say is there were copious amounts of volcano hits during sorting, make of that what u will, lord knows i'd be volcanoed if that was me involved in that madness... hope this helps, not trying to toot my own horn, just wanted to give a few people out there some renewed hope... 'some folks would be happy just to have one dream come true...' may the force be with u... ♤
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14 years 10 months
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BollocksO Bollocks Lots of Bollocks Lots of Bollocks O Bollocks C all the Bollocks Kick out the Bollocks So much Bollocks