“CHICAGO — The Grateful Dead are going out on a high note, 
setting a new ticket sales record at Soldier Field. The legendary rockers are in the middle of their three-night “Fare Thee Well” concert series. Friday night’s concert sold more than 70,000 tickets, beating U2’s record of nearly 67,000 in 2009. Last night’s performance was also sold out, though it hasn’t been announced whether that also set a ticket record. Tonight’s show promises to be epic as it will be the Dead’s last performance ever. R.I.P.”
-(Courtesy: WGN)
Perhaps they will come back as “The Grateful Zombies”
Misprint
The title should be “The “Dead” Is Dead”
The Dead was a band I always
The Dead was a band I always liked in theory, but they never really grabbed me.
I liked their commitment to allowing people to record their shows, and their commitment to sound in general. They were one of the first bands to use a device to scan the acoustics of an arena and then set the EQ to match it, dynamically adjusting as people filled in.
I really tried to like them. I even rode my bike out to the RFK stadium once to wander through the parking lot, to get a bit of the experience. It was exactly as you’d imagine. Hippy-like people of all ages wandering about, impromptu jams here and there, people wandering about with fingers in the air saying “I need a miracle” (i.e., a ticket to go inside). Lots of tie dye and funky smells. Cool looking busses and vehicles, people selling trinkets of all sorts… it was a bit like a ren fair.
Some of the music has an appeal, but it was never the transcendental experience that others seemed to have. Perhaps one needs to be tripping to get it.
Nonetheless, there was nothing like them. No band has had a similar kind of following. They get points for achievement. : )
deadheads
I have always been a fan of blues, soul and RnB, so the Dead never had much of an appeal to me, but for many of my friends, they were a favorite and certainly their versions of blues standards were aurally more accessible than the originals. Think the Police as a watered down reggae band and you get the picture. I went to a number of shows in the mid 70″d, mostly 1977, arguably their most productive period. I saw them for the last time in 1983 and by that time, the scene in the parking lot had turned to groovy to all about getting f#$%^d up. And of course Garcia’s health started to get poor from his diet of yohoo chocolate drinks and hot dogs and heroin.
Last week I was told that Manny Paquicaio the boxer made as much money in his fight recently than Le Bron James has made IN HIS ENTIRE CAREER. I remind you Manny lost that fight. The pay for view proceeds for the Chicago shows will benefit the Wier and companies families for generations. I was told they will make as much for these 5 shows as they made in their entire career. woof….
"Dead" or Alive...
…while the Beatles will always be the kings of kings of rock and more,
we cannot say The Sixties without including The Grateful Dead. When I spent the summer of 1967 in L.A. (The Summer of Love) you couldn’t breathe without exhaling the Dead (along with Jim Morrison, Jefferson Airplane, etc.) “All You Need Is Love” also broke the airwaves that summer. It was three months of coming of age for my high school friend and me, two 17 year olds from the Baltimore County farmlands
whoa
You are at Ground Zero at the zero hour of the 60’s. Holy cow….