Fare Thee Well, Grateful Dead
By Croix Provence
“What a long, strange trip it’s been.”
Truer words have never been sung, and by none other than The Grateful Dead. After the passing of Jerry Garcia nearly twenty years ago the band stopped touring. Dead Heads were destroyed by the loss of the icon, as well as the end of their musical acid-charged gypsy era. Thirty years of peaceful, eccentric, never-ending, and important music laid to rest with Jerry, though other members continued to jam out in new groups, holding him in memory.
This year marks the 50 year anniversary of the beginnings of one of the most important bands in music history. Wouldn’t it be awesome to see them play together again, for the first time since Jerry Garcia’s passing?
Grab your tie dye and your tabs, Dead Heads, because you are in luck: The Grateful Dead is getting back together for three days to celebrate their 50th anniversary and honor their long-passed friend and legend, Jerry Garcia. Phil Lesh, Mickey Hart, Bob Weir, and Bill Kreutzmann will be spreading good vibes from the stage along with Phish’s Trey Anastasio on guitar, Grateful Dead’s 1988 addition Bruce Hornsby on Piano, and RatDog keyboardist Jeff Chimenti. Phish frontman Anastasio has big shoes to fill, as he will be standing in for Jerry Garcia.
From July 3-5, Soldier Field in Chicago will be filled with hippies of all walks of life who have traveled to the last concert site of the full band. Tickets for general admission pit start at $99, and they only go up from there. If you’re really dedicated, you can buy a three-day ticket package. If you’re really really dedicated, you can do that and design an awesome money order enveloped for your ticket purchase. If your envelope is awesome enough, you might just score free tickets and other goodies! Exact pricing, ticket sale dates, and other information is available on www.dead50.net. It pretty much goes without saying, but on the Croix scale from Bad to Bad-Ass, this whole thing is:
Overall: Bad-Ass
If you’ve ever been jealous of a Dead Head’s stories; if you’ve ever felt transported to another world by their music; if you’ve ever wanted to immerse yourself in ethereal hippie jam music ecstasy… Please go. And purchase early because tickets will sell out in seconds. For those born too late, this will be your only chance in your entire life to see the remains of The Grateful Dead together, live. For those born at the right time, now is your chance to revisit a completely different time expressed through the music of the free-spirited souls you loved then, and are sure to love now. After this show, we must bid adieu to the live experience that is The Grateful Dead and give Jerry’s jamming spirit our support in person for the last time. Nevertheless, their music will be forever in our heads, our homes, and our hearts.
“Well this time is goodbye, so long; Maybe I must say “Take care and goodbye, so long.””
Croix Provence, abridged: Singer. Actress. Model. Dork. Snack enthusiast. Freelance writer. Music lover. Comic Con freak. Adrenaline junkie. Short sentence sorcerer. Follow @CroixProvence on Twitter and Instagram, and like Croix Provence on Facebook.
