Fare Thee Well - Grateful Dead Finale

Isoworld13

The Grateful Dead are getting all of the original living band members together (along with Phish's Trey Anastacio & Bruce Hornsby) to celebrate their 50th Anniversary on 4th of July Weekend in Chicago at Soldier Field. It comes almost 20 years to the exact day that they played their final show (7/9/95) at the exact same venue. Anyone going? Me & the wife are fully booked for air & hotel, and I just sent in our mail order today. If you thought the PJ lottery was tough, you've got no idea. The Dead ticket lottery starts with MAIL ORDER ONLY. No internet. No Credit Cards. No Checks. No Cash. ONLY a POSTAL OR Western Money Order. (oh, and the Post Office won't take a credit card either, so you need either cash or a debit card) Not only that, but you need to make out a separate money order for each show, for each choice. There are 3 shows & 3 levels of 'fan club' tickets for each show.. $115 for GA PIT, $215 for Lower Reserved, or $95 for Upper Reserved. So, if you wanted GA PIT as your 1st choice and Lower Reserved for your 2nd, you need to send TWO money orders in, 1 for $115 and one for $100. If you hit GA, your $100 gets sent back to you. If you miss GA, but get Lower Reserved, they keep it all ($115+$100=$215). You then have to do this for EACH of the 3 shows you want to go to. Then you have to send ANOTHER money order for Fed Ex or Priority mail. So basically, if you want 2 GA tickets for each show, BUT would SETTLE for Lower Reserved, you need to bring over $1300 in cash to the post office, get SEVEN different money orders, then send it all out on THIS EXACT DAY. You might get all GA's and $600 sent BACK to you, all Reserved's and get nothing back, OR get nothing and have all your money sent back to you. And this is just the FIRST WAVE of trying to get tickets. After this comes the "ticket & travel package" sale, THEN a Pre-Registered Fan Pre-Sale, THEN a Public Sale. Crazy shit.

weekapaug19

It's great....haven't done mail order since older phish tours. These younger kids (and I'm not really that old) don't realize how easy it is to just sign on to ticketmaster at 10 and get tickets.

you also have a better shot at tickets if your envelope is covered in good artwork Google some of them, they are amazing

63schoefflin

Already a thread on this btw

weekapaug19

And sadly I won't be going but will
Be webcasting all 3 nights

Isoworld13

Been to over 50 actual "Grateful Dead" shows starting in 1989, and almost 100 if you count RatDog, Phil & Friends, Furthur Fest, The Dead, & finally just Furthur. Couldn't miss this the LAST TIME!

weekapaug19

At least I have a ticket to phils 75th so I have that going for me, and JRAD in a few weeks

CopperTom

Does anyone know the presale password?

Isoworld13

These Dead shows are insane. Over 600,000 mail order requests. $4000 VIP packages SOLD OUT in SECONDS. 3 shows at Soldier Field with over 70,000 at each show SOLD OUT in less than FIVE MINUTES!!! Tickets on the secondary market are completely CRAZY. Tickets BEHIND the stage with NO VIEW (not obstructed view, NO view) are going for OVER $1000 each. If you want a seat where you can actually SEE the band, they are going for between $3,000 and $5,000 PER TICKET per night. Oh, you want a GOOD seat, that will be about $10,000 please. Unbelieveable. Never in a million years did I think that getting tickets to a FIFTY YEAR OLD BAND (who's lead singer DIED 20 years ago!) would be a thousand times harder than getting SuperBowl tickets. I lost out on mail order. Tried to buy the $4000 VIP package (2 tickets in the GA pit for each show, open bar, and a poster) and got shut out there as well. Then finally lost the ticketmaster scam 3 minutes into the general public sale. Unreal!!! Heading to Chicago in July regardless (already paid for my hotel & airfare). Hoping for some miracles to come my way. I'd really rather not spend Ten GRAND on this trip. (Need to save my cash for the Pearl Jam Australia/Hawaii shows that are on my bucket list!!)

CopperTom

Why did you buy airfare before you had tickets? Domestic flights are cheapest about 10 weeks out.

Tim Simmons

I know the asking price for tickets is that high. Are they trading at those prices though? The shows aren't for 3 months. Plus tickets aren't shipping until June. I bet it comes way down. Plus you know they'll do couch tour for these shows. The will kill some demand.

weekapaug19

Ya. Tickets are gonna come way down, and something fishy is up with the small amount of tickets on the secondary market. Maybe a HUGE rerelease or something.

The whole thing has been a huge cluster, I just hope they webcast it and not do PPV or the movies only

josevolution

That's insane but i'm not surpised they are way more deadheads out there then PJ fans

weddingparade

scored mail order for july 4th
stoked

tempo_n_groove

Isoworld13 said:

These Dead shows are insane. Over 600,000 mail order requests. $4000 VIP packages SOLD OUT in SECONDS. 3 shows at Soldier Field with over 70,000 at each show SOLD OUT in less than FIVE MINUTES!!! Tickets on the secondary market are completely CRAZY. Tickets BEHIND the stage with NO VIEW (not obstructed view, NO view) are going for OVER $1000 each. If you want a seat where you can actually SEE the band, they are going for between $3,000 and $5,000 PER TICKET per night. Oh, you want a GOOD seat, that will be about $10,000 please. Unbelieveable. Never in a million years did I think that getting tickets to a FIFTY YEAR OLD BAND (who's lead singer DIED 20 years ago!) would be a thousand times harder than getting SuperBowl tickets. I lost out on mail order. Tried to buy the $4000 VIP package (2 tickets in the GA pit for each show, open bar, and a poster) and got shut out there as well. Then finally lost the ticketmaster scam 3 minutes into the general public sale. Unreal!!! Heading to Chicago in July regardless (already paid for my hotel & airfare). Hoping for some miracles to come my way. I'd really rather not spend Ten GRAND on this trip. (Need to save my cash for the Pearl Jam Australia/Hawaii shows that are on my bucket list!!)

I'd take that hotel off you if you don't intend to use it please!

63schoefflin

They will release more. All the old dead head people are just stupid.... They didn't release all the tix yet. There's no way.

tempo_n_groove

Looking for a hotel in chitown for this!!!

weddingparade

63schoefflin said:

They will release more. All the old dead head people are just stupid.... They didn't release all the tix yet. There's no way.

wow...show a little respect man. so very very rude.
don't you listen/understand the words? cause you got the wrong vibe, but maybe you didn't get tickets and are bitter and displacing that on us.
seeing as you obviously know everything please fill us all in to what is the plan. that is assuming you KNOW.

weddingparade

such a long time ago. love jimmy herring.
everybody's dancing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLM5EYGFeOc

63schoefflin

Haha...relax I was messing around. I was thinking about going but just have too many other shows to hit this summer. Didn't try as ill probably be going out there for the MMJ shows. I just meant most of the fanbase is a lot older and not really used to dealing with how ticket drops work. Places this big rarely sell their whole load up front.

I don't think I have ever seen even a normal venue of 19k-25k sell all tix at once. I would just take a deep breath, relax, and wait for more tix to pop up.

Isoworld13

Tickets are currently going for 10 to 20 times face. That market is ridiculous. It will never hold up. As soon as they announce the PPV or the simulcasts, those $3,000 tickets are going to come back to Earth. They'll still be expensive (probably close to $500 each), but at least reasonable. The top tickets face value are over $200 as it is, so triple face (which is usually the scalper norm) is still around $600 for the good seats. $150 to $200 should at least get you in the door (albeit behind the stage), and nobody sits in their real seats at stadium shows anyway. I booked my air and hotel way early. Booked the air because it was less than $300 each for nonstop roundtrip from Boston on 4th of July weekend, and that's completely reasonable. Booked the nonreufundable hotel because I KNEW it would be IMPOSSIBLE to find a place close by AFTER tickets went on sale. After I witnessed the shit show of public transportation in Chicago after the PJ show at Wrigley and the Phish show at Northerly Island back in 2013, I was determined to get a place within walking distance from Soldier Field, and to do that meant booking EARLY. WAY before I would know if I had a ticket in hand. So at the very least, I've got my airfare and 3 nights at the Hilton just about a half mile from the show. Now I just have to get myself and the wife some "miracles". I've got complete faith that I'll be able to get into at least ONE of the shows, if not all three. Just going to take some patience and a little luck.

63schoefflin

That Northerly Island show was insane trying to get around.

tempo_n_groove

I need a hotel people!!!

Isoworld13

The Phish show at Northerly was ridiculous. We got a cab for $25 from our hotel near Wrigley TO the show. When it was time to leave, the cabs were pretty much non-existant. When we finally DID find a cab after walking over a mile, we had to "negotiate" on the price. He claimed he was somebody else's fare but would ditch the guy for us for the right price. Long story short, I ended up paying almost $60 to get back. It was either that or continue walking god knows how many more miles in the middle of the night. For the Pearl Jam show, we were lucky. I had booked myself at an overly priced 'boutique' hotel less than a mile from the show. Overpriced, yes, but well worth it at 2AM when that show let out and there was not a cab in site and hour long lines at the subway stations.

Isoworld13

There are plenty of hotels in the area with availability. Unfortunately, 3 nights will cost over $2000. On the bright side, that is LESS than ONE single ticket is going for for ONE single night. That is PRECISELY why I booked early. I paid just under $600 for 3 nights at the Hilton. The catch was that I had to pre-pay, it was non-refundable, and I had to book it MONTHS before tickets even went on SALE.

guacamolejoe

Isoworld13 said:

There are plenty of hotels in the area with availability. Unfortunately, 3 nights will cost over $2000. On the bright side, that is LESS than ONE single ticket is going for for ONE single night. That is PRECISELY why I booked early. I paid just under $600 for 3 nights at the Hilton. The catch was that I had to pre-pay, it was non-refundable, and I had to book it MONTHS before tickets even went on SALE.

Good move. I have a friend who got a spare room if I'm able to score tickets, which will be very, very difficult. I do have 1 "special" friend who might make this happen though. An "old" timer in the business has come through for me every time so far. This is asking A LOT!

weekapaug19

In the opposite. Cousin scored me a 3 day pass, I just can't go. Oh well. I'm hoping for a webcast and not this movie theater crap I think is going to happen

Anybody else going to phils bday? Never been to the cap but can't wait

63schoefflin

Use AirBNB

kasedoug

Relix Mag is giving away tix here: http://prmo.me/gr9bub

63schoefflin

2 Cali dates added right before Chicago. Have fun West Coasters.

guacamolejoe

guacamolejoe said:

Isoworld13 said:

There are plenty of hotels in the area with availability. Unfortunately, 3 nights will cost over $2000. On the bright side, that is LESS than ONE single ticket is going for for ONE single night. That is PRECISELY why I booked early. I paid just under $600 for 3 nights at the Hilton. The catch was that I had to pre-pay, it was non-refundable, and I had to book it MONTHS before tickets even went on SALE.

Good move. I have a friend who got a spare room if I'm able to score tickets, which will be very, very difficult. I do have 1 "special" friend who might make this happen though. An "old" timer in the business has come through for me every time so far. This is asking A LOT!

My friend was able to score 2 tickets for each show in Chicago! Not the back-stage passes he has ALWAYS gotten for Dead shows but at least we're in the building. This coming July 4th weekend in Chicago is going to be one fantastic TRIP.

kasedoug

...and there's also a giveaway for all 5 nights of the webcast for those that want to save some $ and watch from the comfort of their home.

Enter for a chance to win all 5 nights of Fare Thee Well on PPV! 5 winners a week leading up to June 27th. #dead50 http://apps.voweldigital.com/dead/og/?u=18967