The rumor had been going around for a while, so I suppose it wasn’t an incredible shock to hear that the four surviving members [1] of the Grateful Dead were playing together for one three show run in Soldier Field. Add Trey Anastasio and Bruce Hornsby, and you would think that I would be excited. Having seen the Grateful Dead and Phish a combined 400 times, a farewell to the Dead with a member of Phish has appeal, but pricing the trip and seeing how there wouldn’t be a way for doing it under $1500-2000, I figured I’d let it go. Fun idea, but probably not worth that much money to me. I figured that would be a somewhat standard reaction but instead people went absolutely nuts for it. When there’s that kind of disconnect, that always makes me want to look at my reaction closer to try to figure out what is going on.

My disinterest [2] mainly came from two areas. The first is simply that football stadiums are never really a great place to see concerts. Unless you’re lucky enough to be up close, you’ll largely be watching on the video screens. If you find yourself in the upper deck, you could actually be so far away that the light from the screen gets to you a second or two before the sound does. I experienced that at RFK in 1993. The effect was amusing but didn’t make me feel like I was part of the concert. Still, there are events worthy of dealing with a crowd of that size. While the venue played a hand, the real culprit for me was familiarity.

One of the ways that an all-star lineup becomes fascinating is to see how the players will interact. The thing is though that we’ve seen many combinations of these players since Jerry’s death. Between The Dead, The Other Ones, and Furthur, we definitely have a sense of how they interact in a post-Jerry world. Even the Trey factor lost a little of its excitement due to the sheer number of times he’s performed with Phil. I don’t have to spend these next months trying to picture how Trey would sound in this lineup. I can just go to archive.org and listen.

That’s one side. The flip is why others are so incredibly excited over this lineup. I wanted to take people aside and ask them, but that’s never a good thing to do. Even if the goal is for their fascination to infect you and get you giddy over the event, there’s always the chance that jadedness can be contagious. You never want to take away someone’s bliss.

It was only with today’s announcement about the change in ticketing policies that it clicked. Grateful Dead Tickets received so many mail order requests that they had to kill a pre sale and delay the official on sale date. The old mail order process was (and still is) such a time consuming process, one where you have to check, double check, and triple check your order lest you mess up one little rule. You have to have cash in advance to invest in tickets, cash that will be kept on hold until you either receive tickets or have the money orders returned. There is a long delay between the time when you send the order and when you find out the results. It’s a very 20th century solution, yet people decorated their envelopes and bought their 3×5 index cards and made sure to get their order hand canceled by a postal clerk.

While that sounds like nostalgia, it’s really more than that. There was a time when getting your mail order correct was the most important thing ever. Sure it took multiple calls (and many busy signals) to the Grateful Dead Hotline to get the ticket prices right and to make sure this time it was PO Box C (as in cigar) S (as in Sam) 8150 or 8190. Yes, it was stressful but that made the arrival of the colorful cardboard that much more rewarding. It wasn’t just a purchase it was a ritual. The fact that so many people went through the process again showed what was going on. Most of the time when people travel for music, it’s because the music is so powerful that they can’t imagine not being there. This time is different though. It’s not about the moment that’s happening as much as the moments that have passed

It’s not often that we get a chance to say goodbye to a band and know that it really will be the end. Barring a death, no one really believes a farewell tour anymore. This one feels different though. Between the age of the band members, the rumors of fighting among them, and the fact that it has been a few years since they’ve all played together, this very well could be the final time all four play together again. Sure this show might be more about the music that existed decades before than what will be created over the weekend, but it’s not about nostalgia as much as paying homage. This band, this music, it’s in our blood. If this is indeed the last time this many original band members will play together, if there’s one last chance to celebrate the years of music they have brought us, well maybe a little travel does make sense.

A little under twenty years ago, I saw my final Dead show at Seattle’s Memorial Stadium. It was a stunning 80-degree day, the sun was out, and Jerry was on. There was a Help>Slip>Franklin’s and a Scarlet > Fire. During Stella Blue, a flock of birds flew overhead in a perfect V formation as Jerry sang, “It seemed like all this life was just a dream.” I didn’t know that would be my last time seeing Gsrcia perform, but if I had to see a final show, that was a perfect one to have. Unfortunately the rest of that tour didn’t go as smoothly. There were death threats and meandering playing, deadly rainstorms and conflicts between the crowd and police. Going back to where the disaster tour ended and putting on one last run there – this isn’t a concert; it’s closure. For those who never saw the full band, for those whose runs ended badly or just too soon, for those who want to celebrate the joy that was given one more time, let me wish you all the best in your quest for tickets. Finality is always bittersweet, but take a moment to reflect on the amazing songs we’ve been lucky enough to have in our lives and then dance to them once more.

[1] Well those that were still in the band at the end of their career. While it can be hard to define in technical terms what their role is, these four people were definitely in the Dead longer than Donna or Tom Constanten.

[2] Well relative disinterest. If this were local, I would be going without question. Even if it were in the Bay Area or Denver, I would still be trying to make it. It does seem weird to feel like I’m mocking an event by not being willing to fly halfway across the continent to attend it, but that’s how jambands work.

*****

David Steinberg got his Masters Degree in mathematics from New Mexico State University in 1994. He first discovered the power of live music at the Capital Centre in 1988 and never has been the same. His Phish stats website is at http://www.ihoz.com/PhishStats.html and he’s on the board of directors for The Mockingbird Foundation. He now tweets and has a daily update on the Phish Stats Facebook page

His book This Has All Been Wonderful is available on Amazon, the Kindle Store, and his Create Space store.