The surviving members of the Grateful Dead have announced two more farewell shows, in northern California, to precede what they still say are their final concerts in Chicago.
The new dates are June 27 and 28 in Levi's Stadium, in Santa Clara, Calif.
Grateful Dead 50 at Levi's Stadium with Trey Anastasio Bruce Hornsby Jeff Chimenti June 27 & 28. More info at... http://t.co/zpvrM4BSuW— Bob Weir (@BobWeir) April 10, 2015
The surviving members of the band, Bobby Weir, Phil Lesh, Mickey Hart and Billy Kreutzmann, will perform with Trey Anastasio, the lead guitarist for Phish, as well as Bruce Hornsby and Jeff Chimenti on keyboards.
In announcing the new shows, the band said they felt necessary to return to its Bay Area roots. "Since we made the decision to go back to Chicago to say our final goodbye," they said in a statement on its website, "it has become clear to us that we first need to return to our beginnings, where we first said hello — to each other and to all of you."
The band also insisted that no more shows would be announced. "We will not be adding any more Fare Thee Well shows. The three Chicago shows will still be our final stand. We decided to add these two Santa Clara shows to enable more of our fans to celebrate with us one more time. But this is it."
In announcing the new shows, the members of the Dead opened an online lottery for tickets, which is significantly more sophisticated than the old-school mail order system they used for the Chicago shows at Soldier Field. Fans have until Tuesday, April 14, at 11:59 p.m. ET to submit requests for tickets. The band said that all ticket requests "regardless of when they are placed," would be treated equally.
The band acknowledge that the huge demand for ticket sales for the Chicago shows came as something of a surprise. Many long-time fans were left empty-handed, while third-party ticket brokers advertised seats for $15,000 or more.