Tickets for Grateful Dead reunion shows being scalped for $15,000
According to Stubhub, "This is definitely the biggest concert. By far. By far."
BY BEN KAYEON MARCH 02, 2015, 10:35AM
Consequence of Sound
Deadheads everywhere rejoiced back in January when the Grateful Dead announced three shows to celebrate the band’s 50th anniversary. If they didn’t manage to snag tickets for the July concerts at Chicago’s Soldier Field, however, StubHub has them singing a different tune. Available tickets on the popular online reseller are going for upwards of $15,000.
Of course, those are some of the more ridiculous listings (there’s even a few listed at $35,000, because jack-asses). But even realistically, the cheapest you could get on the July 4th show would be $630, and that’s for a seat with no view. If you wanted to see the stage, expect to pay well over $900, and for GA, you’ll absolutely spend over $1,500. Three-day passes start at $1,295, and get up into the $8,000 range.
For the more financially conservative crowd, there’s always the option of buying a parking pass and simply tailgating the show. You’ll get some of the gathering vibes and still be able to hear the music. Those will only cost you something like $200. To park your car. Outside of the venue.
The modern resale systems seem to be playing out as usual, jacking up prices and paying into greedy resellers, despite the fact that the Dead had implemented an old-fashioned pre-sale scheme. Fans could mail in a No. 10 envelope with their order to get a jump on scalpers. After the Dead50.net ticketing team reportedly received over 60,000 envelopes, many of which were decorated ornately, stuffed with almost 400,000 ticket requests, they were forced to push back the general Ticketmaster sale by a full two weeks.
Still, thousands of the mailed-in pre-orders were rejected, and there was another hiccup, due to the venue. Chicago Bears season-ticket holders actually got the first shot at tickets as per terms of their contract with Soldier Field and the ball club. Some speculate that many football fans snatched up tickets with no intention of attending, knowing how hot they would be on the aftermarket.
“I’ve been doing this nine years, and I would say this is going to be the biggest one I’ve seen,” an unnamed StubHub agent told Mashable. “The Super Bowl is always going to be bigger than anything. But this is definitely the biggest concert. By far. By far.”
It’s not exactly surprising that the events are such a big deal to Deadheads and music fans alike. “These will be the last shows with the four of us together,” Bob Weir said when the shows were announced, referring to his surviving bandmates Phil Lesh, Mickey Hart, and Bill Kreutzmann. Joining the original members will be Phish’s Trey Anastasio filling in for Jerry Garcia, ’90s Dead member Bruce Hornsby, and Jeff Chimenti, keyboardist from Weir’s RatDog.
"Do not write so that you can be understood, write so that you cannot be misunderstood." -Epictetus
First show: 8/16/69 (Woodstock)
Last show: 3/19/95 (Unbroken Chain breakout)
Member of the Four-Decade Club
Charter Member, President & CEO of OAD (Order of the Ancient Deadheads)