Grateful Dead goes out on a high
Arts & Entertainment // Music & Nightlife
Aidin Vaziri June 17, 2015 Updated: June 23, 2015 11:35 p.m.
1of4Grateful Dead members Mickey Hart Jerry Garcia and Bob Weir (l to r) inside recording studio Photo taken 12/12/1985 Photo ran 12/22/1985, P. 20Photo: Tom Levy, The Chronicle
2of4circa 1965: American psychedelic rock band The Grateful Dead poses on Haight-Ashbury, San Francisco, California, 1960s. Left to right, Bill Kreutzmann, Bob Weir, Ron 'Pigpen' McKernan (1946 - 1973), Jerry Garcia (1942 - 1995) and Phil Lesh. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)Photo: Hulton Archive, Getty Images
3of4"The Warlocks," who would later rename their band "The Grateful Dead," perform a show in 1965.Photo: Paul Ryan, Michael Ochs Archives/Getty
4of4Grateful Dead show September 1980 Jerry GarciaPhoto: Mike Maloney, The Chronicle
It's hard to explain how the Grateful Dead became the summer's hottest concert ticket 20 years after the death of Jerry Garcia. But with a handful of "Fare Thee Well" shows marking the band's 50th anniversary (two at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara on June 27 and 28; three dates in Chicago over the July 4 weekend), the core four members — percussionist Mickey Hart, guitarist Bob Weir, bassist Phil Lesh and percussionist Bill Kreutzmann — will close the chapter on one of rock 'n' roll's most storied acts in grand style.
From a band of Bay Area misfits who instigated a major cultural movement in the Haight-Ashbury to stadium rock behemoths who became a top concert draw by the time they initially split up in 1995, drawing more than $50 million in ticket sales annually, there are no half measures with the Dead.
They are either loved or reviled.
To Deadheads who spent 30 years following the band from the pizza parlor in Menlo Park where they first performed as the Warlocks and the acid-test festivals thrown by Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters to MTV stardom and points around the world, they symbolized the creative and cultural freedom of another era. Their improvised, free-form sets could sprawl for hours, but the fandom never wavered — the people in the audience were always there to absorb every note, every climax, every bad trip.
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Of all the seminal bands to come out of San Francisco in the '60s — the Jefferson Airplane, Sly and the Family Stone, Big Brother and the Holding Company — only the Dead burned bright into the '90s, influencing bands such as Phish, Vampire Weekend and Animal Collective.
When it comes to the Dead, the late rock promoter Bill Graham put it best: "They're not the best at what they do — they're the only ones who do what they do."
New divisions
The reunion shows have cast entirely new divisions among Deadheads. To some, calling the current lineup the Grateful Dead is something close to blasphemy. Garcia was more than a singer or guitar player or icon — he represented the soul of the band. With Phish's Trey Anastasio, pianist Bruce Hornsby and keyboardist Jeff Chimenti filling in at the farewell concerts, a few alternate monikers are floating around: Almost Dead, Walking Dead, Not Quite Dead, Dead Phish, etc. Others are repulsed by the whiff of greed around the whole enterprise.
But there are still just as many people who are devoted to the group, whatever you want to call it. On StubHub, the secondary ticket market, tickets for the Santa Clara shows are going for as much as $115,000. Fans will pay $60 just for the privilege of parking at the shows. Then again, it's hard to put a price tag on the sense of exuberance, joy and celebration the guys onstage will bring to their enduring followers.
"This is a peak moment," Hart told us. "It borders on the miraculous — that we actually get to play and people still want to hear us."
Aidin Vaziri is The San Francisco Chronicle's pop music critic. E-mail: avaziri@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @MusicSF
Grateful Dead: 7 p.m. Saturday, June 27, 6 p.m. Sunday, June 28. Sold out. Levi's Stadium, 4900 Marie P. DeBartolo Way, Santa Clara. www.dead50.net.
Aidin Vaziri
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Aidin Vaziri is the pop music critic for The San Francisco Chronicle. He interviews artists, reviews concerts, reports on emerging trends on the local scene, covers festivals and keeps an ear out for new music. He has written for Rolling Stone, National Geographic, MTV, Vibe, Amazon and other outlets.
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