Grateful Dead Reunion Concert...August...Alpine Valley!

Cafe Society
1

Well, it’s finally happening:
"Terrapin Station – A Grateful Dead Family Reunion" will mark the first time Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzmann, Phil Lesh and Bob Weir have performed together since the death of Jerry Garcia, the Dead’s leader and founder. Garcia died in 1995 of a heart attack.(AP)

They’ll be playing at Alpine Valley Music Theater (East Troy, WI) on August 3rd & 4th.

I think it’s great that they’ll all be playing together again. But I’m baffled as to why they’re playing in the Midwest of all places. I’m not complaining, since I live only 2 hours from Alpine; but I would think that the West Coast…San Fransisco–would be more appropriate for their one and only reunion.

Tickets go on sale through GDTS TOOon Thursday, May 23 and will be available through Ticketmaster starting on June 6th. But better act fast, I bet these tickets will go fast!

Anyone want to meet up at Alpine for a DeadDope Fest?

2

Hate to disappoint you, but it will be the third time. They performed two nights together at Shoreline during the Other Ones tour. I caught the night they did not play Dark Star, but Billy was definitely there.

3

The Dead has played Alpine many times. It’s not like it’s unusual or out of the way, granted it’s not SF, but…

Plus, Alpine doesn’t have the full schedule like they did many years ago. Getting a date there probably wasn’t too hard. They allow camping too, at least they used to.

I’ll have to see what I’m doing those days, it would be great. It’ll be a sellout that’s for sure. Great place to watch people there.

4

My sister is a much bigger DeadHead than me, and she questioned this too. The only reason I said it would be the first time they’ve all performed together, is because I got that directly out of the AP article. Probably just hype…

**
Yeah, of course the Dead have played Alpine many times. But still, it’s not like it’s the best outdoor ampitheater in the country. And it just doesn’t jump out as the first place you’d think they’d hold their biggest show in over ten years! I dunno…maybe it’s because Jerry played his last show in Chicago or something…

5

Damn, being 16 and listening to this kind of music can really suck some times. I’ll find a way to get there though, and if not I’ll at least get to see Phil and Friend a week before.

6

Phil Lesh and Friends played a show with Rat Dog at Nissasn pavilion a while back. Big jam at the end of the show. Good stuff.

Spritle, who is totally unable to make it to Alpine but will put first dibs on a trading tape.

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Alpine makes for a perfect day if you stay at the lodge: 18 holes in the morning, lounging by the pool in the afternoon, mind-blowing jams in the night.

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Phil Lesh and Friends and The Allman Brothers will be at Marcus during summerfest right before then, I got my tickets for that show.

9

Golf and the Grateful Dead on the same day? Okay, consider MY mind blown.

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So…anway, like I was saying…I forgot my clubs, right, and was thinking, Well, what can I use? Like, I need my clubs to play golf with, right? I mean, it was sort of like the time I lost my ticket to the Cap Cener…you remember…the night they broke out Black Throated Wind…yeah, broke wind…ha, ha, ha… say, could you give me a hit off that? Thanks…let’s not forget to get some beer for the cooler…there isn’t anything better after a few holes than to burn one on the front nine, drink a few beers, I always play better when I’m good and relaxed…so, anyway…yeah, right, about that lost tickent…we were in Alexandria and and this public service announcement comes on it is, like, Jerry and Bob and they’re saying “Don’t come to the show without your tickent, you’re just ruining it for everyone else,”…and I’m, like, “Well, man, I"ve got my ticket. Does everyone have their tickets?” And Joe, you remember Joe, right, the guy who sold me that really nice Burton tour bag with the green head covers…No, that was Jerry, his brother…yeah, right…Joe, that I worked with at the restaurant…anyway, where was I…oh, yeah,…the lost ticket…and so, like, everyone’s reaching in their pockets and pulling out their tickets and I reach in my pocket and, SHIT! Man…no ticket! I"ve lost my fuckin ticket! But we’re, like in Alexandria, and it is way too far to go back to Richmond and look for the damn thing, and I know I’m not going to find another, well, maybe I will, but I’ll have to pay throught the nose… And just then the mushrooms kicked in really good and hard and I’m starting to have a really difficult time maintaining…no, I don’t have the bottle opener, I gave it to you when we stopped to buy balls…say have you tried those new Maxflies? They’re some really good balls…sometimes you can get XXXed out balls at a discount…no, I’m sure I don’t have the opener. Anyway, so, hey, let’s grab a pack of smokes while we’re waiting…Yeah, just run into the pro shop…there’s always a cigarette machine in a pro shop…you know, I say Jack Nicklaus smoking a cigarette once, and Arnold Palmer gave me a light one time…Wouldnt’ that be far out…you’re about to fire one up on the back nine and you have to ask Arnie to give you a light…'Hey, Arnie, got a match?" That’d be too cool. Hey, man, watch where your’re stepping…those spikes hurt. You know they’re not going to let you on the course with those metal spikes…No, I didn’t bring mine. Lost 'em. YOu know, “Lost my shoes in transit, baby, a pile of smoking leather…” “Across the Rio Grande-O,” Hey, man, the marshall just called us up -you ready to tee off?

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Disclaimer:[ul][]Chemical assistance recommended.[]Professional driver on closed course.If Happy Fun Ball begins to smoke, get away immediately. Seek shelter and cover head.[/ul]

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Q:What could possibly be worse than going to a concert at Alpine?
A: Going to a Dead concert at Alpine.

Last time I graced that shit hole was to see the Dead some time around 85, with the newly minted Mrs. D. Damn, but I should have taken her execrable taste in music as a warning!

If they are playing Alpine on Aug 3-4, I suggest Labor Day as the over/under for the last car getting out of the parking lot.

Helpful hint for the inexperienced. To make time you can just fly along the state roads in Wisconsin. All of the local communities cooperate by placing a moratorium on the issuance of speeding on days of big concerts.

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Um - “issuance of speeding tickets.”

In actuality - they helpfully accept plastic.

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And that’s if it doesn’t rain that weekend! :stuck_out_tongue:

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I will be attending this event, even though parking at Alpine is the worst. Going to the Phil and Friends/Allmans June 28th at Summerfest, too, maybe we’ll get a preview!

Does anyone else find it odd that Alpine Valley is the venue for this concert? They banned the Dead from performing there in like '86 or 87. Maybe their beef was just with Jerry?

16

Well August West, you seem to hit it on the head. They didn’t get a permit for the location, not surprising. :frowning: East Troy is so paranoid.

http://www.channel3000.com/news/1507113/detail.html

17

^^^^ Canceled!??!??!

I can’t freakin’ believe it! A sold-out show…and the county denies it a permit because the crowd will be too big?

My god…The Who, The Rolling Stones, Phish, Phil Lesh & Friend have all played Alpine Valley–with no problems. Boy, Walworth County really must have a vendetta against Deadheads.

So…any speculation as to a replacement venue? The concert was sold-out…I can’t see them cancelling it outright. Deer Creek is a comparable venue…plus it’s still in the midwest…but they might not have any available dates in August.

Seems as though the members of the group really do have their hearts set on playing somewhere close to Chicago. Originally they wanted to play at Grant Park–Chicago’s huge lakefront park…but the Chicago Park District nixed that idea.

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Heck, everyone has a vendetta of some sort against Deadheads, it seems. Cities have no problem with rap concerts, punk bands, heavy metal, and so forth, but the Deadheads are unwelcome. Ok, so this is an unfair generalization, but if you polled 20 people on the street: “Deadheads: Harmful or harmless to a community?” you’d get a lot of “harmful” answers, I’ll wager. People think of Dead shows, they think of rampant drug use (ignoring the fact that it happens at pretty much every concert, except maybe Debby Boone), violence, mayhem, and general disorderliness. That and the fact that people followed the Dead from venue to venue back in the day, which meant there were plenty of people camping out at the venue. But there’s an easy fix for this - ban camping, as many cities did do (I believe Philadelphia banned camping at the Spectrum/First Union Center). Besides, this is a one-shot concert, not a whole tour.

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I think you hit the nail on the head…
:frowning:

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http://www.jsonline.com/onwisconsin/music/jun02/55366.asp

It’s bacccccccccccck. Clear Channel bent over backwards and it’s back on.

Though they’re still worried about the hordes of Deadheads that will descend on East Troy. Sheesh!