Three Grateful Dead Stars Team Up With John Mayer for New Tour
Three of the four "core" Grateful Dead members have decided that this summer's five "Fare Thee Well" shows weren't the end of their time together after all.
Bob Weir, Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann will team up with "Your Body Is a Wonderland" singer and guitarist John Mayer under the name Dead & Company, and hit the road starting Oct. 31 at New York's Madison Square Garden. Dead bassist Phil Lesh will not be joining this tour, choosing instead to continue with his own group, Phil and Friends.
"Those songs weren't done with us," Weir explained to Billboard. "It was a matter of who wanted to get back out on the road and keep doing it." Mayer has been jamming with various Dead members since March in preparation for this possibility, and Weir says the young star's excitement for this collaboration "was the cherry on the sundae that made this project look like a good idea."
No further dates have been set beyond the NYC Halloween show as of yet – Weir notes that "It's kind of late in the year to put together a tour, but we're gonna try" – but it looks like the band is determined to keep costs lower after hearing from fans who were unhappy about the high "Fare Thee Well" ticket prices. Top-tier seats will reportedly sell for less than $100, and a $50 ticket (we're not sure how literally they mean that, but presumably there will be more than one) will be made available in honor of the band's 50th anniversary. Tickets for the MSG show go on sale Aug. 14, unless you're that special American Express-holding kind of hippie, in which case you can make your purchase four days earlier.
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