WE ARE GOING TO CHICAGO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So wait, you predicted that tickets to the last Dead-related shows were going to be tough to get? What a bold call.

You surely have amazing powers of prognostication. Quick, what are tonight's lottery numbers?

All jokes aside, I don't see how the Dead "dropped the ball" by hosting an event so popular that they are able to sell out a huge football stadium 3 times over. I'm sure most bands would LOVE to "drop the ball" is that way.

Good for you cfbedford! Enjoy the shows

I blame the CFR.

Have a great time cfbedford!

Congratulations to those who got tickets.

Was just thinking that instead of going through ticketmaster why couldn't they have done a lottery system for all the tickets. Something like have you send in your information and then they draw the winner for each show and you get a chance to purchase a certain number of tickets. I know this is similar to mail order but I'm suggesting all the information be sent online.

Here's my "prediction".
There will be lots of "dead related" music featuring former members right through the fall.
If Kimock does a tour with Weir and it's local, I'm going.
It just won't be the "core four".
But at this point, ask yourself.
Does it really matter?
The real "core" left us in 1995.

As someone who stood outside of Soldier Field without a ticket in the early 90s, I'm glad I'll get to see four of them come July.

But I'd trade it for that miracle I didn't get back then in a heartbeat.

I'm confirmed Deadhead , but musically speaking I find this reunion unappealing. I'd rather see Phil and Friends

My bold prediction: if fans do not succumb to scalpers (professional, Craigs List or on street corners) there will be a lot of "miracles" (low costing ones, at least) on the day of the shows.

Why do people complain about scalpers? In situations like this blame the band. 3 shows is a joke. They shouldn't of done anything at all. Ya I am more than a little miffed and it's certainly not at the scalpers.....

Does it really matter?
The real "core" left us in 1995.

X2

Does it really matter?
The real "core" left us in 1995.

X2

EGG ZAKK LEE

If they had done a real tour I might have tried to see them in NY state.

Maybe.

Not that interested in wott remains.

Saw Jerry enough times so I don't feel like I'm missing anything those still left here are doing.

Why do people complain about scalpers? In situations like this blame the band. 3 shows is a joke. They shouldn't of done anything at all. Ya I am more than a little miffed and it's certainly not at the scalpers.....

Ummm, because the scalpers are the main problem. People trying to make money off of something they have no right to make money off of is evil. In a recent poll of the most vile humans alive, scalpers came in 2nd right behind pedophiles and just above father-stabbers! 300+ dead shows and I paid cost or less for every one. And every ticket I sold was at cost or less. The only thing that compares are the idiots who pay the high costs and ruin it for everyone else.

Why do people complain about scalpers? In situations like this blame the band. 3 shows is a joke. They shouldn't of done anything at all. Ya I am more than a little miffed and it's certainly not at the scalpers.....

Ummm, because the scalpers are the main problem. People trying to make money off of something they have no right to make money off of is evil. In a recent poll of the most vile humans alive, scalpers came in 2nd right behind pedophiles and just above father-stabbers! 300+ dead shows and I paid cost or less for every one. And every ticket I sold was at cost or less. The only thing that compares are the idiots who pay the high costs and ruin it for everyone else.

Thank you, amyjared!

Yeah, if you're having difficulty getting these coveted "almost-Dead" tickets, you can take comfort in knowing that somewhere there a handful of ... opportunists who have many more than their fair and allotted share of these tickets waiting to take advantage of true and die-hard fans who will line up to pay obscene prices.

No, there's no reason to blame scalpers at all.

The main problem fans have with scalpers is that they get huge swaths of the first sale tickets by using unfair advantages like bot technology or deals with Ticketmaster. In 2009, Ticketmaster was setting aside thousands of prime seats for their TicketsNow secondary market company and selling them at a huge mark up. Fans that managed to get through to Bruce Springsteen sales were actually re-directed to the TicketsNow page for marked up prices BEFORE Ticketmaster had sold all of its tickets to the show! I have read in many of these situations that band and the promoters would also get a cut of the inflated prices (yes Virginia, even the bands are in on it.)
I think scalping is fine for many reasons (I can't go and need to get rid of a ticket, I want to get rink-side seats to take my kids to a Ranger game etc) but I DO have a problem when scalpers can get themselves more that 4, in fact thousands, of the best seats through hook and crook while the rest of us are left with a 1 in 100 shot of getting sh*tty seats.
I know of no one and have not seen ANY reports of ANYONE on the internet who managed to get even decent seats to GD50 via Ticketmaster on Saturday where StubHub and the like have stocks of them. That is B.S. There ought to be some proportion. Otherwise I really don't see it as evil.

Congratulations to those who got tickets.

Was just thinking that instead of going through ticketmaster why couldn't they have done a lottery system for all the tickets. Something like have you send in your information and then they draw the winner for each show and you get a chance to purchase a certain number of tickets. I know this is similar to mail order but I'm suggesting all the information be sent online.

TM has contracts with most venues that gives them the ticket sales. It has nothing to do with the band.

FYI, the band sets the price with the promoter, the promoter then determines the cost to put on the shows and adds margin (everyone gets to make a living), the ticket distributor then takes their piece. Yes the band and promoter and ticket distributor are all in game together trying to maximize profit, just like the rest of the world everyday. Simply this is a supply demand situation. Economics 101 folks. 3 shows x 40000 tix with millions wanting to go = high prices. If it is the last time, and you need to go, pay up and go....simple.

Kdick, are you saying that the band, promoter and ticket sellers - including "after market ticket sellers" (StubHub, TicketsNow et al) are all involved in all phases of ticket sales and distribution? If this is the case, why don't they go ahead and set face prices of $400 - $500 for the fairly generic and routine seats (balconies, etc)? That would at least seem honest on their behalf and to the fans.

Please keep in mind that I'm only asking. This is a serious inquiry.

[Edited on 3/2/2015 by Rusty]

Rusty, I have been around all these various levels for years and at the end of the day, the band is the ultimate in blame. As far as setting the prices higher as you mention for shows like this all it would do is increase prices further that the re-sellers would ask for. Shows like this like the O2 Zep show, the last Brothers show etc all have exponential demand and limited supply. Think of it this way, The Dead play 3 shows in one city for 120000 people or do 12 sheds in 12 cities for 10000 each. Much cheaper for the band therefore higher margins, like the Brothers Beacon runs. All are collusive, always have been always will be. Have a look at what Kid Rock is doing again this summer - $25 tickets. He is the one with the decision, he will make less as far as guarantee goes, I will say however that merch sales on his last tour that he did this were 2 to 3 times higher than normal. Fans got some more $ in their jeans, they will buy a shirt. He's just not as greedy - simple

TicketsNow is the resale arm of Ticketmaster. StubHub is essentially the eBay of tickets (they are owned by eBay), they take a percentage cut of the sale value. If you have an issue with a price on StubHub, then you have an issue with the seller. StubHub is just the middleman.

I tried for an hour on Saturday morning to no avail, but I'm not angry. Demand FAR exceeded supply for this event. The only way everyone would have been happy would be if Soldier Field has a seating capacity of 1 million.

Our friend got 4 tickets to each of the three shows via GDTS TOO.

Everybody else we know got nada, us included.

Hope those that go have a grate time.

TicketsNow is the resale arm of Ticketmaster. StubHub is essentially the eBay of tickets (they are owned by eBay), they take a percentage cut of the sale value. If you have an issue with a price on StubHub, then you have an issue with the seller. StubHub is just the middleman.

I tried for an hour on Saturday morning to no avail, but I'm not angry. Demand FAR exceeded supply for this event. The only way everyone would have been happy would be if Soldier Field has a seating capacity of 1 million.

As Kdick said, the bands are often in cahoots with StubHub and other resellers. IE they give tickets directly to them. Someone posted an interview with an ex employee of the European version of Stub Hub where he talked about this... it was very informative.

This situation was a bit different from others, because demand really was more than the supply. But often, the scalpers ability to get tickets is what creates the demand. If more good tickets were available to fans there would be less of a demand for after-market tickets.

If this is the case, why don't they go ahead and set face prices of $400 - $500 for the fairly generic and routine seats (balconies, etc)?

Because regular people won't pay advertised prices that high...until the frenzy builds and they just HAVE to be there!
Once they get caught up in the "I have to be there" mentality, then whatever needs to be done in order to say "I was there" and get that selfie with the band behind them, will be done.
No matter the cost! 😮

Hope that helps.

There are conservatively 75k tickets ( place hold 61k and add the field ) against 300,000 requests made ( and those are just the ones thru Ticketmaster I believe ) according to the Tribune.

Even if you eliminated all the holdbacks and special allotments to the "scalpers", you still wouldn't come remotely close to meeting demand, so can we stop with the scalper scapegoating already? You take them out of the equation and you still have 100's of thousands of disappointed fans.

100K or more are going to show up without tickets.........its gonna be a zoo.

Sometimes I have to wonder at how bands like the ABB and Dead are managed. They succeeded despite of themselves.

Just play more nights. The demand is there and it isn't like they haven't played together over the years. No travel costs and tickets that would sell immediately. If you are saying goodbye then why not say goodbye to as many as possible and make a killing? There is no reason not to.

The Zeppelin thing was different as they hadn't really played together and it was a one off. Regardless of what they called it - these guys have played and toured.

for one thing Phil has a contract with the guy at the Capitol

Sometimes I have to wonder at how bands like the ABB and Dead are managed. They succeeded despite of themselves.

Just play more nights. The demand is there and it isn't like they haven't played together over the years. No travel costs and tickets that would sell immediately. If you are saying goodbye then why not say goodbye to as many as possible and make a killing? There is no reason not to.

The Zeppelin thing was different as they hadn't really played together and it was a one off. Regardless of what they called it - these guys have played and toured.

CM, I totally agree with your second point about simply adding more shows. In fact, my wife asked me this very question this morning when she saw what tickets are going for here. I totally agree. Take one night off and play three more nights. There is nothing else going on then at Soldier Field anyway so that wouldn't be an issue. I still think demand would exceed supply, but not to the extent that it apparently has.

Regarding your first comment on management, I think you are spot on for the ABB. But for The Grateful Dead, I respectively disagree. They have been marketing GENIUSES! They are a marketing machine. God, they sell everything. I think Warren is on the same path.

Sometimes I have to wonder at how bands like the ABB and Dead are managed. They succeeded despite of themselves.

Just play more nights. The demand is there and it isn't like they haven't played together over the years. No travel costs and tickets that would sell immediately. If you are saying goodbye then why not say goodbye to as many as possible and make a killing? There is no reason not to.

The Zeppelin thing was different as they hadn't really played together and it was a one off. Regardless of what they called it - these guys have played and toured.

We all know how the ABB handled the live webcast/DVD and commercial release of the last show. With such demand, if the Dead 's management gets it together, they can do all the things the ABB management let slip through their fingers.

Lee, they can't play three more nights..
Jay Cutler will be practicing bonding with his teammates