Grateful Dead add two more farewell shows

The Grateful Dead have announced two more farewell shows but insist there will be no more.

Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzmann, Phil Lesh and Bob Weir previously announced three Fare Thee Well dates at Chicago’s Soldier Field on the weekend of July 3, 4 and 5.

But with the cost of tickets soaring on the secondary market, they’ve added two concerts at Levi’s Stadium, Santa Clara, California on June 27 and 28.

The band say in an open letter to fans: “Since we made the decision to go back to Chicago to say our final goodbye, it has become clear to us that we first need to return to our beginnings, where we first said hello – to each other and to all of you.

“We have tried to do the right thing wherever we could for the Chicago shows by honouring the roots of where we came from, while dealing with the realities of the current times. But that’s hardly comforting when you’re shit outta luck for tickets and your only option is inflated prices on secondary ticketing websites. That would piss us off too.”

They add: “We will not be adding any more Fare Thee Well shows. The three Chicago shows will still be our final stand. We decided to add these two Santa Clara shows to enable more of our fans to celebrate with us one more time. But this is it.”

They’ll be joined for the run of dates by Trey Anastasio, Jeff Chimenti and Bruce Hornsby.

Last month, the band’s lyricist Robert Hunter recalled being “alarmed” by Jerry Garcia’s kind words in the days leading up to the mainman’s death in 1995.

Scott has spent 37 years in newspapers, magazines and online as an editor, production editor, sub-editor, designer, writer and reviewer. Scott joined our news desk in 2014 before moving into e-commerce in 2020. Scott maintains Louder’s buyer’s guides, highlights deals, and reviews headphones, speakers, earplugs and more. Over the last 12 years, Scott has written more than 11,500 articles across Louder, Classic Rock, Metal Hammer and Prog. He's previously written for publications including IGN, Sunday Mirror, Daily Record and The Herald, covering everything from news and features, to tech reviews, video games, travel and whisky. Scott's favourite bands are Fields Of The Nephilim, The Cure, New Model Army, All About Eve, The Mission, Cocteau Twins, Drab Majesty, Marillion and Rush.