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Grateful Dead announce two more ‘Fare Thee Well’ shows in California

The Grateful Dead, seen here in 2002, will play two shows at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif.

The Grateful Dead, seen here in 2002, will play two shows at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif.

(Scott Strazzante / Chicago Tribune)
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West Coast Grateful Dead fans, your miracle ticket may well be on its way. Faced with overwhelming demand for what’s been billed as the last run of shows together for surviving Grateful Dead members Phil Lesh, Bill Kreutzmann, Mickey Hart and Bob Weir at Chicago’s Soldier Field, the band has announced a pair of shows scheduled for June 27 and 28 at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif.

The news of the shows in the Bay Area, where the Dead formed 50 years ago, contradicts the word from the band’s concert promoter Peter Shapiro, who told the Chicago Tribune’s Greg Kot when he asked about the possibility for more shows, “I’m not going to go there. There’s no extra dates planned. For Chicago or anywhere else.”

Slated for July 3-5, the Grateful Dead’s Soldier Field shows continue to be the final performances for the group, which disbanded after the 1995 death of guitarist and founding member Jerry Garcia. Passes sold out quickly on Ticketmaster and are fetching more than $300 apiece on secondary markets. The band’s own mail-order ticket service, which it used in its earliest days together, received more than 60,000 requests.

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“None of us anticipated the overwhelming outpouring of love and interest following our initial announcement of the shows at Soldier Field, and we were blown away by the response,” wrote the members of the band in a joint statement released this afternoon. The band has also introduced its own online ticket request service, which is available at Dead50.com until Tuesday, April 14; who gets tickets will be determined via random selection.

Just as scheduled for the Chicago peformances, the Grateful Dead’s California homecoming shows will also feature Phish’s Trey Anastasio along with keyboardists Jeff Chimenti and Bruce Hornsby. Deadheads, adjust your summer vacation plans accordingly.

Want to read more but in 140-character bursts? Follow me over @chrisbarton.

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