Wisconsin Town Revives the Dead

The Dead will live again after all. Now that concert promoter Clear Channel Entertainment has ponied up a $100,000 bond to cover the cost of added security, “Terrapin Station--A Grateful Dead Family Reunion” will take place Aug. 3 and 4 at the Alpine Valley Music Theatre in East Troy, Wis.

It will be the first time surviving Grateful Dead singer-guitarist Bob Weir, bassist Phil Lesh and drummers Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann have played together since guitarist and singer Jerry Garcia died in 1995. They will play as the Other Ones on a bill also including Weir’s band RatDog, Kreutzmann’s TriChromes, Hart’s band Bende Orisha, Phil Lesh & Friends and “lots of side bands,” according to Grateful Dead spokesman Dennis McNally.

Fans gobbled up all the tickets--somewhere between 60,000 and 70,000, according to Clear Channel--when they went on sale early in June, only to find out that the promoter didn’t have all the clearances it needed from municipal agencies. Officials in Walworth County, worried about a repeat of the overcrowding they said occurred at a 1989 appearance by the Dead at the same venue, initially threatened to pull the plug on the shows because they said Clear Channel hadn’t secured their permission before announcing the event.

Clear Channel and local police are warning fans not to show up hoping to buy tickets at the gate or to otherwise attempt to crash the party.

“Depending on how things go, there is every possibility of additional shows, lots of them,” McNally said. “I can’t confirm any specifics for after Aug. 4, but I can confirm that’s what is utterly critical for anyone who considers themselves Deadheads: If you don’t have a ticket, you simply can’t come. You won’t get within a mile of the facility without a ticket in your hand. That’s the promise we had to make. If you do show up without a ticket, you are a saboteur, and you are putting at risk our 30 years as a respecting community.”

Those who didn’t score tickets might find some solace with a new four-CD set arriving in stores Tuesday, “Steppin’ Out With the Grateful Dead--England ’72.” It contains two songs not included in previous Dead concert recordings: “Rockin’ Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu” and “Hey Bo Diddley.”

Grateful Dead trivia buffs will recognize “Steppin’ Out” as the working title of the 1972 live album eventually released as “Europe ‘72,” a three-LP set drawn from stops on the same tour. This year marks the 35th anniversary of the release of the band’s debut album, “The Grateful Dead.”