On this Hump Day Edition of The Official Home Of Unofficial Grateful Dead News, I’m hoping we’re over the Mail Order Hump. The kind souls at the GDTS TOO office have been churning out heartbreak like ten seasons of The Bachelor. Computer keyboards have been salted like Dodge Durangos in Boston this month as tears fall down the faces of once hopeful fans. All I’ve been seeing for weeks is pictures of thousands of dollars of money orders and the dreaded letter that’s become the equivalent of bad test results at the free clinic following Summer Tour, 88. All of the groveling is a little confusing to me. Any time I got my money back from a Dead Head, it was a major fuckin victory, totally unexpected as well. Last time I sent that dude, “Moon Beam” $2500 in the Spring of 90, he disappeared quicker than virginity at High School Proms. Everyone getting your money back, Be very grateful!

Meanwhile, thousands of fans have already declared themselves as not being able to get tickets 2 weeks BEFORE they even go on sale. Guess what? NOBODY has any tickets yet. I see one more screen shot of StubHub and I’m breaking the internet. The best way to have a lot of cheap tickets enter the marketplace eventually would be for everyone to stay away from StubHub altogether until June 30th. If nobody went back there until June 30th, all the tickets there would be half price.

A great article appeared in Rolling Stone that made a few things really clear. The first and most obvious thing being, if you have a problem with Trey, you might be a douche. He certainly isn’t. Nobody is required to enjoy any particular type of music but it’s clear his respect for his current duty far outweighs the respect he’s been given my many in the community he’s preparing to serve. Take the Phish stick out of your ass and lighten up. This isn’t about Phish… Your favorite musicians unanimously chose him. Treyoncé is truly Destiny’s Child!

I’ve seen a bunch of posts about the safety of Chicago. Are you kidding me??? Didn’t we spend decades of our lives passing through every major city in the world at least 2 or 3 times a year? Is it just me or was I FAR more likely to put my life in jeopardy 25 years ago than I do today? Not only did I visit every major city in the world but for a decade I made it a point to visit every major city’s darkest and most dangerous damn neighborhoods intentionally. I stayed in dive hotels and places I wouldn’t have to consider staying today. At times I slept in my car or in Parks.  Am I the only one that walked the streets of Oakland in an absolute stupor all hours of the night and well into the morning? Have people really become that soft all of a sudden? What the hell happened to the people I traveled the country with all those years? Weren’t you one of them?

All too often I see the posts declaring all the things that Jerry would do and say if he was still with us. They all come from people that don’t know Garcia at all. You can go to the circus all you want but it doesn’t mean you have a clue how any of the animals really feel about it. The kids seem happy though. We don’t have to wonder what Garcia would say, he spent 30 years telling us what he had to say. He said it all rolls into one and nothing comes for free. He said everybody wants something they might not get. He said that the more that you give the more it will take. He knew regardless of what he gave, everybody always demanded more. He said it’s even worse than it appears but it’s alright. Sometimes he’d let you know, there’s just the pavement left, and broken dreams.  When you really wanted to know what Garcia had to say you’d spend a week at The Warfield and he’d tell you what he had to say in a deeply profound way. He’d let you know he’s done more for you than your daddy ever done. He’d open up his soul and let you know about being a hunter that gets captured by the game. He realized at times it was Money Honey if you wanna get along with me. You know what Jerry might say? He might say, “I know you’re dissatisfied with your position and your place. Don’t you understand, It’s not my problem?!?!?!” He very well might see what’s out there and say, “I wish that for just one time you could stand inside my shoes…. You’d know what a drag it is to see you!” That’s back before you could google song lyrics to find their supposed intellectual meaning and instead they meant exactly what they were supposed to mean to us at the time they were delivered.

Anybody that’s been around this scene for any length of time should understand that those that continuously contribute to the community in a meaningful and positive way spend show time inside the venue. Those that give for the sake of giving without any preconceived expectation of return, always receive far beyond their level of expectation according to default settings placed in the universe long ago. Those that always want something for nothing often receive nothing because nothing is certainly the something they contribute and nothing is what they deserve. In roughly 450 Shows I attended between The Grateful Dead and JGB over the years, I had tickets in advance for about 4 of them. Not only am I certain I’ll spend 3 nights inside of Soldier Field celebrating the community that helped shape my life, I’m certain I’ll find at least a couple of extras to give to the winners of my dance competition.

C’mon, Lets Boogie Y’all!!! Enter my “Oh Think You Can Dance?” Competition for a chance to win a ticket to one of the shows in Chicago. Send a 1 minute clip showcasing your best dance moves to [email protected] for your chance to win!

You can follow the competiton and vote for your favorites here:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCR3u0e7WM2-UW2v0yFAt4WA

Your best chance of being on the inside in Chicago is by being the person you’d give a ticket to if you had one. Ask yourself, Would you give a ticket to you if you had one to give based on your daily contributions to the scene?

End of rant… More Comedy Next time… Stay tuned…

Gratefully Deadicated,
Dean Sottile (pronounced SoTilly)

www.gratefuldean.com
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