Tag Archives: GDTS TOO

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In a questionable move fueled by something other than good will, those who received their tickets by mail this week were met with surprise and suspicion when the pricing levels and seating charts mysteriously changed AFTER all their money orders were cashed. People that have called me an apologist for the band and/or the promoter will love this article. I just write about things as honestly as I see them and whoever made this decision needs to be reacquainted with the Great Equalizer. I’m a Dead Head first and foremost and try to be a voice for us, not anyone else. The Dead and its affiliates have NEVER given me anything for nothing, I’ve ALWAYS paid my own way.

Prior to being aware of the demand for the Chicago Fare Thee Well Shows, widely published seating charts on The Dead’s site looked like this.

seating-chart

THIS was the chart that all of the people who sent in for Mail Order were sending their money for. THIS is what the deal was when people sent money orders to GDTSTOO.

After the unexpected deluge of requests came in from the mail order, it was announced that the floor was being opened up to all GA as opposed to reserve seating to accommodate more people which seemed like a kind and generous thing to do. The seating charts were then changed to something like this.

Seating#2

Take note, 300 Level seats are still $79.50 or $119.50. The ONLY tickets at the $199.50 price point were the best seats to either side of the stage.

Following some consideration by the organizing parties, and prior to the internet on sale, it was decided that there would be seating behind the stage to accommodate as many people as possible. That seemed like a generous and thoughtful idea as well. At that point the seating chart changed to reflect seating behind the stage.

There’s a few things to take note of as we look at these charts. The 300 level seats, were all priced at either $79.50 or $119.50.

Here’s where the Switcheroo takes place! People receiving Mail Order tickets this week received 300 level tickets that were priced at $199.50. See evidence here:

300levelticket

Not only that, 300 Level seats that were released on TicketMaster this morning were all priced at $199.50. That my friends is a real unethical, unkind, unrighteous maneuver. Whether it’s illegal, I’m not certain as I haven’t read through anything that may state that prices are subject to change without notice. What I do know, is it’s a move that stinks of greed and completely goes against everything that the band and its organization has provided throughout the years. It’s a move that Bill Graham NEVER would have made. This event misses him almost as much as it misses Garcia. Was there not enough money coming in already? This is where Shapiro goes from Genius to Jackass overnight. Is there anyone other than him that could be responsible??? I don’t think so… Loose with the truth, Peter it’s your fire… Baby I hope you don’t get burned…

We’re not a bunch of dumb, stoned kids anymore… It was completely, totally and unequivocally the WRONG thing to do. Given the situation, would fans decline their tickets or ask for a refund if they were told about pricing changes? Probably not if we’re being honest… Was this a poor decision by the leadership? It absolutely was. I don’t think the guys that make the music have anything to do with decisions like this so I absolutely don’t hold them accountable but someone should be held accountable. I probably won’t make any new friends with this post, but it’s the truth…

Dead To The Core,
Dean Sottile (pronounced So Tilly)

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In a refreshing change of pace, The Internet Mail Order went off without a hitch. The only people bitching were those that are excellent artists and figured their talents usually took them to the front of the line. According to the Blogger guy that wrote the “Not Your Grateful Dead” article somewhere, a guy basically competing for the prize of World’s Biggest Whiner and Pain In The Ass, Peter Shapiro called him to see how they could work together to make Santa Clara better. It seems more like Peter asked Trey for some help as the same people that have been doing Internet Lotteries for Phish took care of the Ticketing. The process was so easy that many people were completely confused once finished. It couldn’t be that easy could it??? No Index Cards, No 17 Postal money orders, hopefully all in the correct amount to fill out, No trying to be Stanley Mouse on the envelope, No trying to fit an envelope inside of an envelope after doing all that? Within a day after the deadline, everybody knew whether they got tickets and if so exactly where their seats were located. Not to mention, using a Credit Card, some people will be able to pay this off by some time in 2025. I hate to say it, but y’all can probably thank Phish for that. If this was done for Chicago, it probably would’ve led to Elvis at GDTSTOO living a few extra years. This process has probably aged the kind soul ike the cheese that rich folks eat. From what I could imagine, Elvis probably needs about a month of sleep… Some of you will get your money back in time for Christmas shopping, for others, there’s always All Saints Day.

Here’s a blogger that can help you out a little bit if you want some advice. My 6 tickets for Santa Clara came along with a $200 “Service Charge”. In the future, can you do me a favor? Just include that shit in the ticket instead of giving everybody another item to complain about. In the past Service Charges were something you incurred at a Bachelor Party or curbside in Manhattan. At least you were well aware of the service that was being provided. Except, in those scenarios, I was doing the screwing, not receiving it. Doing the math on Levi’s, there’s about $5.5 Million Dollars in Service Charges. I’m all about abundance so I’m not gonna hate on anybody too much but, that’s a lot of fuckin. I guess with the bounteous good will and appreciation behind the event and all, we’ll just call it Making Love…

In a questionable move announced this week by the folks at jambands.com and every other .com that wants a piece of the traffic that talking about World’s Greatest Band of all time provides, The Fare Thee Well Shows, in Association with Peter Shapiro and a few other companies that basically mean Peter Shapiro as well, the broadcast for the shows will take place in Theaters. I personally think this idea stinks worse than an LSD fart in a humid tent. Heady Dreadies and others that enjoy roasting new hybrids of Marijuana as often as kids roast marshmallows by campfires were outraged by the decision. Instead of streaming the shows from the comfort and safety of their own homes, Dead Heads will now be forced to play cops and robbers with security guards in cinemas like back in the old days. Instead of kicking back on a Summer Night and drinking a few Sammy Smith’s Oatmeal Stouts while tuned in from your living room, Have a Coke and a Smile bitches!

How about people with kids or folks that don’t live in the USA? A decision like this one obviously didn’t involve a discussion with the blogger guy that has all the answers. I’m baffled by this one… This was a no brainer or so I thought. Bands have been streaming couch tour for years. It’s one of the few things that kept me from selling my children when they were really little. When I first had kids and wasn’t able to attend shows like I used to, I invested in a Supreme Audio Visual Environment for my living room. Why? Because EVERYBODY that is somebody has an online stream. What the hell were y’all thinking? Now a bunch of Dead Heads have to sneak all kinds of contraband into a theater where they’ll be for 5 hours, 3 nights in a row. They’ll get lit up like a Grow Room then have to drive home. Why did this really simple item get so messed up? Thank goodness for those new fangled vaporizer devices. Nowadays, Chewbacca look alikes can huff up like George Jetson and go practically unnoticed. Back in my day we had a thing called a bullet and a gym shirt with a bunch of brown spots on it from where we exhaled cannabis flower exhaust to contain the aroma.

It might be a good time to apologize to mom and dad about why the water in all of their sinks came out all messed up. That was me, I took all of the screens out, Sorry about all those calls you made to the plumber. As somebody that doesn’t drink or do drugs, it’s no big deal to me, I’m just sticking up for my stoner friends on this one. Epic Fail forcing people to leave their homes to participate. The sound and video will be incredible, there’s your consolation prize, Enjoy the Milk Duds! I would imagine more options may become available, I’ll be in Soldier Field…

THE INFORMATION BELOW IS NO LONGER VALID Due TO THE PRANKSTERS PULLING OUT OF THE EVENT AND QUESTIONABLE BUSINESS PRACTICES BEING INVESTIGATED BY ALL PARTIES INVOLVED. YOU CAN READ IT FOR LAUGHS BUT THAT’S ABOUT ALL… I will DEFINITELY not be there or participate in any way.

Rapidly becoming the biggest event in Chicago’s history, The infamous Bus of Never ending Adventure, Furthur, is preparing to roll into Chicago and will be leading the way to providing an entire weekend of endless entertainment. Yes indeed, if you’re not already aware, 4 Humble Heroes are leading the way from Oregon and are bringing The Merry Prankster Flavorlution to Chi town in what’s shaping up to be the biggest event of the weekend by far. The Merry Prankster roots go way deep into the Grateful Dead Culture so the names that are being mentioned around their weekend event are absolutely mind boggling. Being a close friend with Zane Kesey and all of the Official Pranksters(Blatant Lie) and talking to them all as much as I do(2nd time in one sentence now) this whole weekend deal will be like what might happen if Disney World ate a bunch of Sugar Cubes. The list of people that will be passing through and performing will make this event a veritable Who’s Who in the world of That’s Who. The organizers of the event have been adamant about letting people know that it’s not 1965 and most of us are too damn old to be filling our bodies with a bunch of narcotics. There will be absolutely no LSD at this event(I’m talking to you, Officers). There will be acres upon acres of absolute mayhem and adventure with the most fun group of folks that can be rounded up and they’re putting on a party that is absolutely second to none. You can catch more info as it develops on their Facebook Group that’s here. The folks over there are working overtime to make this the best and most reasonably priced event of the entire weekend. I’m not sure whether or not they’ll have “Service Fees”. Hopefully they read this and just include that shit in the price of the ticket

Bob, the community mourns with you on the graduation day of your father. His contributions to this world made a difference much bigger than he probably ever imagined. It’s with my sincerest and heartfelt sympathy, I extend my love and condolences to you and yours…

Grateful Dean on Facebook

Facebook Group is The Official Home of Unofficial Grateful Dead and Music News

Preparation for Soldier Field in full swing

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