Apparently the big Grateful Dead Going Out Of Business Sale that occurred in Chicago over the 4th of July weekend was not actually the last we’d see of the band, formed in Palo Alto in 1965. According to the Associated Press, members of the Grateful Dead are joining forces with guitar player John Mayer and will perform October 31st at New York’s Madison Square Garden. Phil Lesh, who played at the three Fare Thee Well shows last month, will not be returning to the fold.
Dead & Company, the new outfit not to be confused with The Dead, Dead Kennedys, Fear The Walking Dead, or James Joyce’s The Dead, will feature Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzmann, and Bob Weir, with Mayer “riding shotgun.” (Mayer, known for being bankrupt in the soul department, apparently scrounged up enough to sell in order to become part of this money-making venture.) Mayer says he “deeply” loves the Dead’s music, adding, “It has inspired me in ways I never imagined. To help carry this music is the opportunity and the honor of a lifetime.”
Kreutzmann says, “Fare Thee Well proved to me that I’m not done exploring new rhythmic territory with Mickey—I’m recommending that everyone puts their helmet on, because we are going to blast our way into some serious drums and space.” With that, two gigantic dollar signs presumably burst out of Kreutzmann’s eye sockets and he began flailing wildly and hitting himself on the head with a wooden mallet. Mickey Hart added, “Money, money, money, money, money, money,” and Mayer sped away in a Cadillac with a Deadhead sticker on it without a trace of irony.
Luckily for the members of Dead & Company, most of the patrons who attended the Fare Thee Well shows have already forgotten that they were there, so they’re more than happy to shell out anywhere from $50 to $100 to stink up downtown New York on Halloween weekend.