NEW YORK — Even though The Grateful Dead are slated to play their final five shows this summer in Santa Clara and Chicago to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the band, Bobby Weir says it’s possible the legendary rock ‘n’ roll group could play Madison Square Garden again.
“We’ll be back,” Weir told me Monday at the Garden where The Dead was inducted into the MSG Walk of Fame. Weir was present along with Bill Kreutzmann, Trixie Garcia, daughter of the late Jerry Garcia, and Reya Hart, daughter of Mickey Hart.
Asked if they would return as The Dead, Weir said, “We’ll see, we’ll see what’s shakin.'”
He added: “This place is going to keep calling us back forever.”
Rumors have circulated that following the Fare Thee Well shows at Chicago’s Soldier Field July 3-5, The Dead might tour this fall with John Mayer, but Weir declined comment.
“Nothing I can say about that right now,” he said.
Between 1979-94, the Grateful Dead played 52 sold-out shows at the Garden — ranking them third all-time in Garden performances behind only Elton John and Billy Joel. In both 1988 and 1991, the band had sold-out runs of nine concerts.
Legendary New York radio DJ Jim Kerr, who introduced The Dead on Monday, said if Garcia hadn’t passed away in 1995, the band would have long passed Elton and Billy in number of Garden performances.
“It brings back so many memories about the shows that we played here and hopefully maybe someday I’ll get to play here again,” Kreutzmann told me. “I’d like to. I’m still playing a whole bunch. I still have two bands I’m playing with, and then of course you know about the shows in Chicago and San Francisco.”
Asked if The Dead would tour in the fall, Kreutzmann said, “No, they’re just rumors. Wishful thinking on the fans’ part, I guess.”
He added: “I personally would love to play here. If it was with Bobby and Mickey, the three of us would play for sure, and Phil [Lesh].”
Photo: Scott Harris/ JamBase.com
