10 Questions About Potential Grateful Dead Reunion

Back in January, Bob Weir expressed his desire to celebrate the Grateful Dead’s 50th anniversary in 2015. Weir told Rolling Stone’s Benjy Eisen, “We have to do something commemorative. I think we owe it to the fans, we owe it to the songs, we owe it to ourselves. If there are issues we have to get past, I think that we owe it to ourselves to man up and get past them. If there are hatchets to be buried, then let’s get to work. Let’s start digging. I’ll just say, to my delicate sensibilities, that it would be wrong to let that go by un-commemorated.”

Since that time there have been many rumors about the core four of Weir, Phil Lesh, Bill Kreutzmann and Mickey Hart teaming up to perform next year, but there are many questions regarding a potential reunion and we run them down for this installment of The JamBase List.

1. Who plays lead guitar?

The Core Four have gone in a number of different directions to fill the role that Jerry Garcia held down in the Grateful Dead. Past guitarists to perform with the band include Warren Haynes, Steve Kimock and Jimmy Herring. Phil & Bob called upon John Kadlecik to handle lead guitar in Furthur, so we’ve got to imagine he’s in the conversation. Kimock hasn’t played with Lesh in 15 years, while Herring is busy with Widespread Panic these days leaving Haynes and Kadlecik as the most obvious choices though it’s certainly possible the foursome could go an unconventional route and recruit someone like Tom Hamilton or Nels Cline.

2. Who plays keyboards?

Would Jeff Chimenti, who’s played the most with Weir and Lesh over the past six years, get the call? How about Bruce Hornsby who was actually a member of the Grateful Dead for a short period.

3. Would the core four recruit any vocalists to augment the lineup?

Shortly after forming Furthur, Weir and Lesh decided to beef up the band’s vocals by bringing singers Sunshine Becker and Jeff Pehrson aboard. The Dead even used Joan Osborne in 2003 to help with vocals. We’d think the choice of keyboardist and lead guitarist plays a big role in this decision as if let’s say you have Warren and Hornsby in the band as well as Bobby, you probably don’t need anyone else to sing.

4. Would the band tour or play a series of residencies?

Just over a year ago, Phil Lesh mentioned he had grown tired of touring in an interview. Lesh told radio host Gary Lambert, “I’m getting tired after 48 years on the road. After this tour I’m basically ‘off the bus,’ I won’t be doing any tours per say.” He then went on to sign a deal with impresario Peter Shapiro to exclusively play Pete’s venues or shows/festivals organized by Shapiro in addition to gigs at Terrapin Crossroads. Does Phil still feel the same way? Would a Grateful Dead reunion consist of a series of residencies or would they hit the road one last time? There’s also the possibility they could do a one-time only performance.

[Photo by Jay Blakesberg]

5. What kind of venues would host a potential Grateful Dead reunion?

The answer to this question must align with the answer to question #4. Would the band want to go for the gold and play one-offs at huge venues or if they went with residencies would they play more intimate rooms like NYC’s Beacon Theatre or Colorado’s Red Rocks?

6. Would a reunited Grateful Dead play festivals next summer?

We’d have to think Shapiro, who has his deal with Lesh this year and has seen all of the core four play his venues and/or festivals in at least some capacity, has a leg up if the band reunites and wants to play a festival like Pete’s Lockn’ in 2015. There’s also the possibility that Bonnaroo organizers could make a play to return to the festival’s roots by having a reunited Grateful Dead fill one of the headlining slots in June. Who knows, even Gathering Of The Vibes could get in on the act.

7. How hard will it be to secure tickets to see a potential Grateful Dead reunion?

One of the big questions is what kind of demand there is to see a reunion. If the band picks and chooses its spots wisely, and doesn’t play too many shows, we don’t think they’ll have a hard time selling tickets. Another question is how much would those tickets cost? We don’t think they’d be cheap, but time will tell.

8. When would the potential shows take place?

Then there’s the question of timing. We’d have to think the group would focus on the summer season, but The Other Ones and The Dead didn’t just stick to the warmer months.

9. Would Bobby still be up for a potential GD reunion?

One of the big stories of 2014 regarding the Grateful Dead was Bob Weir suddenly cancelling all of his touring plans from late summer through January. Bobby has just started to make appearances again though hasn’t played guitar in public yet since the announcement. Has his time off the road for whatever the circumstances are made him less likely to sign on for a reunion? We will say that Furthur’s disbandment notice mentions “we’ll all be keeping busy over the foreseeable future,” and Weir was the guy who first brought the potential reunion up in interviews, so we’d be surprised if he’s changed his tune.

10. What name would a reunited Grateful Dead perform under?

The core four have used the name “The Other Ones” before settling on “The Dead” for 2003, 2004 and 2009 tours. Would they go back to “The Dead” for a potential reunion or just use “Grateful Dead?” They could also just call each performance “Grateful Dead 50th Anniversary Celebration.”

As you can see there’s many questions to be answered if and when Weir, Lesh, Hart and Kreutzmann get the band back together. We expect we’d soon find out whether this potential reunion was a pipe dream or will become a reality. Be sure to weigh in with a comment on what lineup you’d like to see if a Grateful Dead reunion takes place.