Bob Weir Talks Grateful Dead 50 Fare Thee Well On CNBC

CNBC reporter and card-carrying Deadhead Steve Liesman sat down for a chat with Grateful Dead guitarist Bob Weir about the upcoming Fare Thee Well Grateful Dead 50 celebration shows in Chicago over the Fourth of July Weekend for a segment that aired this morning. Weir discussed the enormous expectations, the choice of Trey Anastasio and more in the piece.

Weir revealed he’s been receiving ticket requests from around the world including a friend in Asia, but one thing he wouldn’t reveal was what the band would open with on July 3. “We got our best guys on it,” Bobby joked. The guitarist discussed the controversy over the selection of Phish guitarist Trey Anastasio to perform with the band. “After kicking it around amongst all of us, after kicking around who’s gonna work best, it’s really pretty evident to anyone who doesn’t have a serious axe to grind who we should be dancing with here,” Weir said. “If somebody’s not getting their favorite guy on guitar and vocals or whatever, sorry about that. Maybe we’ll make it to the 75th reunion and maybe your guy will make it that time.”

Bobby went on to discuss the enormous expectations surrounding Fare Thee Well. “It’s a little intimidating really when people take you that seriously and make a big deal out of it, so you’ve kinda got to step up and try to measure up to these enormous expectations people have.” Weir also talked about the stage fright he battles on a regular basis and admitted he’s nervous about the upcoming shows. What advice does Weir have for bands following in the Dead’s footsteps? “The more you love what you’re doing, the longer you’ll last at it. The longer you last at it, the more stuff is gonna come your way.”

Watch the entire interview:

Tickets for Fare Thee Well go on sale this Saturday at 10 a.m. CT via Ticketmaster.