Grateful Dead members to play shows in Mill Valley - Marin Independent Journal

Grateful Dead members to play shows in Mill Valley - Marin Independent Journal

"Paul Liberatore
Posted: 12/31/2009 06:38:31 PM PST

Their mantra is "Take it Furthur," and for Bob Weir and Phil Lesh, two of the surviving members of the Grateful Dead, they're taking it as far as Mill Valley's 142 Throckmorton Theatre for eight nights of surprise shows beginning Sunday.

Billed as "Live Rehearsal Sessions," Weir and Lesh, leading a new band called Furthur, named after Ken Kesey's psychedelic bus, will be playing nightly at the 300-capacity theater from Sunday through Jan. 10.

The first three shows were instant sell-outs after they were announced on the Furthur.net Web site on New Year's Eve. Tickets for the next five concerts, all scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m., were to go on sale on the site at 9 a.m. Friday.

The band - Weir, Lesh, Jeff Chimenti, John Kadlecik, Jay Lane and Joe Russo - is warming up for a national tour that begins Feb. 5 at Bayfront Park Amphitheater in Miami, Fla., and is scheduled to finish Feb. 26 at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn. Furthur also played New Year's concerts Wednesday and Thursday nights at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco.

Tickets for the Mill Valley shows, priced at $25, are being limited to one per person. Theater personnel are bracing for an onslaught of Deadheads hopeful of scoring a ticket. But, on its Web site, the band pleaded with its fans not to come without one.

"There will be absolutely NO tickets available at the door!," it said. "We'd like very much to be able to do these types of small events in the future and we ask

your help in allowing us to do so. Security will not allow loitering anywhere near the venue. Your cooperation is greatly appreciated."


Imagine seeing the Dead in a 300 seat theater. You could count Bob's whiskers in a venue that small.