"Ran into the devil, babe, he loaned me twenty bills," is a lyric from the timeless Grateful Dead tune "Friend Of The Devil" that also approximates the current cost of seeing the band live in concert this weekend.
The venue for the Dead, or as some might call them the Un-Dead (they now comprise surviving members Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzmann, Phil Lesh, and Bob Weir) is Santa Clara's Levi's Stadium. And the occasion is a leg of their "Fare Thee Well" 50th anniversary tour, a concert series for which they've pulled in Phish's Trey Anastasio and other guests.
This weekend's first performance is being seen as a warm-up for the Chicago grand finale on July 4th weekend. For that set of shows one serious fan blew $13,000 on a single ticket, as CBS Local reports.
But although prices were predicted to rise for the Bay Area stint in a similar fashion and despite the fact that tickets from $59.50 to $199.50 sold out in a matter of minutes, the market seems to have reached the end of a long, strange nostalgia trip. Tickets are currently sitting at just over $20 a head on Stubhub for performances on the 27th and 28th.
So, if Pride isn't your thing, then let Stubhub take your twenty dollar bill and vanish in the air. It could be a really fun show.
Previously: Grateful Dead Confirm Bay Area Farewell Tour Dates At Levi's Stadium