With the recent announcement that Furthur is no longer, Grateful Dead fans have been dying to know if the band’s surviving members have any plans to celebrate their 50th anniversary in 2015. Today, unofficial Grateful Dead biographer Scott W. Allen, who penned Aces Back to Back in 2013, shared a lengthy status on Facebook regarding these rumored plans.
It seems that the reunion will consist of a handful of festival appearances, including Lockn’, and extended residencies on both the East and West Coasts. The main issue preventing a large-scale tour is the massive insurance payments required by promoters – in part because of Weir’s recent tour cancellation.
As for the band itself, aside from Weir, Lesh, Hart, and Kreutzmann, the frontrunner for keyboardist is Bruce Hornsby. On lead guitar, however, there are many more names mentioned, including Warren Haynes, John Kadlecik, Steve Kimock, and a fourth unnamed guitarist, potentially Trey Anastasio. The guitarists may perform together, or on rotation – the details remain unclear (and probably unresolved).
Read the whole post below: