Deadheads in force as shows finally arrive
With no Garcia, who died in 1995, one had to suspend disbelief and accept Trey Anastasio of Phish in his role, which most were willing to do, if just for these five nights — two in Santa Clara followed by three at Soldier Field in Chicago, where the Dead with Garcia played its last show on July 9, 1995.
From inside Levi’s Stadium the guitar noodlings of “Truckin‘” could be heard in sound check, and the fans started to stir in line.
The face was realistic enough that people dashed to be photographed with him.
Sarnowski has been coming to shows since 2001, which meant he had never seen Garcia perform or seen a band that called themselves the Grateful Dead.
The happy energy was everywhere, including among those who walked around holding up a single digit, a Deadhead signal for needing a “miracle,” which means needing a ticket, usually free.
[...] not that many miracles were needed because a ticket with a face value of $200 could be had for as little as $39 on StubHub in recent days.
Inside the stadium, this summer’s top legacy act was still figuring things out in the sound check.
Stadium security patrolled the parking lots to shut down any marketplace for unlicensed Grateful Dead gear.
Undercover cops were said to be working the lot, which chased the free-form “Shakedown Street” marketplace to the Hilton Santa Clara a mile away.
With field seating and added bleachers, capacity for the Dead shows was 80,000, which is about 10,000 more than for a 49ers game.
A rumor that $20 tickets would be released from the box office turned out not to be true.
Sam Whiting is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer.