Quantcast

The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
Read the press release here.

Grateful Dead Tickets Listed for as High as $116,000 by Scalpers Online

 Grateful Dead fans were left scrambling for tickets after Ticketmaster crashes Saturday morning left many empty-handed.
Grateful Dead fans were left scrambling for tickets after Ticketmaster crashes Saturday morning left many empty-handed.
View Full Caption
Flickr/Wonderlane

CHICAGO — How bad do you want to see The Grateful Dead at Soldier Field this summer?

One hundred thousand dollars bad?

Deadheads unwilling to say "fare thee well" to the band's one-time, three-night reunion show series in Chicago this summer may have to shell out big bucks for tickets if they didn't snag one through Ticketmaster Saturday.

Someone on StubHub, in fact, is asking for $116,000 for two 3-day passes — although most of the StubHub prices were far less ridiculous.

Tickets for single-day and three-day passes to the July 3, 4 and 5 shows celebrating the band's 50th anniversary sold out in a flash when they went on sale at 10 Saturday morning, leaving many hopeful Chicagoans without tickets.

"This morning you broke Ticketmaster's on-sale record when nearly half a million of you queued up to buy tickets online," show organizers posted on the event website Saturday. "If you do not have tickets, please know that we are working on various ways to help everyone experience these shows in a way that will help you share this special moment with us."

Complaints that Ticketmaster's site crashed or froze during critical moments came as a huge blow to many fans who already had lost one chance to earn tickets via the band's antiquated mail-order system, which led fans to flood Chicago's post offices in droves, though many received rejections by mail in recent weeks.

In light of the sellouts, online resale sites like StubHub are listing tickets for jaw-dropping prices.

Upfront ticket costs ranged from $72 to $215 for single-day reserved seating, with coveted floor tickets priced at $215 and pit access set at nearly $113, all including Ticketmaster fees, which ranged from $15 to $20.

For three-day passes, official tickets should have cost $193.80-$623.25.

But on StubHub Monday, three-day, general admission floor tickets were listed for more than $116,000 at the highest price point, with the lowest three-day ticket price for seats behind the stage clocking in at nearly $1,340.

Single-day ticket prices listed on StubHub were $354-$99,999.99.

Fans could even be gouged for access to the parking lot if Soldier Field decides to limit admission to ticketholders. On Monday, parking passes were listed on StubHub for $187.50-$350.

 

For more neighborhood news, listen to DNAinfo Radio here: