Wisconsin Town Kills Dead Reunion

Officials in the city of East Troy have nixed plans by the surviving members of the Grateful Dead to stage what's being billed as the first official reunion of the legendary jam band since frontman Jerry Garcia died of a heart attack in 1995.

The two-day concert festival, "Terrapin Station--A Grateful Dead Family Reunion," had been set for August 3 and 4 at Alpine Valley Music Theater--a famed outdoor concert venue and ski destination in Southern Wisconsin--and would have featured original members Bob Weir, Mickey Hart, Phil Lesh and Bill Kreutzmann, taking to the stage as the Other Ones.

But the thought of a quarter-million Deadheads in town didn't go over well with residents, and the Walworth County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday to deny a permit to promoter Clear Channel Entertainment.

"You can imagine the amount of humanity that's going to converge on little old East Troy in Walworth County," Walworth County Highway Committee Chairman Odell R. Gigante tells the Associated Press. "We only have 80 some sheriff deputies. Short of bringing in the National Guard we just couldn't handle it."

So much for the Other Ones.

According to Gigante, the concert venue can hold about 35,000 people--which is way too small to contain the legion of patchouli-soaked tie-dyed diehards likely to pile in the Vanagon for the trip to East Troy. Civic leaders feared upwards of 250,000 Deadheads would turn out to see the festivities.

Along with the Other Ones, the four surviving members were planning to perform with their own bands: Weir's Ratdog, Phil Lesh and Friends, Hart and Bembe Orisha and Kreutzmann's TriChromes. Grateful Dead poet-lyricist Robert Hunter was also set to appear.

The two-day affair was supposed to feature two stages, as well as an area for spoken word and interviews, a Grateful Dead memorabilia tent displaying items from members' personal collections, eclectic food and all the other activities associated with the Deadhead nation.

Despite Clear Channel pitching highly detailed plans for crowd control, security, parking and first aid, the board's decision effectively kills the company's proposal, pleasing local law enforcement officials who remember the last time the Dead came to town. When Garcia and company played the area in 1989, the community was beset by traffic problems, and local police had their hands full arresting many fans for damaging property and--yes--drug possession.

Clear Channel does have a couple of options left before scrapping the show altogether. The company has the right to appeal the vote or can sue the board for permission.

Reps for Clear Channel and the Grateful Dead did not return phone calls seeking comment.

But ticketholders were more than willing to gripe.

Jim Huycke, 44, told Milwaukee's local Fox affiliate that he felt let down by the decision and the reasoning behind it.

"We have people overreacting based on misperceptions," said Huycke, a native of Racine, Wisconsin.

But another fan, 41-year-old David Cohen, said he was still optimistic.

"The first weekend of August is still pretty far away," added Cohen. "I think they will get it all ironed out before then."

If not, organizers may have to scramble for another venue to bring the family together. One place they can forget about though is Chicago. City officials already turned down Clear Channel's request to stage the concert at Grant Park on the lakefront.