Death and taxes may be the only sure things in life, but a summer tour by the Dead isn't far behind.
The Grateful Dead, now touring with its four original surviving members simply as the Dead, return to Utah Tuesday as part of their "Wave That Flag" 2004 summer tour.
"We're like cockroaches. You can't kill us," joked drummer and percussionist Mickey Hart during a recent tour stop in Phoenix.
The Grateful Dead last played in Salt Lake City in February 1995. Just six months later Jerry Garcia, the band's beloved front man, died from heart failure after years of battling drug abuse and diabetes. Garcia's death seemed destined to bring an end to the group's long strange trip.
But in 1996, some of the Grateful Dead's members, including Hart, went back on the road as The Other Ones and brought along various side
projects as part of the Further Festival. In 2002, the surviving members reunited and went back on the road for the first time since Garcia's death.
Hart said the decision to tour again as the Dead had less to do with Garcia and was more a matter of band members putting aside some of their differences. Once that happened, he said, the decision "was not really difficult.
"Jerry being ripped away was a tremendous loss. No one can replace Jerry," Hart said. "But Jerry wasn't the whole Grateful Dead. He'd want us to (tour again). It's part of our DNA. I can't imagine not doing this."
In fact, Hart said this is the best the band has been in 20 years, using words like "re-invigorated" and "re-born" to describe the current tour.
Part of that is due to the Dead having "fresh horses up front," as Hart called it. Jimmy Herring and "new" member Warren Haynes (Allman Brothers Band, Gov't Mule) join founding member Bob Weir on guitar, a lineup that Hart said Phish's Trey Anastasio recently called the "Harley Davidson of guitar sections."
And now that the Dead is back on the road, the legion of Deadheads is right back with them. And they're bringing new a generation with them.
"We're the only ones getting old," Hart said of the growing number of new fans attending Dead concerts. "A new crop is coming up and they're loving it."
Without the Dead there would be no Deadheads. Likewise, without the Deadheads there would be no Dead, said Hart saluting the world-renowned fans.
"Together we make the music. Some nights the audience plays better than us. I'm honored. You've made it when they speak of audiences like that."
When told that the Dead would be going head-to-head with Simon and Garfunkel Tuesday, Hart called Paul Simon a good friend and the show worth seeing. But he's not worried about one concert taking fans away from the other.
If you go
What: The Dead
Where: USANA Amphitheatre
When: Tuesday, 6 p.m.
How much: $41 to $51
Phone: 467-8499 and 1-800-888-8499
Web: www.smithstix.com
E-mail: preavy@desnews.com