Grateful Dead concert approved; fans to converge on Wisconsin

The Associated Press

MILWAUKEE -- The Grateful Dead will live again.

The Walworth County board voted 5-0 Friday to allow the band to hold a reunion concert Aug. 3-4. It will be the first time band members Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzmann, Phil Lesh and Bob Weir have played in concert since the 1995 death of Jerry Garcia, the Dead's leader.

The County Highway Committee initially rejected a concert permit fearing it would cause health, safety and police problems by attracting 200,000 people to a venue that can only hold about 35,000.

But the band's promoter, Clear Channel Co., appealed and submitted a new plan with tighter security and emergency procedures. The concert, billed as "Terrapin Station -- A Grateful Dead Family Reunion," will be held at the Alpine Valley Music Theatre, about 30 miles from Milwaukee.

Both shows are already sold out and Clear Channel promised to launch a campaign to discourage people who don't have tickets from showing up.