The Greateful Dead Is Truckin' Again

No longer Grateful, the group now known only as "The Dead" is preparing to embark on its first tour since 2004. Over the last 13 years, since guitarist Jerry Garcia died, the four remaining members of the band have gotten together occasionally to tour, but the magic has never been the same.

After 40 years of making music, the Dead has a cult following. There's even a satellite radio station dedicated to their music. The tour will consist of 19 shows in 16 cities across the U.S., and take place in April and May. The birth of the new tour came during an October rally for Barack Obama, the first time the super group has ever endorsed a political candidate.

Phil Lesh, bass player for the band, is modest about the band's influence on music, having birthed a genre known as jam band. He was quoted by CNN as saying, "All we did was steal what jazz musicians did and apply it to rock 'n' roll. If we didn't do it, someone else would have."

The band will add Warren Haynes on guitar, and Jeff Chimenti on the keys.

Here are the tour dates according to Collegenews.com:

April 12 - Greensboro, NC @ Greensboro Coliseum
April 14 - Washington, DC @ Verizon Center
April 15 - Charlottesville, VA @ John Paul Jones Arena
April 17 - Albany, NY @ Times Union Center
April 18 - Worcester, MA @ DCU Center
April 19 - Worcester, MA @ DCU Center
April 21 - Buffalo, NY @ HSBC Arena
April 22 - Wilkes-Barre, PA @ Wachovia Arena
April 24 - Uniondale, NY @ Nassau Coliseum
April 25 - New York, NY @ Madison Square Garden
April 26 - Hartford, CT @ XL Center
April 28 - E. Rutherford, NJ @ IZOD Center
April 29 - E. Rutherford, NJ @ IZOD Center
May 1 - Philadelphia, PA @ Wachovia Spectrum
May 2 - Philadelphia, PA @ Wachovia Spectrum
May 5 - Chicago, IL @ All State Arena
May 7 - Denver, CO @ Pepsi Center
May 9 - Los Angeles, CA @ The Forum
May 10 - Mountain View, CA @ Shoreline Amphitheater