With the New Year comes official news of a "Grateful" Dead reunion tour. The Dead's 2009 lineup will consist of the surviving four original members, Phil Lesh, Bob Weir, Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann and be rounded out with Ratdog keyboardist Jeff Chimienti and, in line with his reputation as the hardest working man in rock roll, guitarist Warren Haynes.

Given the continual success of Ratdog and Phil Lesh & Friends' annual tours, The Dead should have no trouble filling the stadiums they are booked into for their Spring 09 run of shows. The tour kicks off April 12 at the Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, North Carolina and runs through May 10, where the tour will end with a show at the Shoreline Amphitheater in Mountain View, CA. Of note, on April 25, The Dead will return to Madison Square Garden for the first time since a 6 night run in October of 1994.

Tickets go on sale nationwide on January 23 with a pre-sale through dead.net commencing on January 13.

The Dead's offical tour page is here.

Labels: Grateful Dead