The good news for die-hard Deadheads who got shut out of the Grateful Dead's reunion concerts July 3-5 at Soldier Field when tickets went on sale over the weekend: Tickets are showing up in droves on the secondary market.



The bad news: They don't cost the list price of $59.50 and $199.50 (plus service fees) anymore.



According to online ticket aggregator tiqiq.com, tickets are going for as high as $8,660 for a front-row seat. The average price for a seat is more than $2,000, and three-day passes are selling for an average of more than $4,000. Other sources have reported three-day tickets selling for as high as $15,000.



The Ticketmaster sale Saturday was moved up to meet demand, apparently before many fans who had requested tickets via mail had been notified by the Grateful Dead ticket office whether their order would be filled. The Dead's website reported that it had received 60,000 envelopes requesting hundreds of thousands of tickets for the reunion shows. Soldier Field capacity is about 60,000. The online sale Saturday briefly crashed Ticketmaster's site, and tickets sold out within minutes.



That set off a new search for tickets by fans, and a new wave of desperation. On a Facebook page set up for ticket seekers, one fan from Colorado offered to "donate $1000 in your name to the charity of your choice" for two three-day passes "at a fair price." Another offered room, board and other amenities at her apartment in suburban Bensenville: "I would be willing to pay for your train/bus tickets, as well as provide food and a place to get clean" in exchange for at least one ticket.



The Grateful Dead offered a glimmer of hope to those who didn't score tickets. It reported that "nearly half a million of you queued up to buy tickets" online and vowed to "help everyone experience these shows in a way that will help you share this special moment with us. Stay tuned …"



As for The Grateful Dead fans searching for Chicago hotel rooms during that weekend, three words of advice: "keep on truckin'."



A month and a half after the Jan. 16 announcement that remaining band members will commemorate their silver anniversary with three concerts July 3-5 at Soldier Field, Chicago hotel rooms became a hot commodity.



Hilton Chicago, just northwest of Soldier Field on South Michigan Avenue, was completely booked the entire weekend within a matter of hours of the announcement, spokeswoman Angela Braswell said.



"We sold out in less than one day," Braswell said. "I don't have the amount of hours, but it was for the whole weekend.



"In seven years (of working at Hilton), I've never seen anything like that. We have people in our revenue office who've been here since the '90s and they said they've seen anything like it."



A search of popular travel search engines Expedia and Travelocity for the Dead dates, focusing on the Loop, found that 83 of 85 hotels were sold out.



The only two options on Monday afternoon were $589 a night for a room at the Holiday Inn Express Chicago-Magnificent Mile, and $689 for a room at a hotel in the Chicago Athletic Association building.



While it's not uncommon to see many of the 108 hotel properties in the city's central business district fully booked for the Fourth of July weekend as early as March, Choose Chicago spokeswoman Meghan Risch said the band's reunion could be one of several summer events that helps Chicago eclipse the record 50.2 million tourists it hosted last year.



"With something as iconic as the Dead doing three concerts, that is an incredible lift," Risch said. "Booking hotel(s) over the summer is already harder with everything that is already happening, the major festivals and the Fourth of July, in general."



The Grateful Dead shows will coincide with the Fourth of July fireworks display at Navy Pier.



For those who can't or don't want to get a room, more than 11,000 people have signed a petition requesting that the City of Chicago allow overnight parking for those who want to camp.



A Soldier Field spokesman, Luca Serra, has said the idea is being considered but is pending the input of several city entities as the Chicago Park District owns Soldier Field and its adjacent parking lots.



Airbnb, a website that allows people to rent out their homes, may be another option for Deadheads. A check of Loop properties for the Fourth of July weekend showed some promising options, including $95 a night for an apartment advertised as a 5-minute walk to Soldier Field.



The Grateful Dead shows will be the group's first since back-to-back shows in July 1995, also at Soldier Field. This summer's reunion is expected to be a final tribute to the band's late leader and guitarist, Jerry Garcia, who died in August 1995.



