The Grateful Dead will embark on their first concert tour in five years when they kicks off an arena tour on April 12. After months of fan speculation prompted by the band's performance last October at the 'Change Rocks' concert/rally for Barack Obama in State College, PA, the group -- consisting of original Dead members members Bob Weir, Phil Lesh, Bill Kreutzmann and Mickey Hart -- will start its nineteen date, month-long trek in Greensboro, North Carolina.

"We've got some unfinished business," guitarist/singer Weir said in a statement. "Everybody has a whole new bag of tricks; we have the body of material we worked up over the years and we have a mind meld going on here and it would be a sin to let that just wither and die."

Elsewhere, drummer Hart said, "A mind meld is a terrible thing to waste." To which bassist Lesh added, "For me, it's the question mark that's really pulling me in ... what's gonna happen? When you walk out on the stage the possibilities are infinite every time. The musical possibilities are infinite: there is no end to it, there's no back wall and there's no ceiling, there's no floor. It's infinite and therefore you can still explore it till the day that you die."

Marking their first trek since 2004's 'Wave That Flag' tour, all shows will be billed as 'An Evening With the Dead' and also feature keyboardist Jeff Chimenti and Allman Brothers Band/Gov't Mule guitarist Warren Haynes, both of whom played with the band at the 'Change Rocks' concert.