Mahalo nui for Grateful Mahalo!

Article Contributed by Mahana Mari | Published on Wednesday, May 12, 2021

Grateful Mahalo was a birthday party celebrated on the island of Kaua`i and all over the world for our favorite birthday boy, Bill Kreutzmann, drummer of the Grateful Dead, born May 7, 1946 in Palo Alto, California. Bill was told he was a teenager that he had no rhythm, but began playing drums in his early teens anyway. He co-founded the group, "The Warlocks" in the mid-1960s, and then went on to international stardom playing drums with The Dead during his impressive 30-year musical career that inspired millions of us around the world for decades.

Santana and Billy K - photo credit: Jay Blakesberg Photography

When the one and only Carlos Santana decides to join the birthday festivities with his magical mythic mayhem, you know we all are singing, "Thank you, for a real good time!"

'Twas a magical weekend in paradise, especially if you are a Deadhead!

"If Mercy's a bus'ness, I wish it for you

More than just ashes when your dreams come true!"

-Fire on the Mountain, Grateful Dead

Santana and Billy K - photo credit: Jay Blakesberg Photography

"See that guy all dressed in green?

I-KO, I-KO, un-day. He's not a man;

He's a lov-in' ma-chine.--Jock-a mo fee na-né!"

-Iko Iko

Grateful Mahalo

Setlist:

Scarlet Begonias  

Exodus  

Iko Iko  

A Few of My Favorite Things  

The Other One  

Good Morning Little Schoolgirl  

The Other One  

Fire on the Mountain  

Unknown Song  

Riders on the Storm  

China Doll

Dear Prudence  

It Hurts Me Too  

ENCORE:

Cold Rain and Snow  

Alabama Getaway  

ENCORE

Ripple 

To Lay Me Down  

Unknown Song  

Peggy-O  

The Train That Carried My Girl From Town

We LOVE our Billys! Bill Nershi (String Cheese Incident) with Billy Strings "playin' in the band" and enjoying the bliss of the magic moment. - photo credit: Jay Blakesberg Photography

*Author's note: Sometimes, a few of us are blessed to follow our grateful instincts. My intuition just happened to lead me to hear LIVE my FAVORITE musicians, literally right across the street from my house! (That's me, dancin' in the trees, in my happy place)

photo credit: Jay Blakesberg Photography

"Spanish lady come to me, she lays on me this rose

It rainbow spirals round and round, it trembles and explodes

It left a smoking crater of my mind I like to blow away

But the heat came round and busted me for smiling on a cloudy day

Coming, coming, coming around!"

-The Other One, Grateful Dead

Not only am I a life-long Deadhead and a writer for Grateful Web, I also happened to appear dancing in the sand on Sunday's video, Day 3 of Grateful Mahalo! When they started playing "Coming Around"... there I was!

Mahana Mari dancing on the beach

Even the Cetacean Nation turns out to be major Deadheads too. The whales were literally JUMPING FOR JOY during the rehearsal! (This is considered a very auspicious sign! Video below by Brian Hodder)

Aloha nui (much love) and Mahalo nui loa (thank you very much) to Billy and the Kids for throwing such an epic 3-day birthday bash for one of my all-time favorite musicians and my personal friend, Uncle Billy K!

Billy K's 75th Birthday party

-Mahana Mari, Kaua`i, Hawai`i