Exploring unique interpretations of Grateful Dead music, SKULL & ROSES 6 will be a 3-day psychedelic explosion. Deadheads new and old from across the universe will flock, rejoice and “flashback”. Beachside at the Ventura County Fairgrounds – where eleven iconic Grateful Dead concerts transpired from 1982-1987 – will once again serve as the backdrop over the weekend of April 19-21st.

We are so excited to return to the beautiful Mare Island Waterfront for another all-day LIVE DEAD Days Between celebration on Sunday August 6th from 1 till 9 or 9:30. Featuring CUBENSIS: The Grateful Dead Experience with a VERY SPECIAL GUEST (2 sets), GRATEFUL BRASS by Jazz Mafia, THE ALLIGATORS Pigpen Experience, LOVIN’ DEAD and LOVE MISCHIEF. With food trucks, drinks, local artisan vendors, new Burning Man sculpture exhibit. Featuring waterfront views on the Napa River and plenty of shade under newly renovated historic Coal Sheds. All Ages.

The name Melvin Seals is synonymous with the Jerry Garcia Band. Seals spent fifteen years playing keyboards with Jerry Garcia and helped define the sound of the JGB Band. Seals is a gifted player and his love of all music has presented him with many open doors in the music industry. From performing to producing and recording Seals has been on the scene for over three decades and shows no signs of slowing down.

THIS WEEKEND, we are super excited to be hosting the SKULL & ROSES BAY AREA WARMUP PARTIES! Featuring CUBENSIS: The Grateful Dead Experience (since 1987) and THE ALLIGATORS high-octane Pigpen Tribute. This Friday night 3/31 we are in the East Bay at Toot’s Tavern in Crockett and Saturday 4/1 we head north to the HopMonk Sebastopol to take over The Abbey! It isn’t too late to secure your discount advance tickets.

NO FOOLIN— The Skull & Roses Bay Area Warm-Up weekend continues on Saturday April 1st as CUBENSIS & THE ALLIGATORS make their way to Hopmonk Sebastopol for the one more Saturday night of good ol’ Grateful Dead to melt your worries away, put a smile on your face and then steal it right off your head.

The third day of the fourth Skull and Roses Festival saw the biggest crowds ever and record warm temperatures. A strong onshore wind helped mediate temperatures. When the Alligators rotated onstage just after 4 pm, the fairgrounds were packed with music fans. The band was actually created initially as a one-off to perform at the festival. According to promoter Dennis McNally, “The Gators came into being because Chris, the promoter of Skull and Roses, had a problem—and a vision.

Unless you’ve passed through Los Angeles or attended a Skull and Roses Festival, the annual Ventura Fairgrounds gathering of Dead Heads and bands playing Dead music, you probably don’t know too much about the Alligators….this needs to change.

The sun came out bathing the Ventura fairgrounds in a beautiful orange glow as sleepy festival goers woke from a long night of music and partying. The noontime drum circle was the wake-up call for many. But it wasn’t until about 3 PM, when Northern California’s premiere Grateful Dead cover band, the China Cats took the stage, that most people finally gathered together for a dance jam. The group formed in 2008 in Santa Cruz California and has garnered a loyal following since.

I get asked a lot about the current crop of young (as in, never saw Jerry Garcia live) Dead Heads and whether they’re “real.”  And no question, they are.  They get the music, the code of ethics behind the music, the reason we do this stuff.  There is, however, one thing that reveals the passage of time.  Many—not all, but quite a few—members of the younger generation suffer from P.D. – Pigpen Deficiency.