Inspired by Grateful Dead music with the spirit of New Orleans and American roots music, the band embodies a celebratory vibe with a depth of improvisation and breath that sets it apart. In 2015, Voodoo Dead debuted at the NOLA Jazz Festival as a super group with Steve Kimock, Bill Kreutzmann, Jeff Chimenti, Dave Schools, and Keller Williams.

Folsom Field – For decades, the venue has been a legendary haven for Deadheads dating back to the early 1970’s. While the Dead had played numerous shows in the Colorado area before, including the Miller Ballroom at CU in ’69, and two acoustic shows in ’70 at the Mammoth Garden (now the Fillmore), nothing quite sparked the interest of the Grateful Dead in the Centennial State quite like the legendary 1972 performance at Folsom Field in Boulder.

With a few nights off and a first-time tour stop for the band, anticipation was high for Dead & Company’s performance in the Duke City, and Albuquerque’s Isleta Amphitheater was to play host to the night’s festivities. Being the smallest venue of the tour, it was surprising that by Wednesday, ticket sales had just barely reached 10,000, and the virtual secondary market was showing multiple signs of over-purchasing.

Night two, “One More Saturday Night” at Citi Field is in the books! Very lucky to have attended both shows. The weather was spectacular on this second night of the two-night run at the ballpark. The Dead & Company 2018 Summer tour is in full swing and at the halfway point. I have been following Dead & Company since their inception and witnessing what I see as an evolution.

SPAC, the Saratoga Performing Arts Center is one of those venues that has always been a special place to visit. The concert shed is located in the State Park, a couple of miles from downtown Saratoga Springs, NY. Saratoga State Park is known for its healing springs. The waters are rumored to be magical. FDR bathed in these spring waters during the Great Depression as a treatment for his Polio.

March for Our Lives, the movement and organization started by high school students who survived the mass shooting in Parkland FL, will have a booth at every Dead & Co. show on the summer tour.

With Wavy Gravy, Bob Weir, and Steve Kimock as its star personalities on May 6, and Wavy’s Camp Winnarainbow the recipient of the evening’s proceeds, the intimate event at the Sweetwater Music Hall in Mill Valley, California, exuded a friends and family vibe. And there was cake!

Skull and Roses is a celebration of community, a community generated by the music of the Grateful Dead.  Our music.

Somebody asked Uncle John what being a Dead Head was all about.  He smiled and said, “When you want to be fully alive, an individual but also tied at the heart within a rich, vibrant family, somebody who wants to have a lot of fun and probably dance, too – then you’re a Dead Head.”

American rock prodigy Steve Kimock took over Denver’s Cervantes’ Other Side for two nights of funk, rock, and blues this past weekend, playing an exotic orchestration featuring jam-fueled originals and traditional covers alike.

Did I say one? Better make it two. While Dead & Company trounced Dallas this past Friday with a meaty rocker of a show, Saturday night in Austin received a more deliberate performance befitting the band’s early era of improvised exploration. Which was better? Well, that depends on the opinion of the most opinionated fans in music. But we can all agree that for one weekend there was a seventh flag flying over Texas: the Freak Flag.