On a cool Saturday night my buddy Dean and I drove down to the Ashkenaz on San Pablo Ave. to catch two outstanding Grateful Dead cover bands I have seen quite frequently in the Bay Area over the last year, The Dead Guise and Play Live Dead (formerly known as Live Dead.) Dean had never been to a show at Ashkenaz, nor had he seen either band, so I was quite excited to introduce him to this incredible live music, especially because he was a big fan of The Dead like myself.

The anticipation outside San Francisco’s Bill Graham Civic Center was at an all time peak! Dead Heads everywhere with their long hair, dread locks, beards, hemp necklaces and tie-dyed clothing were lined up outside the venue either in line or holding up their pointer finger praying for a miracle ticket. This was the kind of atmosphere I had dreamt about for years! It was beyond a rock n’ roll concert! It was the indescribable coming together of thousands of Dead Heads, who are a tribe, who become joined into one strong force once they step a foot through those auditorium doors.

Amid the recent and exciting “Shakedowns” amongst the currently touring Grateful Dead threaded projects, I had the good fortune of swapping some very interesting and eloquent emails with my friend Jeff Mattson.

After years at the helm of The Zen Tricksters, a stint with Phil Lesh and Friends, a terrific and on-going run with Donna Jean Godchaux and her various recent incarnations, Mattson now steps into John Kadlicek’s shoes with the freight train that is the Dark Star Orchestra.

Discovery Bay Games today announced the release of Grateful Dead-Opoly, available in stores and online in time for the 2009 Holiday shopping season. The board game was created by music industry veteran and longtime Grateful Dead associate Debbie Gold, with artwork by comic book illustrator Timothy Truman.

Live Dead were quite the frequenters of the Starry Plough in the Spring and early parts of the summer of 2009. During a short hiatus away from Berkeley the band toured other parts of California such as South Lake Tahoe, Eureka, and the famous Brookdale Lodge in the Santa Cruz Mountains.

Happy 62nd Birthday, Bobby Weir.   I saw Bobby 20 years ago tonight at the Brendan Byrne arena in East Rutherford, NJ, which ended up being an epic show.  -- Bobby is the ultimate road warrior and really cannot thank you enough... My fav Ratdog show was in July 2007 at Red Rocks.  Favorite Bobby screws up... too many to count. 

One of the most anticipated shows of the Fall was Bob Weir and Phil Lesh’s new side project together called Furthur. The lineup also consists Dead keyboardist Jeff Chimenti and Dark Star Orchestra lead guitarist and vocalist John Kadlecik. Dark Star Orchestra is considered the best Grateful Dead cover band in the country because of Kadlecik’s ability to sing in a very similar mellifluous voice like Jerry Garcia is part of his attraction to longtime Dead Heads.

Dead.net proudly presents our latest "Full Run" box set from the vault. Get ready for the perfectly natural follow up to last year's Winterland 1973: The Complete Recordings. We invite you to continue the story of the band's reign at perhaps the greatest venue of all, San Francisco's--and Bill Graham's--Winterland Arena. Experience every single note from June 7th, 8th & 9th, 1977 in glorious HDCD fidelity.

It was another packed night at The Starry Plough and Live Dead defied all odds by playing three sets in a row, opening with an acoustic and then following with two electric sets. It felt like you really were at a Dead show as these guys didn’t give a hoot about time, they were just there to play music and have a fabulous time with their fans, which is of course what being a Dead Head is all about.

The demographics of a show that contains any member of The Grateful Dead is not as easily predicted as you may think. Wednesday night’s show at Innsbrook Pavilion, near Richmond was peppered with the usual suspects, to be sure.