Latest news with #GratefulDead
San Francisco Chronicle
20 hours ago
- Entertainment
- San Francisco Chronicle
Grateful Dead 60th anniversary in Golden Gate Park: What you need to know
Dead & Company will commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Grateful Dead with a blockbuster three-night run in Golden Gate Park from Friday-Sunday, Aug. 1-3, drawing an estimated 60,000 fans per day to the Polo Field. For diehard Deadheads and first-time pilgrims alike, Golden Gate Park will once again be a sacred gathering spot — a celebration of music, memory and the enduring magic of the legendary jam band. Who is performing each night? Each evening opens with a special guest: bluegrass virtuoso Billy Strings on Friday, Aug. 1; Sturgill Simpson (performing as Johnny Blue Skies) on Saturday, Aug. 2; and Trey Anastasio Band on Sunday, Aug. 3. Following each performer's 75-minute sets, Dead & Company — led by original Grateful Dead members Bob Weir and Mickey Hart, with John Mayer, Oteil Burbridge, Jeff Chimenti and Jay Lane — will headline the festivities. When and where are the concerts? Dates: Friday-Sunday, Aug. 1-3 Venue: Polo Field, Golden Gate Park Fans can begin lining up no earlier than two hours before gates open. What to know about park road closures Expect wide-reaching park closures. The Polo Field will be off-limits through Aug. 20. Key roadways, including Middle Drive and parts of JFK Drive, will close to vehicles — and, in some cases, to pedestrians and cyclists — especially during the concert window. How to get to the shows Public transit is the recommended route. Muni will boost service on the 5-Fulton and N-Judah lines, offering free rides to ticket holders via the Your Ticket, Your Fare program. Bike parking is available onsite, and local shuttles will operate to and from central San Francisco. Where to find Shakedown Street and exclusive merch Shakedown Street, the open-air market synonymous with Dead tours, returns as a fully sanctioned event along JFK Promenade during the three-day concert. Nearly 100 vendors will line JFK Promenade between Transverse and Blue Heron Lake streets from 10:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily. Expect everything from tie-dye and tapestries to grilled cheese and incense. A Dead & Company Pop-Up Shop at Polk Hall in the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium (99 Grove St.) will also operate 10 a.m.–6 p.m. Wednesday-Sunday, July 30–Aug. 3. The shop will feature exclusive merchandise and collectibles not available at the concert site. The store is cashless. Ticket info and how to watch from home Original general admission weekend passes started at $635, with VIP tiers reaching up to $9,548. Though tickets are sold out, fans at home can stream all three nights via in HD or 4K. On Sunday, Aug. 3, the final show will also screen live in select IMAX theaters nationwide. What to bring — and what to leave at home Bag policy: Clear bags preferred; small non-clear purses allowed (max 6-by-8-by- 3 inches). Hydration packs: Allowed if under 2.5L and with no extra compartments. Chairs and seating: No personal chairs or metal-framed seating. Blankets under 2-by-3 feet are allowed. Prohibited: Oversized blankets, tarps, inflatables and unattended belongings. More Grateful Dead events across San Francisco Other citywide events will stretch into the fall, including art exhibitions, after-parties, tribute concerts, panel discussions and special performances — from Jerry Day in McLaren Park to the San Francisco Giants' Grateful Dead tribute night at Oracle Park on Aug. 12.
San Francisco Chronicle
a day ago
- Entertainment
- San Francisco Chronicle
Caps off to Kaiser's staff of international nurses
I recently spent a week in Kaiser Permanente's Oakland hospital recovering from a nasty bout of pneumonia. During my stay, I was tended by an international corps of nurses who continuously impressed me with their medical knowledge, competence, kindness and compassion. Interestingly, their national origins included, in addition to America, Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, Congo, Zimbabwe, Yemen, China, Indonesia, Mexico and various Central American countries. All are here legally. Also of significance, many had earned their registered nurse status through California community colleges in the Bay Area, an often underappreciated resource available to students as an alternative to expensive four-year institutions. Note that the majority of these highly dedicated professionals hail from nations once characterized by President Donald Trump as 's—hole countries' and, thus, are among the people he is determined to eject from the U.S. — which is to say, not descended from white, European stock. These young nurses — whose families came here for opportunity and the chance to pursue good lives — are just the kind of citizens we want in our country: They perform essential services with high levels of professionalism, raise families and pay taxes. After my recent experience with them, I'm enormously grateful that they're here. David Esler, Berkeley Dead fan grateful Regarding 'Deadheads unite: Ultimate guide to Grateful Dead celebrations in the Bay Area,' (Arts & Entertainment, July 22), thank you, Anne Schrager, for writing a great overview of this weekend's GD60 concert celebrations. To the City of San Francisco and its residents: Thank you in advance for making this event possible and hosting over 100,000 Grateful Dead fans. Most importantly, thank you in advance to the thousands of residents who will support transportation, lodging, dining, vendor, public safety and health care services for this historical gathering in the hometown of the Grateful Dead. Thousands of Deadheads will be traveling from near and far to attend the Grateful Dead's 60th anniversary concerts in San Francisco. Thank you to the city, Golden Gate Park, and most importantly, the dedicated workers throughout the community who will make this extraordinary weekend possible. From transportation to lodging to dining to safety and medical services, we are grateful for all of your services. Nothing left to do but smile, smile, smile. Thank you. Terry Lewis, Pittsburgh Fisher not the first Regarding ''Moscone is usually quiet': S.F. convention center books EDM giant Fisher' (Arts & Entertainment, July 26), this won't be the first. The Grateful Dead played a benefit concert for Vietnam veterans at the Moscone Center on May 28, 1982. They shared the bill with Country Joe and the Fish and Jefferson Starship. The Dead's set included John Cipollina and Boz Scaggs. It was (obviously) a great show! Doug Peckler, San Francisco Include more despots Regarding 'Alpha Tyrant Afterlife' (Opinion, July 25): The Joel Pett political cartoon depicting Vladimir Putin speaking to Benjamin Netanyahu with Donald Trump and Adolph Hitler in hell left out Yahya Sinwar, the late leader of Hamas and mastermind of the Oct. 7 massacre. Many Gaza citizens believe he is in heaven. Does cartoonist Pett? Putin allied Russia with Hamas, and it seems more likely that Putin would be speaking to Sinwar. William Klingelhoffer, San Francisco Fealty from all Regarding 'Deportations haunt U.S. born citizen' (Front page, San Francisco Chronicle, July 27), with masked gestapo in unmarked cars grabbing people (including U.S. citizens) off the street President Donald Trump appears intent on creating the very hell hole he denounced in his campaign. Added to this campaign of intimidation is keeping people out of the country who do not swear fealty to 'our dear leader.' Last week a relative was traveling to the West Coast from Dublin with two Irish friends. Her friends were detained and told by INS officers they could not enter. Their crime? Their cell phones contained criticisms of President Trump. By this standard. it would appear that most of the world is now ineligible to enter the United States. Tom Miller, Oakland Eye of the beholder Regarding 'We have seen better days, San Francisco' (Native Son, July 27), thank you, Carl Nolte, for your notes about the 'new' city without criticizing anyone. I prefer Russell/Woolpert over Chase Center, Tony Ponce pitching both ends of a doubleheader at Seals over $18 beers at Oracle, and George Christopher over any other mayor. Mark Allan, Inverness Park
San Francisco Chronicle
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- San Francisco Chronicle
‘It's a big deal': Grahame Lesh readies for S.F.'s Grateful Dead 60th anniversary celebration
Grahame Lesh had a front row seat to one of the country's most cherished jam bands as a kid. Now, he's helping to carry forward its legacy. The son of Grateful Dead founding bassist Phil Lesh, the 38-year-old grew up immersed in the music and culture of the Bay Area band. Though he was only 8 years old when its founding guitarist Jerry Garcia died of a heart attack in 1995, he learned much of the music by watching his father perform in the spinoff group Phil Lesh & Friends, which was formed in 1998 and featured a rotating cast of musicians inspired by the Dead. Lesh even jammed with his father on several occasions. When the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee died in October at 84, Lesh made it his mission to continue honoring his father's legacy through his own career. He plans to do so with the Heart of Town, a three-night concert series at San Francisco's Pier 48 that will be part of the electric city-wide celebration of the Grateful Dead's 60th anniversary year. Scheduled for July 31-Aug. 2, the guitarist and his band Grahame Lesh & Friends will honor the influential band, which was founded in the 1960s and became emblematic of the era's counterculture movement, with an array of special musical guests. 'It just seems that the entire world of Grateful Dead fans are going to descend on the city,' Lesh said, describing the weekend as 'a celebration of the entire city and the music that came from San Francisco, especially in the '60s.' The Heart of Town's kickoff show is slated to begin at 8 p.m., but the Aug. 1-2 shows, which overlap with Dead & Company's sold-out three-show run, will begin at 11 p.m. to allow Deadheads to attend both concerts without being too crunched for time. Lesh spoke with the Chronicle a few weeks before kicking off the Heart of Town shows. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. Q: What inspired the Heart of Town run of shows? A: It's the 60th, it's a big deal … It really just seemed perfect to try and gather as many musicians that have been inspired by the Grateful Dead, because there's countless of them, including myself. A: I've lived in the Bay Area my whole life, in Marin and in San Francisco, so it's not unfamiliar to me what the community is like. … I run into Deadheads everywhere, and my dad would as well. It's very cool to give everyone in the community, and the familiar faces that I'm going to see, a place, basically the whole city, to go and celebrate the music and the community that we all love. Q: Is there a particular memory you have growing up around the Dead that really sticks with you as a musician today? A: I was younger when it was the actual Grateful Dead, so I kind of learned this music when my dad started Phil Lesh & Friends a few years later. … The breadth of musicians that came through is very memorable to me, and I really learned and have memories from them that are maybe even stronger than my memories of the Grateful Dead. But every time my dad and Bob and Mickey and Billy would get back together and do something as the Dead or as the Other Ones, it was always really special. They all harkened back to the long history they had since they were in their teens and 20s. It's kind of crazy how far back the music goes and reaches deep into the roots of American music that predate even them. My brother and I grew up in this whole community and it's going to outlive us all too. Q: What is the most helpful piece of advice you received during that experience? A: My dad would talk a lot about the way they approached the music. But the takeaway generally was just that they always did what felt right, and they pursued what they wanted, what they thought sounded good, what they thought was fun, what they thought was right for each song in each moment. That sort of freedom is definitely what I try to bring to every time I approach the music. Q: What does it feel like to be carrying forward your father's legacy with these upcoming San Francisco shows? A: It's been nine months or so since he passed, so it's all still relatively fresh. It's all very special. I was lucky enough to play with him in San Francisco, especially in the last five or so years, kind of a lot. The Grateful Dead is kind of just the ultimate American music to me and to a lot of people. It's always very special to be a part of that.
Daily Mail
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Major country star says he is 'going into debt' over Las Vegas residency
The scale of Zac Brown's upcoming Las Vegas residency is coming with a hefty price tag. The 46-year-old country music sensation — who just announced his engagement — will play four shows at Sphere in December, coinciding with his Love & Fear album release. Speaking with Us Weekly in anticipation of the performances, Zac said he's 'just going into debt to make it happen.' He added about him and his band: 'It's a big moment in time and it's like, for us, I want to be among the names of the Grateful Dead and the Rolling Stones and the bands that take that lifelong career impact fan journey to be able to do that. This is our statement to try to step into that.' The music artist recently announced two more shows at Sphere, set to take place January 9 and 10. Zac is up for any challenge preparing for his gigs may present. 'Whatever adversity, I'm just like, "OK, bring it,"' he said with a can-do attitude. 'There's lots of forces that are always trying to distract you from what you're doing, and you just got to just keep plowing, keep going,' the star told the outlet. He also teased that concertgoers will feel 'every emotion that you can contain' upon the album's release and Las Vegas shows. The Georgia native wants his fans to 'feel this sense of awe' when they arrive at Sphere to see him perform. 'I hope they feel wonder,' the Tie Up hitmaker shared. 'Unpredictability is something we use in our live shows a lot. I love pulling out covers that no one would ever expect us to play, that's super fun. This is the same thing visually, sonically — everything we're doing.' And the musician gave details about the progress he's made so far. 'We have all the audio finished. We're putting the video pieces together, stitching it together. I'm finishing the story,' Zac said. 'I'm telling a lot of personal things about my life that I've never shared before. Everything that's hard that we go through as human beings always ends up making us better in some way,' he detailed. He expressed, 'Taking people on a journey through things that are uncomfortable and then creating that dissonance and then that tension and release is really the art of what we're doing. 'I haven't seen anything like what we're doing there. So, it's really exciting.' The update comes amid the singer's shock engagement to jewelry designer Kendra Scott. On Thursday the couple revealed to People that they are set to wed, just a few months after debuting their relationship on the red carpet at The American Music Awards in May. 'We are so happy and grateful that we found each other,' the duo shared with the outlet. Zac has five children with his ex-wife, Shelly Brown, while Scott has two adult sons with her ex, John Scott, and a young son with ex Matt Davis. The country crooner was most recently married to Kelly Yazdi from August 2023-December 2023.
The Guardian
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Wear flowers in your hair … and take the bus: San Francisco fetes Grateful Dead concerts with tie-dye
The summer of love is pulling back in to San Francisco – aboard three tie-dye and paisley-wrapped trains and buses. Designed to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Grateful Dead's formation, the city's Muni transit vehicles will double as transport for concertgoers attending a three-day Dead & Company series at Golden Gate Park. 'There's no better place to celebrate 60 years of the Grateful Dead than right here in San Francisco, and now that legacy is rolling through our neighborhoods literally,' Mayor Daniel Lurie said at a press conference on Tuesday. San Francisco public transit wrap campaigns are usually funded by advertisers – but the city financed these three Grateful Dead-inspired vehicles from Muni's marketing budget, in part because the city expects the concerts to bring huge numbers of tourists and spending to the Bay Area. Founded in the San Francisco Bay Area in 1965, just two years before the summer of love, the Grateful Dead quickly attracted a dedicated fanbase, who called themselves Deadheads. Though the original lineup disbanded in 1995 with the death of singer and lead guitarist Jerry Garcia, the band's members continued performing together with projects like Dead & Company. When Dead & Company performed in San Francisco in 2023, the single show generated $31m for the city's economy. This year, the city is banking on the band's 1-3 August appearances bringing hundreds of thousands of fans to the home of Haight-Ashbury and 1960s counterculture. General-admission tickets for the three-day festival start at $635, but VIP passes are already being resold on StubHub for upwards of $7,000. Even Muni is selling limited-edition tie-dye T-shirts to celebrate. 'Our bars and restaurants will be packed, our hotels will be booked, our neighborhoods will come alive, and there will be more revenue to fund the services that benefit all San Franciscans. When we make space for creativity and celebration, the whole city benefits,' Lurie said in a statement on Tuesday. The 'Psychedeli-bus' and 'Trippy Train' will serve as festival transit – but are also scheduled to run along the 5 Fulton, 7 Haight/Noriega and N Judah routes. The city is hoping the themed vehicles will boost enthusiasm for public transit, at a moment when Muni's financial future looks uncertain. Muni ridership is at its highest levels since 2019, but the transit agency is facing a $322m budget deficit. 'We have proudly served passengers for decades, getting them to and from where they want to be,' Julie Kirschbaum, director of transportation at the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, said in a statement announcing the buses. 'Helping connect people to major moments that make San Francisco so special is at the core of what makes Muni so special.'
