{"id":43095,"date":"2025-08-06T12:32:59","date_gmt":"2025-08-06T19:32:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=43095"},"modified":"2025-08-06T12:33:00","modified_gmt":"2025-08-06T19:33:00","slug":"dead-company-shows-in-sf-are-a-family-affair-for-tens-of-thousands-of-deadheads","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2025\/08\/06\/dead-company-shows-in-sf-are-a-family-affair-for-tens-of-thousands-of-deadheads\/","title":{"rendered":"Dead &amp; Company shows in SF are a family affair for tens of thousands of Deadheads"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sfexaminer.com\/users\/profile\/Natalia%20Gurevich\">By Natalia Gurevich | Examiner staff writer<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Aug 4, 2025\u00a0(SFExaminer.com)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com\/sfexaminer.com\/content\/tncms\/assets\/v3\/editorial\/b\/61\/b615250c-b5b2-436d-b62e-ded09434077f\/689129a83cdb2.image.jpg?resize=400%2C267\" alt=\"Dead&amp;Co60SF2025_0802_184525-0587_ALIVE.jpg\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Organizers said the three Dead &amp; Company averaged 57,000 attendees each day.Courtesy of Activist Artists<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The significance of the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sfexaminer.com\/news\/the-city\/haight-ashbury-vendors-honor-grateful-dead-60th-anniversary\/article_34f68662-e68e-45fc-9d15-567344762a4e.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Grateful Dead\u2019s 60th anniversary last weekend<\/a>&nbsp;was not lost on the tens of thousands of Deadheads who descended upon Golden Gate Park to commemorate it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Dead &amp; Company\u2019s trio of sold-out San Francisco shows celebrated the original band\u2019s milestone anniversary in the city where the group\u2019s legendary run began.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI never saw the Grateful Dead on the West Coast, here in their home, in San Francisco,\u201d said Kevin Sweat, who said he moved from the East Coast to the San Francisco Bay Area 15 years ago with his wife, Jennifer. \u201cSo for me, it\u2019s amazing. It\u2019s a wonderful feeling.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Kevin Sweat said the couple has seen Dead &amp; Company perform across the country since it formed 10 years ago. He was in the crowd at Jerry Garcia\u2019s last Grateful Dead show on July 9, 1995 at Chicago\u2019s Soldier Field \u2014 a month before the founding frontman\u2019s death \u2014 and the Sweats were there in San Francisco on&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sfexaminer.com\/news\/the-city\/jerry-day-honors-excelsior-as-much-as-grateful-dead-founder\/article_77052baf-1268-4b22-b16e-d6f17d2b3011.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Garcia\u2019s birthday Friday<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI didn\u2019t make that connection until just now, and it just smacked me in the face,\u201d Jennifer Sweat said. \u201cLike, \u2018Whoa, that\u2019s right.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Organizers sold 57,000 tickets for each of the three days, which featured special guest sets from Billy Strings, Sturgill Simpson and Trey Anastasio Band. Many of the Sweats\u2019 fellow attendees had unique personal stories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When asked for his favorite song, Bay Area resident Joe Berg struggled to choose, saying it depended on the day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s a trick question, man,\u201d Berg said. \u201cCan I give you ten?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cYou can\u2019t have an answer to that question for the Dead, it\u2019s a shade of grey for everything,\u201d he said. \u201cDepending on the situation, that song comes into it, and that\u2019s your favorite song.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But many others singled out \u201cRipple,\u201d from the album \u201cAmerican Beauty,\u201d which was released in 1970 along with the single \u201cTruckin.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Berg said he and his wife, Laura, got married to the former song last year. Laura Berg isn\u2019t as passionate a fan as her husband, she has grown to love both the song and the original band over the years as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cOnce you go, you\u2019re into it,\u201d she said of the shows. \u201cThe live music, everyone\u2019s really nice to each other. It\u2019s a good vibe.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Mike Eastman, who said he first saw the Dead perform back in 1982, said not much about San Francisco had changed since, except it \u201cdidn\u2019t smell as much like urine\u201d back then.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt smelled more like jet fuel and salt water,\u201d he said, chuckling that he was just \u201ctrying to paint a picture.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Eastman, who trekked to San Francisco from Tennessee for the weekend, had just met the Bergs on their first afternoon of the show. The group insisted on getting a photo together to remember the moment, with which The Examiner\u2019s reporter was happy to oblige.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"4\" height=\"3\" src=\"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/image-15.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-43098\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Dead &amp; Company\u2019s trio of sold-out San Francisco shows celebrated the original band\u2019s milestone anniversary in The City where the group\u2019s legendary run began.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"4\" height=\"3\" src=\"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/image-16.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-43099\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">\u201cEveryone here is a friend you haven\u2019t made yet,\u201d one attendee said.Bob Minkin\/Courtesy Activist Artists<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The crowd\u2019s intense camaraderie continued over the weekend, with people making new connections, exchanging hugs, and sharing drinks among the sea of tie-dye. But the love of the group spanned generations as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Audrey Heinze, whose parents introduced her to the Dead, shared that love with her now-adult daughter, Mackenzie Toddes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThis is the genesis of this magic,\u201d Heinze said of the event. \u201cFor every day, every mood that you\u2019re having, there\u2019s a Dead song that corresponds to it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The duo had driven to San Francisco all the way from Pennsylvania for the show, and the crowd was a bit overwhelming for Toddes, who said it was larger than she\u2019d expected, but in a \u201cfun way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Heinze said that one of the best things about coming to these shows \u2014 last week was her 15th \u2014 is the people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cEveryone here is a friend you haven\u2019t made yet,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Stefan Nilsen and Michaela Edwards had made the drive to The City from Yosemite with friends, and agreed that the ambience of the fan base was a key part in what made their love of the Dead so deep.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s not always about specifically the music,\u201d Edwards said. \u201cIt\u2019s about the experience, the community.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI think about what life was like, what the world was like when these guys started \u2014 so much has changed,\u201d Nilsen said about the Dead. \u201cBut it feels like this has remained, which is the community aspect.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Nilsen and Edwards\u2019 parents were also into the Dead, so Nilsen said the duo considers themselves as having \u201cinherited the fandom.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Edwards said that she grew up hearing from her dad about the shows he went to in the 1970s and \u201980s. Now that her parents have reached an age where it\u2019s harder for them physically to attend this type of event, it means a lot for her to be able to continue in their spirit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI just feel very fortunate that I\u2019m able to go with my buddies, doing what they did, when they were 30 years old,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The significance of the&nbsp;Grateful Dead\u2019s 60th anniversary last weekend&nbsp;was not lost on the tens of thousands of Deadheads who descended upon Golden Gate Park to commemorate it. Dead &amp; Company\u2019s trio of sold-out San Francisco shows celebrated the original band\u2019s milestone anniversary in the city where the group\u2019s legendary run&#8230; <a class=\"continue-reading-link\" href=\"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2025\/08\/06\/dead-company-shows-in-sf-are-a-family-affair-for-tens-of-thousands-of-deadheads\/\"> Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr; <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43095"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43095"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43095\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":43101,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43095\/revisions\/43101"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43095"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43095"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43095"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}