The Deadbeats understand that the music of the Dead is best live. The Deadbeats play the Dead’s songbook with a balance of improvisation and honoring the song.
The band made their debut at Nevada City’s renowned Mad Dogs and Englishmen Pub on Aug. 4, 1994. They started the beloved northern California festival, Jerry Bash in 1996 as a free concert. Over the years, band members have rotated but the core group continues with great shows and big crowds. The current lineup includes Tom Menig, Gary Campus, Eric Menig, Rob Kopp, Glenn Tucker, Peter Wilson and Jenn Knapp.. Over the years band members have rotated but the core group continues with great shows and big crowds. The 2019 lineup includes Tom Menig, Eric Menig, Rob Kopp, Glenn Tucker, Peter Wilson, Jenn Knapp and Darby McConnell. Special guest appearances for 2019 included former Deadbeat and bassist Rich Stanam.
The Grateful Dead played over 2300 live shows in their thirty-year history with spin-offs – The Other Ones, Dead and Company – still drawing big crowds. The Guinness Book of World Records recognized them with a listing under the heading, “most rock concerts performed.” They played to an estimated 25 million people, more than any other band, with audiences of up to 600,000 attending a single show and most of these concerts are preserved in the band’s tape vault. August 1 would have been Jerry Garcia’s 78th birthday. Rolling Stone said Jerry Garcia was “..the unlikeliest of pop stars and the most reticent of cultural icons.”
