Grooving out to Grateful Dead records with a friend of mine from Providence, we treated ourselves to a separate part of the late guitarist Bob Weir’s discography: a 1976 self-titled album by the band Kingfish. Not too separate, though; its first two songs were adopted by the Dead as live show material, with “Supplication” in specific being a meditative, head-swaying piece that asks you to dance if you can count well enough.
We talked about Weir’s recent passing and my friend recalled a 2021 podcast in which Weir described and even “celebrated” death as “the last and best reward for a life well lived.” The musician predicted it as merely the beginning of a new, liberating adventure: “I look forward to dying. One of these days, I’m gonna get around to it.”
However you feel about mortality, you may feel better about the Dead when you’re with friends — or company, if you will.
On Saturday, Feb. 7, over a dozen Central Oregon bands will celebrate 60-plus years of the band’s music at the High Desert Music Hall in Redmond, while supporting local nonprofit NeighborImpact at the same time.
Event organizer Kevin Byrne said this event, A Grateful Night, was started by Mark Ransom, of Bend Roots Revival and other projects, in Bend over a decade ago, but fizzled out around 2018. Byrne got in touch with Ransom in 2021 and suggested running it back in Redmond. The idea to make it a fundraiser for NeighborImpact came soon after.
“A bunch of local bands will interchange through the night,” Byrne told the Source, including The Hasbens, Call Down Thunder and The Mostest. Other than an intermission, “the music doesn’t stop the entire time,” he said.
In mourning (or celebration) of two Dead members — Weir and jazz-minded bass maestro Phil Lesh — Byrne said this year’s Grateful Night would be an “extra tribute to the both of them… A couple Phil songs and a bunch of Bobby songs will be featured.”
Sponsors include Bend Roots, Cosmic Depot, Redbird and Wild Ride Brewing.
The show begins at 7 pm and is expected to end at 11 pm. The entry fee is 15 canned food items or $15. Be there or be square, man.
This article appears in the Source February 5, 2026.
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