The Grateful Dead Goes To The Symphony

The “First Fusion” show takes place May 7 at the Marin Center in San Rafael, Calif. Weir and Stanford University’s Dr. Giancarlo Aquilanti will orchestrate the evening, which will feature over 50 musicians.   Proceeds from the performance will benefit the Marin Symphony Orchestra.

“This is completely different,” Weir said. “For one thing, part of what makes this interesting is that’s not just going to be an orchestra playing Grateful Dead songs.  I’m going to be playing too, along with Jeff Chimenti, Jay Lane, Robin Sylvester, Rob Wasserman and some other guys, and there’s going to be real interaction between the symphony and us. … This is definitely going to go to some new realms.”

Weir co-founded the Grateful Dead in 1965 with Jerry Garcia, Phil Lesh, Ron “Pigpen” McKernan and Bill Kreutzmann.

After Garcia’s death in 1995 and the subsequent breakup of the band, Weir toured with Lesh, Kreutzmann and Mickey Hart as The Other Ones. In 2003 the group changed its name to The Dead. The band’s most recent lineup also featured Chimenti and Warren Haynes.

Since The Dead last toured in 2009, Weir has been performing with Lesh and Chimenti as Furthur. The band also features John Kadlecik, Joe Russo, Sunshine Becker, and Jeff Pehrson.

Weir has also performed with Chimenti in Ratdog, the group Weir started with bassist Wasserman in 1995.

Pre-sale tickets to the “First Fusion” performance are on sale now. Tickets go on sale to the general public Feb. 4.

Click here for Furthur’s website.

Click here for RatDog’s website.

Click here for the Marin Symphony Orchestra’s website.