Raising The Dead will be playing the official Detroit Tigers Grateful Dead night on Monday, August 5! The show beings at 5:30 until 6:30, and the game is at 7:10. Best of all, if you purchase your ticket via this link, you also get the Detroit Tigers Grateful Dead tye-dye t-shirt! We can't wait to rock out at Comerica park - see you there!

​UPDATE: the ticket link says "sold out" but that refers to the T-shirts ONLY. Get a regular game ticket, and you can still come to see the show at 5:30. Sorry, we didn't know they would sell out so soon! Here's the link for tickets! https://bit.ly/2MpFVD3

What a cool event! Hundreds of people, dozens of vendors, live glass blowing, an awesome stage and live music - all to benefit arts education. When we arrived to perform our 8:30-10pm set, Sam Grisman (son of David Grisman) was performing with his band, and the scene was like a big shakedown - tents with tons of vendors as well as those inside, and an amazing array of art to browse and purchase. We were really excited to see the awesome stage and sound crew, because we love when we can rely on pros to make sure the show sounds great.

Unfortunately, just as we loaded the stage, a storm was about to bear down on us and we tarped our gear and waited. As luck would have it, the storm flew all around us, but we didn't feel a drop! We took the stage about an hour late and delivered a slightly shorter-but no less psychedelic-set of Grateful jams. Aided by Stephen NyQuist on drums and vocals, we tore through Stranger, took a breath, then unleashed Estimated Prophet>Eyes of the World (with coda)>Playin' in the Band>Liberty. Each featured some fantastic improvisation, and Liberty showed off sparkling 3-part harmonies. We ended the night with two of our favorite pairings, Lost Sailor>Saint of Circumstance, and Weather Report>Let It Grow. We had planned to end with Me and My Uncle and Terrapin, but the late start caused us to end things early.

It was a great night for a great cause, and we hope to return next year to do it again! 

7-16-2019 Michigan Glass Project, Russell Industrial Center, Detroit, MI
Feel Like a Stranger, Estimated Prophet>Eyes of the World>Playin' In The Band*>Liberty**, Lost Sailor>Saint of Circumstance, Weather Report>Let It Grow
*=unfinished
**=first time played

Photos by Mike Chojnowski and Dave Martin

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Wave that flag!  On a hot and steamy July 3rd, Raising The Dead took to a (thankfully) tented red white and blue stage at the Gibraltar Fair and laid down two sets of groovin' Grateful Dead.  We swapped hour-long sets with Full Speed Ahead, a double-guitar, double-keyboard, yacht rock powerhouse featuring some incredible players and singers.  Full Speed Ahead is our Bass player/lead singer Bill Butler's "other" band, so he held down the low end all night long. 

This summer has been a great one for us so far, and the shows seem to keep getting better and better. A big part of this is thanks to the fresh energy of the drummers we've had sit in: T.W. Coleman (at the Psychedelic Shack), Nick Serocki (who played at Trixie's), Brent Nagy (The Watermark), and now Stephen NyQuist.  Stephen is known as the long-time drummer for the Saginaw band Sprout and the Orange. He took over the Kreutzman seat with expertise and gusto in Gibraltar, and showed off his groove mastery as well as his excellent voice.  We were jazzed to play with him, and look forward to having him join us again soon. 

On to the show: Shakedown was energetic and fun, Row Jimmy featured a cool calypso breakdown at the end, and we played our best rendition of the epic Unbroken Chain yet.  The Wheel showcased our 3 part harmonies, and gave way to a great Terrapin.  We ended our first set with  an irresistible melody for even the non-deadheads in the crowd, the Dead's biggest hit, Touch of Gray,

The second set was filled with high energy rockers.  Sugar Magnolia was quick and intense, Jack Straw came on like a freight train, and the Cryptical>Other One>Cryptical sandwich satisfied with an intense jam.  We shifted into crowd favorite Truckin, and brought the blues hard.  Uncle John's Band showcased some of our best harmony ever, and the jumpy jam got pretty (as in pretty far out) before returning to the song.  We finished our time with a up-tempo China Cat>I Know You Rider, and left the crowd wanting more.

We're taking next week off from performing, but Raising The Dead will rise again at the Michigan Glass Project on July 19.  See you there! 
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7-3-2019 Gibraltar Fair, Gibraltar, Michigan
I: Shakedown Street, Row Jimmy, Unbroken Chain, The Wheel>Terrapin Station>Touch of Gray
II: Sugar Magnolia, Jack Straw, Cryptical Envelopment>The Other One>Cryptical Envelopment>Truckin>Uncle John's Band, China Cat Sunflower>I Know You Rider 
First show with drummer Stephen NyQuist