Brooklyn Bowl tribute underscores Grateful Dead’s continuing legacy after Bob Weir’s death

Hundreds of fans gathered Tuesday night at Brooklyn Bowl for a free concert honoring Grateful Dead guitarist Bob Weir, a show that underscored the durability of the band’s music and culture after Weir’s death Saturday at 78. The gathering came amid a string of farewells the Dead community has marked over decades: Jerry Garcia died in 1995 at 53; the group’s four remaining core members — Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzmann, Phil Lesh and Bob Weir — played their last shows together about 20 years later; Dead and Company made a “final tour” in 2023 and played three stand-alone shows last year for the band’s 60th anniversary; and Phil Lesh died in 2024 at 84.

“The voices are gone,” Dennis McNally, the Dead’s former spokesman and biographer, said this week, referring to Weir and other long-tenured members. At Brooklyn Bowl, the evening was more celebratory than funereal. A local cover band, Bushwick’s Dead, opened with “Sugar Magnolia” after bassist Sarah Elaz announced, “Bob Weir is here.” Photographs of a young Weir were shown, roses were handed out and tossed after a moment of silence, and guest performers included Matisyahu on “Estimated Prophet” and Robert Randolph on “Samson and Delilah.” The concert illustrated a broader continuity: Grahame Lesh described the Grateful Dead world as an “old oak tree,” with new musicians and cover bands as branches and leaves.

Key Topics

Culture, Bob Weir, Grateful Dead, Brooklyn Bowl, Phil Lesh, Grahame Lesh