Cubensis

Cubensis is the longest-running Grateful Dead tribute band in Southern California, founded in Los Angeles in 1987 by guitarist Craig Marshall out of frustration at how rarely the Dead played the LA area; their first show was July 27, 1988 at Club Dead in the San Fernando Valley. The current lineup is Nate LaPointe (guitar, joined 1996), Larry Ryan (bass, 1996), Tom Ryan (keyboards, 2000) and drummers Ed Fletcher and Brad Rhodus. They play full shows drawn from every era of the catalog with a different setlist each night, tour roughly 100 dates a year across the Southwest, and play annual benefits with the Rex Foundation. Grateful Dead keyboardists Vince Welnick and Tom Constanten have sat in, as have Warren Haynes and Chris Robinson; the band passed its 3,000th show in 2013 and its site now claims over 4,000.