Playing The Dead

San Francisco, CA

Playing The Dead is a collective of San Francisco musicians formed around a deep reverence for the Dead's catalog and its countercultural ethos. After a year of weekly Grateful Thursdays on Haight Street, the band moved its residency to the first Friday of every month at O'Reilly's Pub — a block from 710 Ashbury — where each night pairs the band with guest acts, stripped-down sets, DJs, and local vendors. The approach leans on improvisation and psychedelic texture rather than note-for-note recreation.