Grateful Dead first concert

Forming up around the same time as the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and Pink Floyd, the Grateful Dead were no doubt inspired by the psychedelic rock sounds produced by that age. But they went a step beyond: behind their lead singer, songwriter and guitarist Jerry Garcia, they infused their music with whiffs of country and bluegrass, rhythm & blues and soul, and long, winding improvisational sessions. They inspired legions of followers, more fanatics than fans, who called themselves “deadheads,” following the band on tour from city to city. They contributed, as much as anybody, to the 60s shift in American music and culture

On this day, December 10, in 1965 the Grateful Dead played their first concert at the Fillmore Auditorium in San Francisco. The week before they played their first gig together as the Dead, at Ken Kesey’s “Acid Test” public party in San Jose, California.

The Fillmore concert, the first recorded performance of the Dead, also featured Jefferson Airplane, The Great Society, The John Handy Quintet, The Mystery Trend, and Sam Thomas. Organized by Bill Graham for a “Mime Troupe Benefit,” it was staged in protest of racism and segregation, and sponsored in part by Berkeley’s Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee, the very same ones that staged a 1,000-member sit-in on campus around the same time.