I don’t know how many Grateful Dead tribute bands are out there, but I’m guessing a lot. However, I bet very few of them have a Deadhead street-cred story as cool as Grateful Shred’s, who cemented their rep as an authentic Dead tribute when in 2017 they played in the parking lot of the Hollywood Bowl before a Dead and Company show. They managed to stir up such a big crowd that the police stepped in to shut down their impromptu concert. Type “Busted at the Bowl” into YouTube to find it.
The incident created what the band called instant “Shred-cred.”
“We’ve been dealt some pretty good cards,” bandmember Austin McCutchen said on the band’s website. “It’s been cool to roll with it and push forward and continually make stuff happen. Things have gone our way. Even that video happened magically. It was put together at the last minute, and boom!”
These Grateful Dead parking lot pre-parties are legendary, with vendors cashing in on Grateful Dead merch. Dubbed Shakedown Street, the parking lot vendor area inspired both a song and album of the same name: Shakedown Street (1978), which is actually the only Grateful Dead record I own. I bought it in high school.
I tried to get an interview with Grateful Shred, but they didn’t get back to me by my deadline, which seems like a classic Deadhead thing to do, man. See Grateful Shred when they close this year’s three-day Live Oak Music Festival on Sunday, June 15.
Also on Sunday, start your morning with Moonshiner Collective frontman and singer-songwriter Dan Curcio playing the beer garden at 8 a.m. Singer-songwriter Cate Armstrong follows in the beer garden at 9 a.m.
Folky duo Murphy Wylde takes to the main stage at 10 a.m. In a real blast from the past, Curcio and members of his college band, Still Time, will follow to bring folky California beach rock to the main stage at 11:30 a.m.
Fiddler Phil Salazar will host the Jamming Workshop with Phil aimed to help you play well with others at noon on Stage Too.
Miko Marks will bring her soulful Americana to the main stage at 1 p.m. Americana quintet Rose’s Pawn Shop plays Stage Too at 2:15 p.m. Meanwhile, The Funk Junket brings their high-voltage global funk to the beer garden at 2:15.
Soul, funk, and jazz ensemble The Charities play the main stage at 3:30 p.m. Bluegrass and Americana act AJ Lee & Blue Summit follow on the main stage at 5. Then the headliner.
Corridos and cumbia-norteña to arena rock
First, if you were hoping to see Rod Stewart at Vina Robles Amphitheatre on Sunday, June 15, the show’s been rescheduled for Sunday, Sept. 21. Sir Rod is recovering from the flu, and announced, “So sorry my friends. I’m devastated and sincerely apologize for any inconvenience to my fans. I’ll be back onstage and will see you soon.” Previously purchased tickets will be honored.
Still on the books at Vina Robles Amphitheatre is Los Tucanes de Tijuana on June 14 (8 p.m.; all ages; $71.70 to $129.55 at ticketmaster.com). The regional Mexican group led by Mario Quintero Lara has entertained fans for nearly four decades with a long repertoire of corridos and cumbia-norteña. They’ve sold more than 20 million albums worldwide and have garnered 34 gold and 30 platinum records as well as earning a Latin Grammy in 2012, five Grammy nominations, nine Lo Nuestro Awards, and multiple BMI Awards.
Storied rock act Foreigner plays on Wednesday, June 18 (doors at 6:30, show at 8 p.m.; all ages; $76.80 to $1,534 at tickertmaster.com), and this show will mark the end of an era for lead vocalist Kelly Hansen, who recently announced he’ll be stepping down. Lou Gramm was the band’s original lead singer, but Hansen has sung for Foreigner since 2005. The current lineup also features founding member and band leader Mick Jones, the co-songwriter responsible for many of the band’s biggest hits such as “Feels Like the First Time,” “Colds as Ice,” “Hot Blooded,” “Dirty White Boy,” “Waiting for a Girl Like You,” and many others.
Americana rules
Numbskull and Good Medicine have a couple of country-esque shows lined up at two different venues this week starting with The Lowdown Drifters in Club Car Bar on Saturday, June 14 (8 p.m.; all ages; $24.41 at goodmedicinepresents.com). Hailing from Fort Worth, Texas, they call themselves “a hard living, hard loving, and hard leaving group of musicians blending country, rock, and Americana into a sound of their own; the epitome of a rock band with a fiddle problem.”
Next up is Silverada in The Siren on Wednesday, June 18 (7 p.m.; 21-and-older; $30.59 at goodmedicinepresents.com) with Taylor Hunnicutt and Todd Day Wait opening. Silverada is formerly Mike and the Moonpies, fronted by Mike Harmeier and which first formed in 2007 when he was still in his early 20s. Last year, he decided to change his band’s name as their sound continued to evolve.
“Back in the day, all we wanted to do was play the Broken Spoke,” said Harmeier in press materials, nodding to Austin’s hometown honky-tonk. “We had different aspirations back then. We were still figuring out what kind of band we were gonna be, and that took a lot of time and a lot of records.”
Now nine studio albums in, their most recent is 2024’s self-titled Silverada, their most ambitious album yet.
“Going into the studio, everybody in the band felt inspired to do something bigger than what they’d done before,” Harmeier explained. “We all knew we were at a precipice, and we wanted to jump. I brought in some songs that were metaphorical and not always straightforward, and that showed the guys that I wanted to take this music somewhere new … so they threw their own rulebooks out the window, too.”
Tribute fever
Tribute bands have always been popular, but lately it seems there are even more of them. The following five shows all pay homage to six of your favorite artists.
Tejano music queen
Anything for Salinas—A Tribute to Selena comes to the Fremont Theater on Friday, June 13 (doors at 7, show at 8 p.m.; all ages; $29.84 at prekindle.com). Karol Posadas channels Selena’s signature Tex-Mex sound. The beloved artist was tragically shot and killed at 23, ending her promising career. The Anything For Salinas Band was assembled by Posadas’ family members.
Sail away
The Fremont also hosts Yacht Rock Revue on Tuesday, June 17 (doors at 7, show at 8 p.m.; all ages; $37.05 at prekindle.com). Rolling Stone magazine hailed this tribute act the “world’s premier soft-rock party band,” as they cover the sun-soaked hits of the ’70s and ’80s. A recent setlist included songs like 10cc’s “I’m Not in Love,” Fleetwood Mac’s “Everywhere,” Toto’s “Africa,” Looking Glass’ “Brandy (You’re a Fine Girl),” and Boz Scaggs’ “Lido Shuffle.”
Ska punk party people
Few bands incapsulate the ’90s So-Cal party ethos like Sublime, and 40oz to Freedom (A Tribute to Brdley and Sublime) will bring their high-energy homage to The Siren on Saturday, June 14 (8 p.m.; 21-and-older; $18.48 at tixr.com). They’re the 2010 winner of a San Diego Music Award for Best Tribute Artist.
Psychedelic, man
SLO Brew Live presents Which One’s Pink—A Tribute to the Music of Pink Floyd at Rod & Hammer Rock on Thursday, June 19 (doors at 7 p.m.; all ages; $32.36 at ticketweb.com). This tribute band “performs note-for-note re-creations of most of Pink Floyd’s extensive catalogue, including complete performances of classic albums such as Dark Side of the Moon, The Wall, Wish You Were Here, and Animals,” according to organizers.
Tribute doubleheader
Legends of the Canyon Entertainment presents Petty Party: Celebrating the Music of Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers with special guest Stevie Ray Visited (a tribute to Stevie Ray Vaughan) at the Clark Center on Friday, June 15 (7:30 p.m.; all ages; $45 to $55 at clarkcenter.org).
Petty Party is billed as LA’s premier Tom Petty tribute with six of the industry’s top tribute artists: “Four members of the band have been featured on AXS TV’s World’s Greatest Tribute Bands, bringing national recognition to their incredible talent and authenticity,” according to their bio.
Hear hits such as “American Girl,” “Breakdown,” “Don’t Do Me Like That,” “Free Fallin’,” “I Won’t Back Down,” “Refugee,” “The Waiting,” “Learning to Fly,” “Running Down a Dream,” and more.
Stevie Ray Visited features guitar master Roby Duron playing classic Stevie Ray songs. Δ
Contact Arts Editor Glen Starkey at gstarkey@newtimesslo.com.
This article appears in Jun 12-22, 2025.