On Day Two of the Grateful Dead invasion, the “Summer of Love” spirit was revived — bare feet, dreadlocks and all for the Excelsior’s 23rd annual “Jerry Day.”
While you won’t be able to find Dead & Company at Golden Gate Park tickets for under $100, Jerry Day on Saturday celebrated the legacy of the Grateful Dead and the band’s founding frontman Jerry Garcia — free of charge.
For the first weekend in August going back two decades and some change, the Jerry Garcia Amphitheater in McLaren Park, has transported San Francisco back to the ‘70s and the peak of Deadhead culture.
For as much as Jerry Day is a Deadhead event, it’s also the Excelsior’s biggest event of the year. Garcia grew up in the Excelsior, at 87 Harrington St., a typical low-slung family home. In honor of Garcia’s 83th birthday, the street was renamed Jerry Garcia Street on Aug. 1 with the addition of a commemorative street sign.
“I found out in 1995 that Jerry came from the Excelsior, and I was like ‘how come nobody knows this?’ We were known for some other characters, but Jerry was more of a positive light,” said the Jerry Day’s founder and organizer, Tom Murphy.
Beginning at 11:30 on Saturday morning the event picked up quickly with crowds of Deadheads, young and old, ready to trip, see friends and meet others in the community. The first act at the amphitheater, Peter Rowan, hit the stage and people were quick to get groovin’. There were generations of Deadheads — with their spouses, friends, chosen family, kids and grandkids.
But while the people danced and bongs were ripped, donation buckets came rolling through the crowd with attendants shouting slogans like “Help keep Jerry Day free!”
Jerry Day relies on city funding, and the organization has been notified that 80 percent of that has been cut for next year. While the event also sells VIP packages to make ends meet – these running up to $150 and more – public dollars have been integral.
So this year, while celebrating the spirit of the Dead, the event was pulling out all the stops: selling merchandise, posters, a GoFundMe and peer-pressuring.
While some of the older revelers in the crowd were reliving their glory days touring with the band, the twentysomethings, referred to as “the kids,” by the hippie veterans, were living it.
“I listened to China Cat Sunflower and I would dance in my room, in the kitchen and all over to it,” said a third-generation kid.
“I saw Dead & Company in Los Angeles in 2019 and I found people who were dancing like me, that I didn’t know was happening.” they added.
“This is beautiful. It’s absolutely incredible. A free show in the park? Everyone is just stoked to be here, stoked to be alive.”
You couldn’t take two steps on Saturday without walking around contorted bodies dancing, many with dirt-stained bare feet and waist-length dreadlocks. Amid a crowd of thousands of hippies dripping in tie-dye, were vendors selling shroom chocolate in wicker baskets and smoke accessories in briefcases.
Others sold fan-designed Grateful Dead merch: T-shirts, stickers, magnets and lanyards. A tribe of kids peddled crystals with a sign scribbled on a coloring sheet.
From the sets of 10-minute songs to the white pall of second-hand smoke — it was easy to get lost in the vibes of Jerry Day.
“The best [memory] was I don’t have any memories,” said a twirling 57-year-old Deadhead.
“It was just one continuous thing after another, because every beautiful day was an incredible experience [listening to the music.]”
