{"id":139454,"date":"2026-01-18T23:15:32","date_gmt":"2026-01-18T23:15:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/139454\/"},"modified":"2026-01-18T23:15:32","modified_gmt":"2026-01-18T23:15:32","slug":"san-francisco-says-goodbye-to-bobby-weir","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/139454\/","title":{"rendered":"San Francisco Says Goodbye to Bobby Weir"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tSan Francisco gave Bobby Weir one more glorious Saturday. Exactly a week after his death<\/a>, some 20,000 Deadheads and other fans, along with family and many friends, gathered at the Civic Center Plaza, just across Polk Street from City Hall, and across Grove Street to the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium.<\/p>\n

\n\tThey convened after many of them had walked, in his honor, up the city\u2019s main boulevard,\u00a0 Market Street, to the Plaza.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe organizers of the memorial celebration announced that there would be no live music. This would not be a concert. No matter. Everybody showed up. And they got their music, albeit a mixtape blasting out in high fidelity.<\/p>\n

\n\tEvery attendee was offered a long-stemmed red rose, courtesy of the Weir family, handed out by members of Wharf Rats, the Dead\u2019s sobriety\/recovery organization. I also saw one person giving away joints.<\/p>\n

\n\tUnlike the memorial celebration for Jerry Garcia in August, 1995, the one for Weir \u2014 entitled \u201cHomecoming: Celebrating the Life of Bob Weir<\/a>,\u201d to signal his return to the band\u2019s San Francisco home base \u2014 fans were casual about showing up and paying tribute. There were no overnight campers.<\/p>\n

\n\tOne diehard Deadhead, pen name \u201cTaper Ted,\u201d showed up at 6:30 a.m. \u2014 \u201cand I got a parking spot!\u201d \u2013 and saw no one else around, except maybe Darla and Adam, in from Seattle and settled into the plaza by 8 a.m. By 9:30, Chris Knorzer, a 57-year-old high school ceramics teacher in Rocklin, north of Sacramento, had secured his seat, in front of a tree. \u201cI liked the messages,\u201d he said of the Dead, \u201cand all the love they shared. They steered clear of political matters but still encouraged people to vote.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tWhen the Dead mixtape got to \u201cUncle John\u2019s Band,\u201d I experienced the first of several flashbacks. \u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tFrom my 1995 Rolling Stone piece about Jerry Garcia:<\/p>\n

\n\tOne day early in 1970, we got an impromptu visit from the management and several members of the Dead. The band had just wrapped up recording Workingman\u2019s Dead. They knew the album was something special, and they wanted to share it right away. Magazine staffers gathered in the editor\u2019s office and listened in awe to pedal steel licks and tight, pretty harmonies \u2014 from the Dead! \u2014 on \u201cUncle John\u2019s Band,\u201d \u201cDire Wolf\u201d and \u201cCasey Jones.\u201d They had been getting some inspiration from their friends, Crosby, Stills and Nash. Our minds, as someone would later say, were young and blown.<\/p>\n

\t\tEditor\u2019s picks<\/p>\n

\n\tAnd to think, only a few years before, as a slightly stoned member of the audience, I saw them, the Airplane and all the others at the Fillmore Auditorium and the Avalon Ballroom. And at the Human Be-In early in 1967. The start of it all.<\/p>\n

\n\tJust before the program began, the P.A. blasted Weir\u2019s song, \u201cOne More Saturday Night,\u201d and a parade of speakers, on videos and in person, took over.<\/p>\n

\n\tSan Francisco\u2019s Mayor, Daniel Lurie, recalled seeing Dead & Company before one of their last three concerts in Golden Gate Park, celebrating the Dead\u2019s 60th anniversary. \u201c[And Weir] starts saying, \u2018Thank you for having us.\u2019 I was like, \u2018No no no, thank YOU for having us.\u2019\u00a0Even as he was preparing to give his time, his music, his heart, back to the city, Bob was still profoundly grateful.\u201d The mayor took pride in informing the audience that the Dead had performed over 320 concerts in more than 24 venues \u2014 all in San Francisco.<\/p>\n

\n\tHomecoming\u2019s producers, including Another Planet Entertainment, did a miraculous job, getting several speakers committed \u2014 whether in person or by video \u2014 inside of a week. Taped tributes came from San Francisco 49ers George Kittle and Nick Bosa, followed by Bruce Hornsby, who praised Weir for his adventurous (he said \u201codd\u201d) time signatures and McCoy Tyner-esque harmonies. Grace Potter noted that her son was with her, playing with his flight simulator, which led to a \u201cnice sendoff\u201d for Weir. At her cue, her son shouted, \u201cFly, Bobby, Fly!\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\tRelated Content<\/p>\n

\n\tOther video tributes featured Ramblin\u2019 Jack Elliott, Dead archivist David Lemieux, Warren Haynes, Primus\u2019 Larry LaLonde and Les Claypool, who praised Weir\u2019s penchant for wearing \u201ccool shorts,\u201d and Wynonna Judd, who sang a bit of \u201cAmazing Grace,\u201d adding that she was able to sing it for Weir (Judd also appeared at the MusiCares tribute<\/a> to the Grateful Dead<\/a> in 2024). \u201cThanks for embracing me,\u201d she said. \u201cYou changed this country girl\u2019s life.\u201d More video tributes came from Jack Johnson, Don Was, Rhino Records head Mark Pinkus, Trey Anastasio and Dave Matthews, who thanked Weir for leaving \u201ca treasury of music and experiences.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tJoan Baez strode onto the stage to a sustained ovation and, \u201cto send you on your way,\u201d sang a bit of \u201cFreedom,\u201d including freedom from any more sound checks, before turning the podium over to Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi. \u201cI know we come here with heavy hearts,\u201d she said, but she also felt gratitude to have known Weir, who was \u201ccurious, kind\u2026 He understood something essential \u00a0about America.\u201d She noted that the Dead were among the recipients of the last Kennedy Center honors<\/a> \u2014 \u201cwhen they were truly the Kennedy Center honors.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tPeople always ask her what her favorite Dead song is, the former Speaker of the House said, giggling.\u00a0 \u201cMy favorite Dead song is whatever Bobby is singing at that moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tSaid Pelosi: \u201cWhat I will remember most about Bobby is his humanity, his warmth, his humor, his generosity of spirit.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tWillie Nelson, seated alongside son Lukas Nelson, did a cameo, wearing a T-shirt reading, \u201cla-dee-fuckin\u2019-da.\u201d And Bill Kreutzmann<\/a>, also on video, was equally light-hearted, telling how his first gig with Weir and Garcia was at a pizza parlor in Menlo Park. \u201cIf I remember correctly, long story short, it was pretty good pizza.\u201d Weir, he said, was \u201csometimes overlooked because he stood next to Jerry. After all, he was \u2018The Other One.\u2019 But he proved to be just as valuable \u2014 and just as irreplaceable.\u201d He concluded: \u201cSleep in the stars, my brother. I love you forever.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tJohn Mayer<\/a> delivered the eulogy of the day<\/a>. Exactly 30 years younger than Weir, Mayer\u2019s tenure in Dead & Company gave new life to the band\u2019s catalog while opening the door to another generation of devotees. \u201cHe gave me musical community. He gave me this community,\u201d he said, his voice beginning to break as he indicated the thousands of fans overflowing the Civic Center Plaza.\u00a0 The community broke out in a lengthy ovation as Mayer rubbed his chin. He then aimed a message specifically to Deadheads:<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThe excitement you felt boarding a plane or packing up the car to travel miles to see the shows was the same excitement I felt flying to the next city, working out the set list in a group chat, meeting up with the band on stage for a sound check, and getting ready for that magical moment when we\u2019d take the stage and discover whatever magic was in store for us that night.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tHe closed by quoting a song \u2014 not by Weir or any member or friend of the Dead, but by Leon Russell. He said he could hear Weir singing, from \u201cA Song for You,\u201d \u201cBut now I\u2019m so much better, so if my words don\u2019t come together, listen to the melody, \u2018cause my love is in there hiding.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tBack on the video screens, Sammy Hagar offered a montage of merry photos and video clips, including one in which it was Hagar, not Weir, donning shorts. He concluded: \u201cI\u2019ll see you when you see me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe audience exploded again when they recognized Mickey Hart<\/a>, behind shades, walking to the podium. \u201cBob would\u2019ve loved this,\u201d said Hart. \u201cThis is so soulful.\u201d Like his fellow surviving member of the Dead, Kreutzmann, Hart accentuated the positive, and the light-hearted. \u201cBob was funny, and he loved funny,\u201d he said. \u201cHe was the band clown\u2026 comic relief for the tedium of being on the road. You could always depend on him to have a toy gun or a noisemaker or something going on at airports to attract attention and challenge the rules.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAnother flashback: I recall talking with him for a Rolling Stone piece about the Dead\u2019s 15th anniversary, which they celebrated with, what else, a tour. Garcia, naturally, dominated the article, but one day in Boulder, Weir took over.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWhat we stand for, and what we represent to a lot of people, is misfit power,\u201d he declared. Sitting nearby was John Barlow, Weir\u2019s childhood pal and co-writer who was serving as road manager for the tour. \u201cWe\u2019re positive miscreants,\u201d he said. \u201cWeir and I always vied for biggest asshole in prep school.\u201d The two had just attended a reunion at Fountain Valley School in nearby Colorado Springs.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI don\u2019t want to talk about that,\u201d Weir snapped. But Barlow barreled on: \u201cWe saw a lot of people our age who definitely had a little soul death,\u201d he said. Weir, who was 32 on this day, couldn\u2019t help but agree. \u201cTwenty, 30 years older than me \u2014 and chronologically maybe a couple of years younger.\u201d He swore: \u201cI refuse to get hammered by age into an old fart,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m not clutching to my youth, but there is a spirit here of \u2018We gotta keep things fresh. I see friends of mine who haven\u2019t managed to keep things fresh in their lives, and I find that lamentable. I think we relate more readily to people who haven\u2019t had the life kicked out of them. Kids \u2014 and older people \u2014 who are gonna stay young forever.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tMickey Hart closed by inspiring the crowd to clap to a song \u2014 \u201cLove is real, not fade away.\u201d The drummer led the Bo Diddley beat until the audience took over, clapping while Hart bid farewell, then spontaneously group-singing the Buddy Holly song to an empty stage. They, now, were the performers.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe program concluded on several high notes provided by Bobby\u2019s girls: His widow Natascha and their daughters, Monet and Chloe.<\/p>\n

\n\tMonet shared with the audience that Weir was dyslexic \u2014 \u201cbut he didn\u2019t let that stop him. He loved learning.\u201d His biggest wish, she said, was \u201cthat the music of the Dead continue into perpetuity.\u201d Younger sister Chloe, who has photographed Weir and Dead & Company extensively, seconded that sentiment. \u201cIn 300 years, when the music from this time period is being discussed, I want the Grateful Dead to not only be in that conversation, but to be still evolving. This 300-year legacy is an aspiration my dad often spoke of. He believed if we played our cards right, these past 60 years would only be the beginning.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tNatascha, overwhelmed by emotion, had to steady herself a couple of times at the podium. But she gathered herself and told the audience that there were two sides to Weir: \u201cThe quiet, meditative side and the fierce lion force of nature\u201d (often felt onstage, she said). \u201cWe\u2019ll touch on both.\u201d She called for a 108-second moment of silence (\u201cIt\u2019s kind of long, but he liked to push limits\u201d), followed by a theatrical \u201cBobby bow\u201d to the audience, and then an explosion of human noise: \u201cYell and scream,\u201d Natascha instructed. \u201cYou have to do it really loud because he\u2019s hard of hearing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe audience screamed as they were told, with thousands of hands up, reaching for the skies. Natascha looked up and spotted a hawk. A red tail hawk, in fact, according to Linda Kelly, editor of the Haight Street Voice. Natascha cried to the bird: \u201cHey, darlin\u2019!\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\tTrending Stories<\/p>\n

\n\tNatascha told about how Weir would visit friends who were ailing or close to death and sing and play for them. She then summoned Mayer and all the speakers and crew members who were backstage to come out and sing \u201cRipple<\/a>.\u201d With Mayer leading the vocals and filling the stage \u2014 the plaza, even \u2014 with his ringing guitar, the music took over again.<\/p>\n

\n\tAs the cast and crew celebrated each other on stage, the mixtape came back on. The song had to be, and was, \u201cOne More Saturday Night.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"San Francisco gave Bobby Weir one more glorious Saturday. Exactly a week after his death, some 20,000 Deadheads…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":139455,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[70627,66342,66343,38728,62351,66741,101,103,102,104,106,105],"class_list":{"0":"post-139454","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-francisco","8":"tag-bill-kreutzmann","9":"tag-bob-weir","10":"tag-dead-and-company","11":"tag-grateful-dead","12":"tag-john-mayer","13":"tag-mickey-hart","14":"tag-san-francisco","15":"tag-san-francisco-headlines","16":"tag-san-francisco-news","17":"tag-sf","18":"tag-sf-headlines","19":"tag-sf-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139454","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=139454"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139454\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/139455"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=139454"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=139454"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=139454"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}