The Grateful Dead played their first show at Magoo's Pizza in Menlo Park, California on May 5, 1965 under the name The Warlocks. After finding out that the name was being used by another band who were already signed to a record contract, they changed their name, first performing as The Grateful Dead later in December of that year.
The Dead's original lineup of Jerry Garcia, Bob Weir, Ron "Pigpen" McKernan, Phil Lesh and Bill Kreutzmann are shown in the photo above from 1965 when the band was still performing as The Warlocks in the San Francisco Bay area
To celebrate the anniversary of that first gig, surviving band members Kreutzmann, Lesh, Weir and Mickey Hart will reunite for a pair of shows in Santa Clara, California on June 27th and 28th, near where they started the band 50 years ago, followed by a trio of concerts at Chicago's Soldier Field July 3-5, almost exactly 20 years to the day since they played their final show at the same venue on July 9, 1995.
