Sun. Aug. 1

One of favorite songs from the English psych-rock band Kula Shaker - remember was them? - was "Grateful When You're Dead/Jerry Was There," a trippy tribute to the late Garcia, where, in the song, it suggested many Deadheads held events where they swore, man, that "Jerry was there." Why do we think that will happen Sunday Aug. 1 out in Boston harbor? Because it would have been his 68th  birthday and this take on a 419 aspect in the Deadhead world. (Jerry went down for good 15 years ago, after years of hard drugs and dietary trouble took their toll.) This year, to make that day extra special (why do we celebrate death days?) on Sunday Aug. 1 you can board the Rock and Blues Cruise with The Grateful Dread, the long-running reggae/Dead tribute band. It's not, as you no doubt realize, a goof. There's links between the languid Dead and the languid reggae/ska sound and, of course, there's the pot. Check out the Grateful Dread at www.thegratefuldread.com. The Dread have been packing Martha’s Vineyard clubs and selling out shows across the region since their inception. 

   The Dread takes the Dead songs - "Dark Star,' "Franklin's Tower's" and "Scarlet Begonias" among them - and adds unexpected sounds and rhythms, something the Dead also did/does. (With the current version of the Grateful Dead called the Dead and often out there, we tend to refer to the whold GD entity in the present tense. Sure, Jerry and Pigpen and Vince aren't there, but the band plays on with Weir and Lesh and the space-drum tag team of Mickey and Bill. And ther are dozens of tribute bands doing the Dead, but the Grateful Dread is the Dread Zeppelin of this league. Jerry’s Birthday

Cruise departs at 5:00 PM (boarding at 4:20 PM) from Boston Harbor Cruises at Long Wharf. Tickets are $25. 

1 Long Wharf, www.rockandbluescruise.com