ATTENTION FANS OF THE GRATEFUL DEAD, SAN JOSE HISTORY AND GROOVY STUFF IN GENERAL

To accomplish our goal, we must fundraise at least $35,000 by June 30, 2025. We think that’s realistic. In Southern California, fans of the Beach Boys raised $60,000 to underwrite a marker on the site of the Wilson family home where the band first rehearsed in Hawthorne.  Around the country, plaques have been placed at other historic music locations, paid for by fans and civic-minded contributors.

Any amount that you can contribute, from a few bucks to the cost of a front row Dead & Company ticket at the Sphere, will be most appreciated. It all matters. Those $10 or $20 donations will add up and get us to the finish line. All donors will have their names listed online. But for those who wish to contribute at a higher level, we are offering some unique and, yes, very groovy premiums.

Legendary artist Stanley Mouse, who created so many classic posters for concerts at the Fillmore Auditorium and Winterland Ballroom that included the Grateful Dead’s famous skull-and-roses iconography, has been commissioned to design a special poster to commemorate the 60^th anniversary of the very first Dead performance. It took place as part of an “Acid Test” organized by counterculture figure Ken Kesey near the San Jose State campus. Donors will have three options to obtain a reproduction of Mouse’s printwork, based on the date of that event, which took on 12-4-65:

$124.65 + Contribution

Supporters who contribute $124.65 or more will receive a 5-inch-by-7-inch handbill version of Mouse’s poster, much like the handbills that were passed out at those 60’s ballroom shows.

$412.65+ Contribution

Supporters who contribute $412.65 or more will receive a copy of Mouse’s commemorative poster, mailed in a protective tube.

$1246.50+ Contribution

Supporters who contribute $1,246.50 or more will receive a poster autographed by Stanley Mouse and special recognition at the unveiling ceremony.

Online Donation

You can contribute online by clicking the image below. It will take you to the donation page for the San Jose Parks Foundation, which is handling our bookkeeping for this project. When you are prompted to designate the fund to which you wish to contribute, click the drop-down menu and select the line that says: GRATEFUL DEAD PLAQUE/SJ ROCKS. Fill in the blanks. You’ll receive a confirmation from Network for Good that we’ve received your tax deductible donation.

Mail-in Donation

If you’d rather go old school and mail in your donation, please write a check to “San Jose Parks Foundation” with “San Jose Rocks” in the memo line and send it to: San Jose Parks Foundation, P.O. Box 26001. San Jose, CA 95159

Earlier this year, the San Jose City Council’s Rules Committee unanimously approved the creation and installation of a plaque that will mark the site of the Grateful Dead’s first-ever performance under their iconic name in 1965. You can check out this video featuring Dan Orloff (Founder, San Jose Rocks), David Borough (American Federation of Musicians, Local 6) and Mark Purdy (Lead Researcher, San Jose Rocks) as we presented our case before the committee and told the story of that first Dead show.

THANK YOU to Mayor Matt Mahan, Vice Mayor Pam Foley, Councilmember Carl Salas, Councilmember Peter Ortiz, and Councilmember Domingo Candelas for advancing the memorandum to the Rules Committee, led by Councilmember David Cohen and Vice Mayor Pam Foley. Also, much gratitude to the city staff for setting the mission into motion. All of their support—including the authorization for San Jose Rocks to raise funds for the design, manufacturing, and installation of the plaque—is truly appreciated!

The very first Grateful Dead gig has always been a tough event to reconstruct with 100 percent accuracy.  It took place in downtown San Jose at an “Acid Test” house party organized by author and counterculture figure Ken Kesey on the evening of December 4, 1965.

Kesey picked the location and the date because the Rolling Stones were playing that night at San Jose Civic Auditorium, on one of their early American tours.  Kesey hoped to lure fans of the Stones to the “Acid Test,” which he staged as a group experiment with LSD, then a legal drug. He drove his “Merry Prankster” followers to San Jose in their infamous psychedelic “Further” school bus from their base in the Santa Cruz mountains and sent the “Pranksters” to the Civic Auditorium exits, where they passed out flyers inviting people to the party as they exited the Stones show. Kesey had previously negotiated with residents of a large Victorian house on South Fifth Street, just six blocks from the Civic, to let him rig up the home with flashing lights and sound equipment to accompany experiments with LSD, then a legal substance.

The precise location of the house remains a bit fuzzy. For decades, it was placed at 43 South Fifth Street, based on neighborhood residents. But in the spring of 2025, a poster surfaced that pinned the address as 38 South Fifth, across the street from 43 South Fifth. The footprints of both houses are now occupied by the San Jose City Hall campus, which was constructed in 2005 and required structures on South Fifth St. to be leveled or relocated. The house at 43 South Fifth was moved 11 blocks away to 635 St. James Street, where it still stands.  The 38 South Fifth house was demolished after an arson fire damaged the structure beyond repair. The footprint of 43 South Fifth places it directly beneath the current San Jose City Council Chambers. The footprint of 38 South Fifth Street places it beneath a plaza across from the Council Chambers, on the south side of the City Hall campus.

Video of the 43 South Fifth Street house at its current location, 635 East St. James Street.

• Summer of 1962:Menlo Park resident Jerry Garcia begins hanging out at Swain’s Music Store on University Avenue in downtown Palo Alto, buying picks and strings to start playing acoustic guitar. His ambition is to one day perform at St. Michael’s Alley down the street. This bohemian hangout, which had launched the career of Joan Baez, eventually gives Garcia his first shot, where he plays banjo on the sidewalk out front to draw people inside.
• May 1963: Jerry Garcia and his new wife, Sara, play their first gig at the Top of the Tangent in Palo Alto. This folk club becomes a regular spot for Garcia, where he performs with various bluegrass groups. Among the regular audience members is teenager Bob Weir, an aspiring musician from nearby Atherton.
• Summer of 1963: Mother McCree’s Uptown Jug Champions, a group that includes Garcia, Weir, and Ron “Pigpen” McKernan, begins playing regularly at The Offstage in downtown San Jose. The dingy coffeehouse on South First Street is a welcoming spot for an emerging counterculture. Future Bay Area icons such as Janis Joplin, Paul Kantner and Jorma Kaukonen are frequent performers. It is here that Garcia’s musical vision starts taking form, eventually leading to the formation of “The Warlocks” with drummer Bill Kreutzmann and bassist Phil Lesh.
• December 4, 1965: Ken Kesey holds his first public “Acid Tests” featuring LSD experimentation at a house on South Fifth Street in San Jose. He needs a band. He turns to his Palo Alto and Menlo Park friends who have recently renamed themselves the “Grateful Dead.”  They perform an electrifying and loud set of songs under their new name, flipping the “on” switch for what will become one of America’s most beloved musical institutions.

Dan Orloff: Championing the Bay Area’s Musical Legacy

Dan Orloff, founder of San Jose Rocks and principal of Orloff Marketing (formerly Orloff Williams) since 1992, brings strategic leadership and a deep commitment to cultural preservation to this effort. With over three decades of experience in branding and promoting cultural institutions, Dan has been instrumental in fostering partnerships and promoting the Bay Area’s music and technological heritage. A longtime member of the Rotary Club of San Jose—one of the largest Rotary organizations globally—Dan’s network and influence extend across the region, enabling collaboration among diverse stakeholders.

Dan’s work includes directing marketing efforts for major South Bay music venues and festivals like the Montalvo Arts Center and the Mountain Winery, as well as promoting downtown San Jose as a destination for arts and culture and corporate headquarters during his tenure as the city’s Director of Marketing. His founding of San Jose Rocks in 2006 has underscored his commitment to spotlight the region’s contributions to music and innovation. Inspired by family ties to music—he is a cousin of legendary songwriter Bob Dylan and his father is a Nashville’s Harmony Hall of Fame inductee—Dan combines personal passion with professional expertise to celebrate the Bay Area’s unique cultural heritage.

Mark Purdy: Curating the Stories of a Landmark Moment

Mark Purdy, an award-winning journalist and four-decade Bay Area resident, is curating the stories surrounding the Grateful Dead’s historic first performance on South Fifth Street. During a 43-year career, Purdy worked as a reporter or columnist at San Jose Mercury News, Los Angeles Times, Cincinnati Enquirer, and Chicago Tribune. He earned recognition as one of America’s Top 10 sports columnists by the Associated Press and Wall Street Journal. In 2014, the California Newspaper Publishers Association honored him for writing the state’s best newspaper column.

Purdy’s job also brought him in contact with iconic cultural figures. One such memorable encounter involved Ken Kesey, the counterculture figure behind the “Acid Test” parties that inspired the Grateful Dead’s evolution. In 1985, Kesey—hired by the Mercury News to write a piece for the Super Bowl at Stanford Stadium—borrowed Purdy’s thesaurus and never returned it. The anecdote has become a lighthearted reminder of Purdy’s proximity to some of the Bay Area’s most transformative moments and personalities. When the Grateful Dead sang the national anthem before a 1993 San Francisco Giants baseball game, Purdy asked Jerry Garcia if he had played Little League baseball. Garcia said he’d instead preferred softball and considered himself a good softball pitcher. Since retiring in 2017, Purdy has taught journalism classes at San Jose State and worked on various writing projects, including several published articles about South Bay rock history.

Coming Soon!

• Share Your Stories: Submit photos, memories, and connections to The Grateful Dead. In the meantime, share what you can via our Tell Us Your Story” link
• Spread the Word: Share this webpage with fellow Deadheads and music lovers.
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Looking Ahead

This initial celebration in San Jose marks the first step in building a platform, that could become The Bay Rocks, that connects the Bay Area’s music and cultural stories. Future phases will:

• Expand digital storytelling across all eleven counties.
• Develop educational programs highlighting the region’s musical and technological impact.
• Collaborate with local organizations to preserve and share regional stories.