The Big Wu is throwing a concert to honor Bob Weir.
The beloved Minnesota jamband will be covering Bob Weir and Grateful Dead material at Saint Paul’s Fitzgerald Theater, Friday, Oct. 16.
Weir, who was one of the last surviving original members of the Grateful Dead, died on January 10.
“When he passed away back in January, I decided right then and there I was going to do something to honor him,” said The Big Wu’s Mark Joseph. “I didn’t know what.”
It’s no accident that Joseph decided to host this show “in Saint Paul (Minnesota).”
He realized that Weir’s birthday fell on a Friday this year, and pitched the idea to a receptive First Avenue.
“It’s kind of a dream show in a way,” said Joseph.
Weir, who sang the Dead’s cover of Johnny Cash’s “Big River,” with a Saint Paul reference, married a Rochester, Minn., native (Natascha).
The Grateful Gals, long-time Minneapolis Grateful Dead tribute The Jones Gang and guest Dean Magraw will perform their own sets honoring Weir, as well.
The Big Wu will be joined at times by The Northside Horns and Annie Frazier performing as Donnie Jean Godchaux.
“This is not something we typically do,” Joseph said of playing a full Dead set, despite The Big Wu having covering quite a bit of the Dead’s material in bits and pieces over the years.
It’s a gesture from the heart.
The influence of the Grateful Dead is apparent in The Big Wu’s songs and the community they’ve fostered over the decades.
“So many great songs that I love,” Joseph said. “We all came up on his music and the Grateful Dead music. Bobby sort of carried the torch for everybody, along with Phil. He was a troubadour. He wouldn’t stop. He just kept on playing.”
In the last decade, as Phil Lesh decided to scale back his musical workload, Weir helped anchor Dead & Company, which had only two other members of the Grateful Dead in Bill Kreutzmann and Mickey Hart.
Kreutzmann is the only surviving original member of the band, though a few others survive in Hart, who joined the band in 1967, former member Tom Constanten, and Bruce Hornsby, who was a touring member of the band from 1990 to 1992.
“His passing kind of felt like sort of a transitional point,” Joseph said. “He was Jerry’s partner. It’s a tough loss, and one we felt was a life worth celebrating.”
Joseph said he had no other news to share publicly regarding The Big Wu next LP or any potential shows that could be in the works.