The China Cats at Siren Morro Bay (A Grateful Dead Celebration!)
Schedule
Sat Jul 20 2024 at 08:00 pm to 10:45 pm
UTC-07:00Location
The Siren | Morro Bay, CA
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Performing for nearly a decade and nearly 200 shows, China Cats continues the musical tradition of the Grateful Dead while throwing a new kind of gasoline on the fire. On any given night the band will play songs from throughout the Dead's 30-year repertoire. Their joy and enthusiasm for making music together is so contagious that the band has featured guest appearances from Grateful Dead alum, including original member Donna Jean Godchaux-MacKay. Melvin Seals of the Jerry Garcia Band has sporadically joined the band since 2013. China Cats performs throughout California including a recent series at Terrapin Crossroads in San Rafael, which belongs to Dead bassist Phil Lesh.Each performance is a new, communal journey. Band members seek out a unique style and sound while paying homage to the spirit of the Dead.
“On these tunes, there are certain things that are specific, and certain things that are wide open to interpretation," guitarist Matt Hartle told the San Jose Mercury News. "It’s never about going back. It’s always looking to the present moment that we’re having. We’re not playing the 1973 version of the song or the ’79 or the ’92 version. Every time the China Cats play a song, it’s a new experience."
Matt Hartle brings experience from collaborations with Dead-family musicians including Henry Kaiser, Michael Kang (String Cheese Incident), and is a current member of Painted Mandolin with former Garcia-Grisman instrumentalist Joe Craven. Rhythm guitarist Scott Cooper has recorded with members of Little Feat, Galactic, David Nelson Band, New Riders. His debut solo CD reached #5 on the Relix jam band radio charts. Steve regularly plays keys in Stu Allen & Mars Hotel. Roger formerly played bass in David Gans & the Sycamore Slough String Band and has performed with artists such as David Nelson and Frank Wakefield. Michael is an in-demand drummer who is versed in New Orleans, jazz, reggae and African styles.
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"A Grateful Dead tribute band with a very talented cast of players. I’m a big fan of the Santa Cruz-based band." - Beth Peerless, Monterey Herald
"One of the premier tribute bands in Northern California. The group has spent years infusing the classic sensibilities of the Dead's catalog with their own flair and energy" -- Good Times, Santa Cruz
"The China Cats aren’t a cover band," says Nicholas Meriweather, former archivist of the Grateful Dead collection at UC Santa Cruz. "They approach the Dead’s work with same kind of reverence and sophistication that the Dead themselves showed in their own forays into American roots music."
"When you listen the Cats," Meriweather adds, "old favorites take on new lives, revealing facets that will delight and amaze even jaded listeners. These guys aren’t copycats — their sets demonstrate how the Dead’s music now is a part of the great American songbook, alongside the giants who first inspired the Dead."
"I had a fine time and enjoyed the music very much."
— Rock Scully, former manager, Grateful Dead
"A spot-on, outstanding Grateful Dead tribute band"
— Tom Miller, booking agent, Don Quixote's, Felton, CA
"If you noticed a couple of ol' greyhairs threading through the dancers in front of the stage just before your closing song, dancing by themselves, that was me and my friend. 🙂 Loved your rendition of the music of the GD. Keep on keepin'"
— Alan Trist, Ice Nine Publishing
"While the China Cats are able to accurately recreate the sound and energy of the legendary band, they nonetheless infuse their renditions of classic songs with their own flavor. "
-- Santacruz.com
"Any tribute band can turn out rote performances of the songs of bygone bands, but to truly capture the spirit of another band—that’s a rare talent. Santa Cruz-based China Cats are unabashedly a Grateful Dead tribute band, but instead of attempting to perform note-perfect renditions of the band’s chestnuts, they attempt to capture that most intangible yet compelling aspect of the Dead’s live shows: the endless jam session. This is no small undertaking, but the China Cats pull it off with an impressive command of their instruments and a symbiotic musical interplay that befits the Grateful Dead’s legacy." -- Santa Cruz Weekly
"The joy of the jam. Deadheads have always embraced it. And so they embrace the Grateful Dead tribute band, The China Cats. Each performance is a new, communal journey. The term “tribute band” can mean a lot of different things, from lookalikes to carbon copy sound to simply using the original artist’s work as a jumping off point. The China Cats fall more into that last category." - San Jose Mercury News
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"The China Cats are widely recognized as the top Dead tribute band in the state and for good reason. The band captures the spirit and detailed music of the Dead while adding their own subtle touch. Not just a a great tribute band, but a great band in general."
-- Sacramento 365
"... reviving the spirit of the legendary band than recreating each tune note for note. Using the Dead's catalog as a launching pad, China Cats then heads off into swirling, uncharted longform jams. "
-- Santacruz.com
"The Bay Area's leading Grateful Dead tribute band... Instead of attempting note-for-note re-enactments, the China Cats try to re-create the spirit of the Dead with creative jam sessions. This Bay Area tribute band performs the songs of the Grateful Dead with spirited jams that carry their own genuine personality while paying homage to their musical forefathers."
-- Modesto Bee
"There’s nothing like a good Grateful Dead tribute band. The China Cats uphold the roots-based jams that Garcia, Weir, Hart, Lesh, Godchaux and Kreutzmann invented. Covers of timeless tunes like “Eyes of the World,” “Here Comes Sunshine” and “Morning Dew,” keep Jerry’s legend shining as bright as a fire. The Santa Cruz quintet is made up of true Deadheads."
-- Monterey County Weekly
"... Here's a band you need to catch... As the old saying goes, 'There is nothing like a Grateful Dead concert' — and members of Santa Cruz-based band The China Cats take that to heart. The group — beautifully captures the improvisational spirit and psychedelic sound of a Grateful Dead concert, drawing from the legendary band's vast repertoire, with faithful interpretations of songs such as 'Truckin',' 'Eyes of the World,' 'Jack Straw,' 'Terrapin Station' and 'Bertha.' Close your eyes and you'll think you're back at the fabled Fillmore West!"
-- Monterey Herald
"A Grateful Dead tribute band comprised of accomplished veterans and young talents too young to have ever seen the Dead without their Deadhead parents."
-- KGO Radio
"I want to thank you for the terrific performance on the Church Street Stage! You were great and the crowd thoroughly enjoyed your performance. It was all we hoped for."
-- Ellen Primick, Cabrillo Music Festival
"One of the Bay's most esteemed Dead cover bands. Their ability to recreate the sounds of the Grateful Dead is uncanny...just wait for the first three notes of Shakedown Street and you'll feel like you're at Winterland in '78."
-- Cafe du Nord
"The authenticity's in the sound for this local band that plays the music of the Grateful Dead. (They) cover songs from across the Dead's spectrum with extended jams and a sense of spontaneity that ensures every show offers something different."-- Santa Cruz Sentinel, Best Bets, 8/29/08
"At Fernwood, the China Cats will pay homage to an immortal cultural phenomenon. Santa Cruz – the future home of the Grateful Dead Archive at UC Santa Cruz – is the perfect breeding ground for the Dead cover band. Singer/guitarist Scott Cooper experienced his first Dead show in college. “The rest was history,” he says. Cooper says his favorite Dead songs feature Bob Weir’s distinct guitar riffs – “Cassidy,” “Casey Jones” and “Here Comes Sunshine.” Like the Dead, the Cats can play well into the wee hours; at recent show in the Central Valley, they played four encores. Cooper – who teaches guitar at UCSC – is ecstatic about the archive opening on the welcoming campus. “All the Santa Cruz people are honored that it’s here,” he says.
-- Monterey Weekly, May 2010
"Grateful Dead tribute bands are a dime a dozen, rarely capturing any of the Dead's actual appeal or virtuosic jamming, but (The China Cats) actually do the legacy proud. What became a one-off tribute last year among self-professed Deadheads has grown into a primary concern, and for good reason: instead of trying to attempt note-for-note re-enactments, (The China Cats) evoke the spirit of the Dead through limber jams potent enough to give even the sober a contact high."
— santacruz.com
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Where is it happening?
The Siren, 313 Harbor St, Morro Bay, CA 93442-2109, United States,Morro Bay, CaliforniaEvent Location & Nearby Stays:
