Bob Weir dies at 78; Grateful Dead played San Bernardino twice
Bob Weir, a guitarist who was a founding member of the Grateful Dead, died at age 78, his family announced Saturday.
Weir was in the band even before its founding. In 1963, at age 16, Weir met banjo player Jerry Garcia and they formed a jug band. That went through another iteration before becoming the Grateful Dead, a psychedelic rock band that created its own subculture, one that endures into the 21st century.
The band officially ended in 1995 with Garcia’s death, but the surviving members performed in other configurations, including as Dead and Company, as recently as last year.
The Grateful Dead performed in the Inland Empire twice that I’m aware of, both times in or near San Bernardino.
The first was a Feb. 26, 1977 concert at Swing Auditorium. Beloved by Deadheads, the set was released on CD in 2019 as Vol. 29 of the Dave’s Picks series of live shows.
The CD cover, charmingly, depicts a skeleton couple in hippie outfits walking hand-in-bony-hand toward Swing, with the San Bernardino Mountains arrowhead in the distance.
(Take note of the concert date. In February 2027, I expect to write a 50th anniversary piece about it. If you were there, let me know by email. You have 13 months.)
The band’s other appearance was at the US Festival on Sept. 5, 1982 in Glen Helen, outside San Bernardino city limits to the northwest. An estimated 200,000 people were present that day. But not all of them were there in time to see the Dead.
Kicking off the festival’s second day, a Sunday, the Dead took the stage at the ungodly hour of 9:30 a.m.
For a late-night jam group, this must have been a jolt for band members and fans alike. Some jokingly called the show “Breakfast with the Dead.”
I note from the 16-song setlist that they performed “Playing in the Band,” “Truckin’” and “Sugar Magnolia.” All three were co-written, and sung or co-sung, by Weir. Rest in peace.
Out of a Jam
The last time I was at Ontario’s Toyota Arena, in 2023, I lamented here that an interior wall devoted to the April 6, 1974 California Jam festival, which took place nearby, was obscured by a beer stand.
Bob Beberfall of Ontario was at the arena for an Ontario Reign hockey game the other day and later sent a photo of the wall, exposed in all its glory.
“Free at last!” Beberfall exulted.
It’s nice to see the wall again, as it largely consists of a 2002 newspaper feature on the festival by yours truly, blown up to the size of a garage door, as well as a list of the bands who performed at the festival.
I will add that a wall outlet happens to be placed in an unfortunate spot. It covers the last half of the name of Cal Jam’s most enduring act: Eagles. Or as arena visitors know it: Eag.
Movie theaters
In Claremont, the last day of operation for the Laemmle 5 movie theater is expected to be Jan. 29, company president Greg Laemmle told me Monday. As noted here in November, the five-plex has been sold to the Regency chain.
More on that at a later date. In the meantime, I’ve got two weeks to use up the balance on my Laemmle Premiere card.
Meanwhile, in Chino, another theater has changed hands. The Cinemark 8, which opened in 1991, closed in November after 34 years of operation.
As the Chino Valley Champion reported, the eight-plex in its early years “featured plush purple seats with cup holders and bright neon lights on the walls. The lobby had black-and-white checkered floors and video games scattered about.”
Ah, the 1990s.
The theater wasn’t dormant for long. In late December, it was reopened by Maya Cinemas. According to the Champion, the theater now has “laser projectors” and some cosmetic changes. No word on the purple seats.
Me in Chino
I’ll be reading from my work, yakking and selling my books at 10 a.m. Jan. 24 at the Chino Community Building, 5443 B St. in Chino. It’s the annual meeting of the Chino Valley Historical Society, but anyone can attend (and should).
One caution: According to the official announcement, I will be sharing “antidotes … as they relate to Chino and Chino Hills.” Antidotes? If anyone from those cities shows up with a medical ailment needing a cure, that’s a little out of my wheelhouse. I share that with you anecdotally.
As a bonus that day for (healthy!) visitors not satisfied by light refreshments and the chance to meet me, the property’s two museums — the Old Schoolhouse Museum, inside an 1888 former school, and The Barn, a new building devoted to the city’s dairy industry — will both be open.
Come see us!
brIEfly
On Metrolink, the conductor occasionally announces over the public address system that “all station stops are brief” to encourage departing passengers to be ready to go. On a San Bernardino Line train Sunday morning, one rider apparently took his sweet time in exiting. The conductor came over the P.A. to say with exasperation: “What part of ‘all station stops are brief’ did you not understand?”
David Allen writes Wednesday, Friday and Sunday, as everyone understands. Email dallen@scng.com, phone 909-483-9339, and follow davidallencolumnist on Facebook or Instagram, @davidallen909 on X or @davidallen909.bsky.social on Bluesky.