Article Contributed by Gabriel David Barkin
Published on 2026-04-24
Wavy Gravy's 90th birthday bash!
Wavy Gravy, the Clown Prince of the Counterculture, is only going to turn 90 once! (We think.) His Birthday Bash in San Francisco is going to be a hoot, and you can be part of the fun.
Join Todd Rundgren, Peter Rowan, Steve Earle, Rickie Lee Jones, Cat Power, Maria Muldaur, and many more musical artists to celebrate Wavy Gravy at The Masonic on May 16. The incredible lineup for this once-in-a-lifetime experience also includes Dan “Lebo” Lebowitz (of ALO), Larry Campbell & Teresa Williams, Harper Simon (that's Paul Simon's kid), "anti-folk" indie darlings The Moldy Peaches, and an A-team house band backing all those luminaries.
The event benefits Seva Foundation, the global nonprofit eye care organization founded by Wavy Gravy and several other visionaries to work with local communities around the world and develop self-sustaining programs that preserve and restore sight.
Here are ten whys and wherefores to help cajole y’all to buy a ticket or two and help spread the word about Wavy Gravy’s Birthday Bash:
1. Even the lowest-priced seat is equivalent to the cost of a sight-saving surgery. Everyone who buys a ticket has a real impact! (Tickets make great gifts too, hint hint. Surprise someone you love, or even a stranger.) Every $1 invested in eye health services returns approximately $36 in social and economic benefits. Your dollars will have legs.
A variety of VIP ticket packages are also available with benefits (depending on the tier selected) that include pre- and post-show receptions, commemorative posters and event gifts, an artist meet-and-greet, and more. See the ticket link below for more information.
2. Need some Grateful Dead-related inspiration? (You are reading this on Grateful Web, after all.) The Dead headlined Seva’s inaugural benefit concert in Oakland, CA in 1979, and the band continued to support the organization in subsequent performances, both collectively and as individual artists. Also, Bob Weir was an advisory board member of Seva.
3. Blues legend B.B. King gave Hugh Romney a.k.a. Wavy Gravy his famous moniker in 1969 at the Texas International Pop Festival. Among Wavy’s many other nicknames are “Saint in a Clown Suit” (allegedly coined by Weir) and “The Illegitimate Son of Harpo Marx and Mother Teresa” (credit for that one goes to Paul Krassner).
4. The house band includes superstar talent, with Tony Garnier (Bob Dylan’s touring bass player since 1989), Greg Leisz on guitar and pedal steel (Eric Clapton, Jackson Browne, Ray LaMontagne), Matt Rollings on keys (producer and performer with Willie Nelson, Mark Knopfler, Billy Joel, and many others), Denny Fongheiser on drums (Heart, Roger Waters, and the original recording of Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car”), and Vicki Randle on percussion (The Tonight Show, Mavis Staples). Campbell will be the musical director for what is sure to be a very special evening.
5. Wavy Gravy isn’t just some cool guy in a red clown nose – he’s a part of history! Wavy was at the Acid Tests, led the “Please Force” security team at Woodstock, and founded the legendary Camp Winnarainbow with his wife Jahanara. The dude’s been a significant presence on the counterculture scene (which, if you hadn’t noticed, is the culture for millions of Americans these days) for decades.
6. Here’s another Deadhead reference point: Peter Rowan first encountered Wavy Gravy in 1973 when he played the Keystone in Berkeley with Jerry Garcia in Old & In the Way:
“I remember there was this guy in a clown suit in the corner with a crowd of people around him playing a one-string instrument, it's called an ektara, something he had picked up on his journey to the Himalayas. It was Wavy Gravy kind of holding court. He didn't say a whole lot. He was just a musical entity, twanging, twanging this one string. And just beaming out his love vibe.”
In conversation this week, Rowan said, “Wavy was always a great promoter of anything that resembled free thinking.” Regarding the upcoming Birthday Bash, Rowan promised he’d deliver the goods for Wavy. “I'm so glad to be invited. I'm gonna lay my hits on him.” (Musical hits, that is. And maybe a few love bombs.)
7. Lebo also has fond memories of meeting Wavy Gravy. At a festival in Australia two decades ago, Lebo recalls, “They put [ALO] up in these condos – and the day we got there, we said, ‘Let’s go to the hot tub.’ So we’re sitting in the hot tub talking to this guy who’s a total character. We kind of figured out really quick, of course, it was Wavy Gravy!”
“They have that old saying, Never meet your heroes,” Lebo says. But Wavy Gravy is 100% Wavy Gravy. “He would be the exact opposite of that saying. What a sweet dude!”
8. Todd is god. IFKYK, otherwise Google it. Or better yet, listen to Something/Anything? end to end. Then come see him rock his falsetto for Wavy at The Masonic.
9. Rickie Lee Jones, Maria Muldaur, and Cat Power are goddesses. Come adore them.
10. The Birthday Bash is a celebration for you too! Like Wavy said, “We are all the same person trying to shake hands with our self.”
Tickets for Wavy Gravy’s Birthday Bash, including VIP packages, are available now.
For more information about Seva, visit www.seva.org.
Unable to make it to SF to celebrate Wavy? Starting on April 29th, you can support Wavy's other organization, Camp Winnarainbow, by bidding on killer items from their online auction – including a guitar signed by Susan Tedeshi, Derek Trucks, Sam Grisman and more; a signed piece of Mickey Hart art; backstage experiences with Blues Traveler, Steve Earle, The Violent Femmes; and more! Visit https://cwr26.cbo.io for more info.
