Article Contributed by Gratefulweb
Published on 2026-09-27
This fall, Shakedown Citi is heading west for the first time with a nine-show California tour running November 5–15.
Born from an impromptu jam session during Dead & Company’s final tour at Citi Field in 2023, Shakedown Citi has quickly grown into a national touring act, performing at venues and festivals across the country and building a reputation for spontaneous, soulful performances and fearless improvisation. The band has also been tapped for high-profile private performances, including the wedding of Trey Anastasio’s daughter.
The California run marks the next step in that growth, with nine shows spanning Ojai, San Diego, Venice, Big Bear, Fresno, Chico, Felton, Nevada City, and Mill Valley.
But California carries a deeper significance for Shakedown Citi. Beyond its place in the history of the Grateful Dead, the Bay Area played an important role in the musical lives of guitarist Garrin Benfield and multi-instrumentalist Mitch Marcus.
A California Homecoming
Benfield moved to San Francisco in 1997, where he began cutting his teeth as a guitarist and songwriter. This fall, he returns to the Bay Area with Shakedown Citi for the band’s first California tour.
The tour’s final stop carries a particularly personal connection. About a decade ago, Benfield was performing at Sweetwater Music Hall in Mill Valley, where Bob Weir was a co-owner at the time. After the performance, Weir stayed with the musicians, and those gathered encouraged him to play a song. Without a guitar of his own, Weir accepted Benfield’s and played Bob Dylan’s “Desolation Row” at a dimly lit table inside the venue.
On November 15, Benfield will return to the Sweetwater stage to close out the tour.
“I couldn’t imagine a better place to go,” Benfield says.
For Marcus, California carries its own history. Shortly after graduating from Indiana University, he toured to the Bay Area with Japonize Elephants and moved to Berkeley six months later.
Over the next 11 years, Marcus became an active force in the Bay Area music scene, developing his own ensembles, touring and recording with multiple projects, and hosting a weekly jazz jam session at Amnesia for eight years.
It was there that Marcus met Vince Welnick, former keyboardist for the Grateful Dead. What began with Marcus being, by his own admission, completely starstruck developed into a close friendship and musical partnership. The two spent countless hours recording and improvising together, and Welnick joined Marcus’s band Mood Food for several tours.
“It was always funny trying to walk that line between being a giant Deadhead and being his friend and colleague,” Marcus says. “I was super fan and musician at the same time. Vince was an incredible friend, and I miss him dearly.”
For Marcus, returning west with Shakedown Citi connects two chapters of his life.
“There’s something full-circle about bringing this music back to a place that gave me so much...”
For a group born on the East Coast, the California tour brings Shakedown Citi’s distinctly NYC sound to a place that helped shape both the music that inspired them and the musicians defining their sound today.
Shakedown Citi — California Tour 2026
November 5 — Deer Lodge — Ojai, CA
November 6 — Winston’s — San Diego, CA
November 7 — The Penmar — Venice, CA
November 8 — The Cave — Big Bear, CA
November 11 — Fulton 55 — Fresno, CA
November 12 — Lost on Main — Chico, CA
November 13 — Felton Music Hall — Felton, CA
November 14 — Crazy Horse Saloon — Nevada City, CA
November 15 — Sweetwater Music Hall — Mill Valley, CA
Tickets and additional information: www.shakedownciti.com/tour
Shakedown Citi is a New York-based jam band born in a parking lot at Citi Field in 2023. Rather than simply recreating the Grateful Dead, the band draws from the Dead’s improvisational spirit through deep musicianship, tight harmonies, thoughtfully crafted setlists, and fearless improvisation. Drawing from the Grateful Dead repertoire, affiliated catalogs, deep cuts, beloved classics, and unexpected musical detours, each performance remains open to the moment.
For more information, visit www.shakedownciti.com.
