Bertha … Come Around Here … More

BERTHA: Grateful Drag | Great American Music Hall | San Francisco, CA | November 21st, 2025 – photos by Gabriel David Barkin

It’s not schtick. Bertha, almost certainly the world’s first and only drag queen Grateful Dead cover band, is the real deal. They’re in the upper echelon of Dead tribute bands when it comes to well-honed musical chops. And so much fun to watch! But make no mistake, this is serious stuff.

In 2023, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee signed the first statewide anti-drag act, banning public “adult cabaret performances” in public or in front of children. A collection of musicians with mad jam, jazz, and bluegrass skills fought back by creating Bertha. In addition to flouting the Tennessee law, Bertha’s performances typically raise funds for LGBTQ causes.

At San Francisco’s Great American Music Hall last weekend, Bertha donated proceeds to Queer LifeSpace (https://www.queerlifespace.org/), which provides affordable mental health services to the LGBTQIA+ community in the San Francisco Bay Area. The organization’s website says it is, “a frontline provider of culturally competent care for economically vulnerable LGBTQIA+ populations.”

Also in the house raising funds was Grateful Guitars (https://gratefulguitars.org/), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that obtains world-class musical instruments for talented players who seek to carry on the tradition of jam band music into the 21st century and beyond. In addition to fulfilling that mission, Grateful Guitars board members also share actual and replica Grateful Dead instruments and gear from their personal collections with players in the community, and often donate bespoke guitars to accomplished musicians on the scene.

Please visit those websites to make a donation!

Grateful Guitars founder and president Andy Logan was in the house on Saturday night, and he provided Bertha’s lead guitar player Thomas Bryan Eaton (“Auntie”) with a replica of Jerry Garcia’s “Tiger” to play all night. Eaton shredded the axe, playing with obvious love and reverence for the well-crafted instrument. The Grateful Dead played in this venue only once, and Jerry Garcia Band was famously banned from playing there after an “incident” (according to a story I heard recounted recently by Garcia’s roadie and confidante Steve Parish). But Garcia’s spirit was in the house with Bertha this weekend!

Bass player Jacob Groopman (“Big Sissy”) is no stranger to Bay Area gigs, with history in the region playing in Albino! Afrobeat Orchestra and the bluegrass band Front Country. The multi-instrumentalist usually picks guitars, banjos, and Dobros, but his bass playing in Bertha is stellar, hewing closer to Phil Lesh’s style than most others who fill that slot. (Phil, however, never appeared on stage in a white mini dress.)

Up front in Bertha, singers Melody Walker (“Daddy”) and Caitlin Doyle (“Mommy”) take turns on most of the lead vocals. It’s fitting that Bertha flips the vocal chores over to singers who are (surprise!) female. It’s all part of the topsy-turvy fun.

Filling out the band on Saturday were Michael Wheeler (“Baby”) on guitar and vocals (essentially in the “Bob Weir” spot), Justin Vorp (“Cousin”) on drums, and Alex Jordan (also “Cousin”) on keys. Everyone was dressed in drag. Walker channeled Ron “Pigpen” McKernan with painted-on sideburns and facial hair beneath a purple pompadour mullet wig. Wheeler went blond and wore a pink cocktail dress. Jordan’s hair was appropriately rainbowed.

The show on Friday was emceed by Sister Roma, a well-known drag queen, activist, and online talk show host (“The Tim and Roma Show”). She introduced Bertha with an obvious but poignant observation: “They’re not like other girls.”

SET LIST
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2025

Set One:
Feel Like a Stranger
Ramble On Rose
Promised Land
Peggy-O
Mexicali Blues
Cumberland Blues
Althea
China Cat Sunflower
I Know You Rider

Set Two:
The Golden Road (to Unlimited Devotion)
Dancing in the Street
Bird Song
Estimated Prophet
Drums
Space
I Need a Miracle
Morning Dew
Not Fade Away

Encore:
Box of Rain