Mason’s Children, the California–based quintet devoted exclusively to the primal, free-wheeling era of Grateful Dead music from 1966 to 1972, will barrel up and down the Eastern seaboard this summer on a whirlwind seven-show trek they’ve dubbed the “Great Northeast Cannonball Run.” Known for channeling the Dead’s early psychedelic edge, the band leans into the quake-inducing jams of Viola Lee Blues, the shuffle of Big Railroad Blues, and the shimmering vocal blends of American Beauty—all delivered with the exploratory spirit that defined the Dead’s first golden stretch.
The run opens June 13 at Beau’s Bar in Greenlawn, NY, plunging straight into Long Island’s storied jam scene before crossing the Delaware the very next night, June 14, at Dharma Bums in New Hope, PA. Two days later, the caravan rolls north to Funk ’n Waffles in Syracuse, NY (June 16), where melted mozzarella meets molten improvisation. The following weekend, Mason’s Children turn Manhattan into a swirling ballroom at Triad Theater (June 21), then shoot back onto Long Island for a high-octane club throw-down at US Brews in Centerport, NY (June 22). The homestretch finds the quartet beneath Brooklyn’s summer skyline at Umbra (June 28) before the finale on July 9 at The Warehouse in Amityville, NY, a room beloved by Deadheads for its late-night dance-floor sprawl.
While many tribute outfits cherry-pick favorites across the Dead’s long timeline, Mason’s Children focus on the raw, garage-tested years when Pigpen’s howl mingled with Jerry’s fiery leads and Phil’s adventurous bass runs. Expect marathon versions of “The Other One,” “Cream Puff War,” and, of course, the namesake obscurity “Mason’s Children,” delivered with ragged-edge dynamics, twin-drummer energy and vocal harmonies that hover somewhere between Haight-Ashbury innocence and Fillmore East grit.
Tickets for all dates are on sale now through each venue’s box office and at masonschildren.org. A limited allotment of discounted “Cannonball Passes,” good for entry to any three shows on the tour, is also available while supplies last.
Whether you caught the Dead in their acid-test infancy or discovered them through well-worn cassette trades, Mason’s Children invite you to climb aboard, buckle in, and ride the rail straight back to 1968—no DeLorean required.
