Four months after Jerry Garcia's death in August 1995, the Grateful Dead officially disbanded. However, band members continued to perform over the subsequent years in other bands such as RatDog, Phil Lesh and Friends, the Rhythm Devils, the Other Ones, and the Dead. After a four-year hiatus following their "Wave That Flag" summer tour in 2004, the Dead performed two 2008 shows supporting the Obama campaign, billed as "Deadheads for Obama" and "Change Rocks", as well at one of the Obama inaugural balls in 2009, ultimately giving rise to a 2009 spring tour. During this reunion, Weir and Lesh, who admitted having great fun playing together again, decided to form a new band. In August 2009, the musicians announced that they had formed a new band, Furthur, with Kadlecik, Chimenti, Lane, and Russo.
The band was named after the 1939 International Harvester psychedelic multicolored bus used by novelist Ken Kesey and his Merry Pranksters to tour America in 1964 when they attended the New York World's Fair for the debut of Kesey's second novel, Sometimes A Great Notion. "Furthur" was the inscription on the destination placard of the bus and was also the name given to the multicolored bus. "In many ways, the 'Furthur' destination of the bus—piloted by Neal Cassady, inspiration for the character Dean Moriarty in Jack Kerouac's On the Road—represented the mind-set of the transition from Beat Generation culture to the more heavily drug-infused hippie culture and the LSD-based psychedelic culture, with Ken Kesey, Neal Cassady, the Merry Pranksters, and the Grateful Dead—all alumni of the Acid Tests—as ambassadors and guides on that cognitive and conceptual journey". The Grateful Dead performed as the house band for many of the Acid Tests, which ran from 1965 to 1966.
Furthur retained much of the characteristic style and texture of the Dead. In addition to performing many of the songs regularly played in concert by the Dead, Furthur tried to "keep it fresh" by routinely adding new material to their setlists. This included many songs resurrected from the Grateful Dead's extensive songbook, including several rarely or never performed live, like "Alice D. Millionaire", as well as several cover songs from bands including the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, the Band, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Ryan Adams, Van Morrison and the Clash. They also regularly performed some new, original material.
The band debuted with performances on September 18, 19, and 20, 2009, at the Fox Theatre in Oakland, California. The band Vice (now known as Maiden Lane), featuring Phil's son, Grahame, opened for Furthur on Saturday, September 19. They then performed for a single night on November 20 at the 200-person-capacity 19 Broadway in Fairfax, California, advertised only by a last-minute announcement, and with tickets available only at the door on a first come, first served basis. The Oakland debut shows were followed by five additional concerts in the Northeast (New York, Connecticut, and New Jersey) in December 2009, as well as live rehearsal sessions and two New Year's shows in Mill Valley, California, and San Francisco, respectively. During the New Year's Eve performances, the band introduced backing vocalists Sunshine Becker and Zoe Ellis, who remained in the lineup for the remainder of the winter tour.
Bob Weir—rhythm guitar, lead vocals (9/18/2009–1/23/2014)
Phil Lesh—bass guitar, lead vocals (9/18/2009–1/23/2014)
John Kadlecik—lead guitar, lead vocals (9/18/2009–1/23/2014)
Jeff Chimenti—keyboards, backing vocals (9/18/2009–1/23/2014)
Joe Russo—drums (9/18/2009–1/23/2014)
Jay Lane—drums, backing vocals (9/18/2009 – 3/12/2010)
Sunshine Becker—backing vocals (12/27/2009–1/23/2014)
Zoe Ellis—backing vocals (12/27/2009 – 3/12/2010)
Jeff Pehrson—backing vocals (5/24/2010–1/23/2014)
Furthur-20090918 The Fox Theater, Oakland,CA
Furthur-20090919 The Fox Theater, Oakland,CA
Furthur-20090920 The Fox Theater, Oakland,CA
Furthur-20091208 New York, NY
Furthur-20091209 New York, NY
Furthur-20091211 New Haven, CT
Furthur-20091212 Convention Hall, Asbury Park, NJ
Furthur-20091213 Convention Hall, Asbury Park, NJ
Furthur-20091230 San Francisco, CA
Furthur-20091231 San Francisco, CA
