Oteil Burbridge lost Bob Weir on January 11, 2026, and when WAMC asked him weeks later about the future of Grateful Dead music, he answered without hesitation: “There will be no stopping.” That resolve brings him to Universal Preservation Hall on Tuesday, October 6, for a benefit performance supporting Make-A-Wish Vermont & Northeast New York.
About the Show
Burbridge’s connection with Make-A-Wish Vermont & Northeast New York runs deeper than a single appearance. He performed at the chapter’s “Whiskey, Wine & Wishes” gala this past March, joining the 10 Most Wanted Band at Saratoga Springs’ Canfield Casino for an evening that raised nearly $300,000 for wish-granting efforts. His involvement runs through Jamie Hathaway, the chapter’s president and CEO and a longtime Dead & Company fan, and the October 6 concert at Universal Preservation Hall continues that partnership on a theater stage.
Burbridge is a two-time Grammy Award winner who spent 17 years as the Allman Brothers Band’s longest-running bassist, a tenure that earned him a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2012. After joining Dead & Company, he played to more than four million fans, including two Sphere Las Vegas residencies in 2024 and 2025. A founding member of the Aquarium Rescue Unit (1991) alongside Col. Bruce Hampton and a member of the Grammy-winning Tedeschi Trucks Band, he has been placed among the 100 greatest bassists by Bass Player magazine. His jazz-fusion roots have traveled with him throughout, threading melodic ambition through stadium rock and the Garcia and Hunter songbook alike.
He goes into the October benefit with a full calendar: appearances in the “Unbroken Chain” residencies honoring the late Phil Lesh, work with vocalist Lamar Williams Jr. on “The Offering,” a new collaborative album, and an Oteil & Friends summer run beginning August 1. The October benefit also arrives after his 2022 album “Lovely View of Heaven,” a collection of Garcia and Hunter songs recorded in Iceland following the losses of his father, his brother Kofi, and his mentor Col. Bruce Hampton.
Venue & Logistics
Universal Preservation Hall is at 25 Washington Street in Saratoga Springs, within the Capital Region. The 1,100-seat theater handles ticketing through the Proctors Collaborative booking system; the box office is (518) 346-6204. The benefit begins at 5 p.m.
Tickets
No ticket price was available from sources at the time of publication. Buy tickets