Two of the most celebrated catalogs in rock history share a single stage at Putnam Place on May 8, when Grateful Dead tribute Rainbow Full of Sound joins forces with Dead Zep for a double-bill that covers all the ground between Haight-Ashbury and the Hindenburg.
Rainbow Full of Sound has earned their place as a go-to Dead tribute in the Northeast, channeling the exploratory, improvisational spirit that made the Grateful Dead a decades-long phenomenon. This isn’t about note-for-note recreation — it’s about capturing the feeling of a Dead show, the sense that anything can happen and the audience is part of what’s being built in real time.
Dead Zep expands the territory further, covering material from both the Dead and Led Zeppelin — two bands that share more DNA than people often credit. Both built devoted, almost tribal fanbases around music that demanded your full attention and rewarded repeated listening.
Putnam Place has the intimate, lived-in quality that suits music rooted in community and the communal experience of a long, immersive show. Showtime is 8 p.m.