If you’re hitting a Dead & Co. show this summer, be sure to visit the Participation Row social action village. It’s a place where you can register to vote, do fun activities with various non-profit organizations, and get cool stuff for free!
At the band’s tour opening show in Charlotte, North Carolina June 10th, Participation Row featured host non-profit organizations HeadCount and REVERB, plus two of the state’s leading LGBT equality organizations: Equality NC and Human Rights Campaign. Those are the groups that Dead & Co. hooked up with a $100,000 gift and proceeds from sales of a rainbow Steal Your Face t-shirt.
On Participation Row, the LGBT groups collected over 600 postcards from Deadheads calling on legislators to reconsider the controversial HB2 law that banned transgender people from using their bathrooms of choice. It was a fun and festive night, with a rep from those groups getting to meet HeadCount board member Bob Weir backstage and getting a signed version of the t-shirt (see photo above).
Just one night later, the tragic mass-shooting in Orlando underscored the importance of these issues and made Dead & Co.’s outspoken stance on gay and transgender rights all the more profound.
Participation Row now continues on to EVERY STOP OF THE TOUR.
If you attend a Dead & Co. show, you can visit three booths on the Row and receive a limited-edition numbered “VOTE” pin featuring the Dead & Company logo, courtesy of the Row’s sponsor Clean Energy Advisors.
You’ll also be entered into a drawing for a sick D’Angelico lightning bolt guitar signed by the entire band.
The Dead & Company Participation Row is produced by HeadCount in partnership with REVERB, an environmental non-profit organization with a long history of running non-profit villages at live music events.
And powering the Row - literally - is Clean Energy Advisors, a sustainable energy investment firm called that’s sending a solar panel trailer to every show.
At each show there’ll also be a silent auction, raising funds for HeadCount, REVERB and the various local non-profits who join us for a night or two at a time. The auctions will feature some one-of-a-kind custom-painted D’Angelico guitars, commemorating historic two-night runs on the tour (CitiField in New York, Folsom Field in Colorado, Alpine Valley in Wisconsin, and Fenway Park in Boston). Another guitar commemorates the tour as a whole (see held by Dead & Co.'s John Mayer). A signed poster will also be auctioned to the highest bidder each night.
On top of all that, REVERB is providing beautiful Dead & Co. water bottles for $15 donations, plus free water refills to anyone with a reusable bottle.
There are many elements to Participation Row, but it starts and ends with the idea that participation matters. Whether it’s registering to vote, learning about issues so you can make informed choices at the polls, or taking socially and environmentally-conscious actions - we all can make a positive difference when being at a show.
Participation Row is our way of making that a fun and rewarding part of seeing Dead & Co.
