China Cats Holiday Bash

Ho ho ho!! It’s time for the China Cats’ awesome annual Holiday Bash at the Santa Cruz Veterans Memorial Hall on Saturday, December 2, 2023 from 7:30 to 10:30 pm!

Tickets: Advance $20 | Door $25
https://bit.ly/ChinaCatsHolidayBash

The China Cats are the Bay area’s premiere Grateful Dead Tribute band, performing with the same lineup of players for more than 10 years. They competently play over 200 songs the Grateful Dead performed during their career and have a large mobile fan base. The China Cats have headlined at the Redwood Mountain Faire (Santa Cruz, CA), performed at the Skull and Roses Festival (Ventura, CA), Enchanted Forest Festival , Grateful Dead Archives (UCSC Santa Cruz) Hog Farm picnic, as well as many popular venues such as Terrapin Crossroads (san Rafael), Sweetwater Music Hall (Mill Valley) The Catalyst (Santa Cruz), Swabbie’s (Sacramento) Crystal Bay Casino (Lake Tahoe) Club Fox (Redwood City) The Ashkenaz (Berkeley) and many others.

Here’s what the press has to say:

“What makes these cats different? For starters, they seem to have more than the usual allotted nine lives. This improvisational partnership between the same five members has been delighting ‘deadicated’ dancers and toe-tappers alike for over a decade. Matt Hartle shreds on lead guitar, adding soulful vocals that conjure the lofty, lilting, bone-tingling notes of the late, great Jerry Garcia. Mike Owens artfully beats a primal drum, forming the foundation upon which towers of music can be built. Roger Sideman holds down a steady driving bass line with the determination of someone totally committed to the music. Scott Cooper keeps time and everybody spinning with his rhythm guitar and vocals. Steven Sofranko embellishes all the other instrumentation with his improvisational and whimsical prowess on the keys. It’s never just another show, it’s a pulsating, undulating, melodic, dramatic, ecstatic, jubilee!” – San Lorenzo Valley Post, Santa Cruz Mountains

“One of the premier tribute bands in Northern California. The group has spent years infusing the classic sensibilities of the Dead’s catalog with their own flair and energy” – Good Times, Santa Cruz
“The China Cats aren’t a cover band,” says Nicholas Meriwether, archivist of the Grateful Dead collection at UC Santa Cruz. “They approach the Dead’s work with the same kind of reverence and sophistication that the Dead themselves showed in their own forays into American roots music. “When you listen to the Cats,” Meriweather adds, “old favorites take on new lives, revealing facets that will delight and amaze even jaded listeners. These guys aren’t copycats — their sets demonstrate how the Dead’s music now is a part of the great American songbook, alongside the giants who first inspired the Dead.”

Artist sights and sounds:
www.thechinacats.com
FB @thechinacats