3708 SE Hawthorne Blvd, Portland, OR 97214-5146, United States
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About the event
Dennis McNally
McMenamins presents
Dennis McNally
Bagdad Theater
Tuesday, August 5, 2025
7pm/doors 6pm
$20/$25 day of event
All ages
Dennis McNally is the Grateful Deadβs authorized biographer and longtime publicist. He toured with Jerry Garcia and the band from 1984-1995, and in 2002, McNally published the highly anticipated π΄ πΏπππ ππ‘πππππ ππππ: πβπ πΌππ πππ π»ππ π‘πππ¦ ππ π‘βπ πΊπππ‘πππ’π π·πππ (a New York Times best-seller). In 2016, McNally edited the interview compilation π½ππππ¦ ππ π½ππππ¦: πβπ ππππ’ππππ βππ π½ππππ¦ πΊπππππ πΌππ‘πππ£πππ€π .
McNallyβs debut book was π·ππ ππππ‘π π΄ππππ: π½πππ πΎππππ’ππ, π‘βπ π΅πππ‘ πΊππππππ‘πππ, πππ π΄ππππππ, published in 1979. He was the first archivist for Bill Graham Presents in 1983 and an award-winning historian of the San Francisco counterculture and music scene. He is also the author of ππ π»ππβπ€ππ¦ 61: ππ’π ππ, π πππ, πππ π‘βπ πΈπ£πππ’π‘πππ ππ πΆπ’ππ‘π’πππ πΉππππππ published in 2016.
McNallyβs newest book, πβπ πΏππ π‘ πΊππππ‘ π·ππππ: π»ππ€ π΅πβππππππ π΅πππππ π»ππππππ πππ πΆππππ‘ππ π‘βπ πππ₯π‘πππ , was published in May 2025. McNally chronicles the 1960s Haight-Ashbury neighborhood of San Francisco and its influence in other cities, the communityβs devotion to an alternative culture that rejected war, racism, and consumerism and advocated peace and a new relationship to the planet in pursuit of transcendental consciousness. McNally describes how these values were expressed in music, especially by the Grateful Dead, and how this legendary band and their musical successors still influence the cultural and political landscape today.
