BERTHA: Grateful Drag brings two sets of Dead to Bell's Back Room

The Nashville drag tribute to the Grateful Dead plays Bell's Back Room on Wednesday, February 24, 2027.

Seven musicians, every one of them named Bertha, and a Grateful Dead songbook played in full drag. That is what is heading to the Bell's Back Room on a Wednesday in late February.

BERTHA: Grateful Drag plays Bell's Back Room in Kalamazoo on Wednesday, February 24, 2027, at 7 p.m. The room holds about 200 people. The date was announced October 19; ticket details were not attached to the listing, so check the JamBase listing for updates.

BERTHA comes out of Nashville, and its origin story is part of the draw. The band first came together in 2023 as a benefit for Inclusion TN after Tennessee moved to restrict drag performance, as Live For Live Music reported. Its first show was April 29, 2023, at Dee's Country Cocktail Lounge in Nashville, and it quickly announced a second, per Live For Live Music. In a Relix feature, the band said the idea actually predated the ban.

The concept is simple and committed. Every member goes by Bertha, with names like Mommy Bertha, Daddy Bertha and Auntie Bertha, and the players have kept their everyday identities private, according to Relix. A harmony trio of Berthas fronts an all-Bertha band. The Almanac billed it as the world's first Grateful Dead drag band.

Seven musicians, every one of them named Bertha, and the Grateful Dead songbook in full drag.

What keeps Deadheads coming back is that the music is taken seriously. Shows run two sets over about three hours, with a fresh setlist each night, the same approach to improvisation and rotation that defined the band they are honoring. Grateful Web's review of a 2025 show at The Mishawaka in Colorado noted that the night benefited Rocky Mountain Equality, an LGBTQ+ advocacy group; shows typically support a local cause. In February 2026, the band released its first live album, *Slayin' in the Band Vol. 1*, per Grateful Web.

That mix of musicianship and camp is a natural fit for Bell's Back Room. At around 200 capacity, it is a small enough room for a three-hour, two-set night to feel like a party among friends, and a midweek date gives the regulars something to look forward to in the slow stretch of late winter.

Kalamazoo has a strong appetite for jam music, and BERTHA offers a version of it that is equal parts reverent and ridiculous. Wear your tie-dye, add a little sparkle, and pace yourself: the second set is the long one.

Sources: JamBase: BERTHA: Grateful Drag at Bell's Back Room (jambase.com); Live For Live Music: Grateful Drag benefit concert, Tennessee drag ban (liveforlivemusic.com); Live For Live Music: Grateful Drag band BERTHA announces second performance (liveforlivemusic.com); Relix: Deadicated: BERTHA's Grateful Drag (relix.com); Almanac: Here Comes Sunshine: world's first Grateful Dead drag band plays The Guild (almanacnews.com); Grateful Web: BERTHA: Grateful Drag, The Mishawaka, 6/13/2025 (gratefulweb.com); Grateful Web: BERTHA: Grateful Drag release first-ever live album (gratefulweb.com)