As Jam Cruise 21 makes its voyage home, footage of the festivities onboard the MSC Divina continue to inspire FOMO for those of us on land. The latest highlight to reach the shore is last night’s set by BERTHA: Grateful Drag featuring special guest Steve Kimock.
As BERTHA’s Melody Walker said in a recent interview with L4LM, “Everyone who sits in with BERTHA gets in drag. It’s a solidarity thing.” Not only did Kimock happily oblige, he got in the Grateful Drag spirit with a dress previously worn on stage by Grateful Dead backup vocalist Donna Jean Godchaux, including during the band’s trip to Egypt in 1978.
Related: Jam Cruise 21: These Are A Few Of Our Favorite Things (So Far) [Photos/Videos]
According to a post from Relix, Kimock “called up Donna Jean and asked to borrow the dress.” His sit-in “marked the first time the band performed with a [Grateful Dead] garment,” and the collaboration fell on the 46th anniversary of Donna and Keith Godchaux‘s final show with the Dead, which took place at the Rock for Life benefit on February 17th, 1979. The couple would go on to form the Heart of Gold Band with Steve Kimock on guitar in 1980. Sadly, the outfit played only one show before Keith died from injuries sustained in a car accident. Kimock and the band’s drummer, Greg Anton, subsequently formed Zero, which became a fixture of the Bay Area jam scene.
Watch Steve Kimock jam with BERTHA: Grateful Drag in Donna Jean Godchaux’s dress on Jam Cruise 21 below.
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