SAN FRANCISCO – A large crowd gathered at San Francisco’s Civic Center on Saturday to honor Bob Weir, the iconic guitarist and a founding member of the Grateful Dead, who passed away last week at the age of 78.

Musicians Joan Baez and John Mayer took to a temporary stage outside the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium, following an opening prayer in Tibetan by four Buddhist monks. Fans arrived with long-stemmed red roses, some of which were placed at a makeshift altar adorned with photos and candles. Attendees penned heartfelt messages on colorful paper, expressing their admiration and gratitude for Weir’s influence.

Many fans also sent messages for Weir to pass along to fellow Grateful Dead founders, Jerry Garcia and Phil Lesh, who passed away in 1995 and 2024, respectively.

“I’m here to celebrate Bob Weir,” stated Ruthie Garcia, a fan since 1989, who clarified she was not related to Jerry Garcia. “Celebrating him and helping him go home.”

The celebration drew a diverse group of fans, including those clad in tie-dye and sporting long dreadlocks, some even with walkers. Among them were young couples, men in their twenties, and a father introducing his 6-year-old son to the enduring spirit of live music and the vibrant Deadhead community.

The Bay Area native joined the Grateful Dead — originally the Warlocks — in 1965 in San Francisco at just 17 years old. He wrote or co-wrote and sang lead vocals on Dead classics including “Sugar Magnolia,” “One More Saturday Night” and “Mexicali Blues.” He was generally considered less shaggy looking than the other band members, although he adopted a long beard like Garcia’s later in life.

The Dead played music that pulled in blues, jazz, country, folk and psychedelia in long improvisational jams. Their concerts attracted avid Deadheads who followed them on tours. The band played on decades after Garcia’s death, morphing into Dead & Company with John Mayer.

Darla Sagos, who caught an early flight out of Seattle Saturday morning to make the public mourning, said she suspected something was up when there were no new gigs announced after Dead & Company played three nights in San Francisco last summer. It was unusual, as his calendar often showed where he would be playing next.

“We were hoping that everything was OK and that we were going to get more music from him,” she said. “But we will continue the music, with all of us and everyone that’s going to be playing it.”

Sagos and her husband, Adam Sagos, have a one-year-old grandson who will grow up knowing the music.

A statement on Weir’s Instagram account announced his passing Jan. 10. It said he beat cancer, but he succumbed to underlying lung issues. He is survived by his wife and two daughters, who were at Saturday’s event.

His death was sudden and unexpected, said daughter Monet Weir, but he had always wished for the music and the legacy of the Dead to outlast him.

American music, he believed, could unite, she said.

“The show must go on,” Monet Weir said.