Bertha: Grateful Drag

Bertha: Grateful Drag at The Barrelhouse Ballroom

You can spend years listening to the Grateful Dead and still find a new way into the songs. Bertha: A Grateful Drag puts a drag-infused live tribute on the same bill as everything people come to hear in that music. The Tennessee-born band plays The Barrelhouse Ballroom in Chattanooga on Thursday, November 5, 2026, at 7:00 p.m.

Start with the part of a Dead song you always pay attention to. Maybe it’s the tune. Maybe it’s how much room there is around it for the players to make a choice. When somebody else takes on that catalog, you get the pleasure of recognizing the shape of the music and seeing what the performers bring to it themselves. The drag is part of whose interpretation you’re there to hear.

Bring a friend who goes to shows for different reasons than you do. One of you might have opinions about which live Dead recording to start with. The other might be curious about what a drag-infused tribute looks like in a ballroom. Both are good reasons to go. And if neither of you knows the songs well, you can still have the fun of finding out what makes the other person lean in.

Check ticket options for Bertha and pick somebody you’d like to hear the Dead with.