A CELEBRATION OF BILL 
A Happy Hour to Honor Bill Walton — Life, Legacy & Love of the Game
Join us for music, memories, and Grateful Dead spirit as we celebrate the one
and only Bill Walton — Hall of Famer, Deadhead, storyteller, and San Diego
legend.

San Diego’s Electric Waste Band (“EWB”) is an award winning Grateful Dead cover band that has been playing throughout California and the Southwest for 37 years and roughly 2700 shows.

Though styled a Dead cover band, EWB has never tried to sound like the band they were covering.  Taking their cue from the Dead themselves, EWB seeks to bring out those elements of the song they particularly enjoy and thereby make every song their own.  Not being tied to a specific part, each band member is free to express themselves musically, so that every show is a unique interpretation of the music.  That freedom has resulted in San Diego’s longest running residency of weekly Monday nights at Winstons since February 3, 1992.  On November 2nd  the band will celebrate their 1,800th Monday nights at Winstons. 

From the start, EWB has played throughout the County, whether bars and nightclubs, the OB and PB Street Fairs, various festivals and special events, Oktoberfest, and regular appearances on KUSI. 

Things got really exciting when in 2014, the band welcomed their newest member, NBA legend and hero to all who knew him, Bill Walton.  In addition to being the world’s tallest Deadhead, Bill would be an integral part of EWB in the basketball off-season thereafter through 2023, whether he was crafting set lists, booking incredible gigs or entertaining the fans at every show.

In 2017, San Diego’s original craft brewery, Karl Strauss Brewing Company, brewed a beer in EWB’s honor.  Currently on Batch 10, Electric Waste Beer is a red IPA with ingredients sourced from Grateful Dead songs, including sugar magnolias, scarlet begonias and rose buds. 

As part of the band’s 2019 intergalactic stadium tour (as coined by Bill), EWB played it’s first of two shows at Petco Park before the Padres’ game with Bill throwing out the first pitch.  Padres fans take note that the Padres are 3 - 0 when EWB plays Petco.  

In 2019 Bill and the boys trucked on up to the Bay area for a legendary show a Sweetwater Music Hall where they were joined onstage by the Grateful Dead’s Bob Weir, Dead & Company keyboardist Jeff Chimenti and saxophone great Dave Ellis. It was such a wonderful night that ESPN featured it in their top 10 plays of the day.  

In 2019, the band was honored by the City of San Diego, the California State Assembly and Senate, and the US House of Representatives for their commitment to community for what was then their 27 year residency at Winstons.

Though the pandemic forced the closure of Winstons in March 2020, EWB continued playing Monday nights to an empty house, choosing to livestream their weekly performances nationwide on Facebook. In addition to growing a national fan base, EWB’s livestreams helped many get through the lockdown as they were the only source of live Grateful Dead music available. EWB currently livestreams on YouTube and Facebook and has an audio only stream on shoutingfire.com, burning man’s online radio station. 

In 2024, EWB was inducted into the San Diego Music Hall of Fame, and continues to be a part of the official ceremonies honoring San Diego’s great musicians and musical history.  

In 2025, EWB played a night of remembrance for Bill at the Sports Arena put on by the San Diego Gulls.   

The band continues playing live throughout California and Arizona in addition to its regular shows at Winstons and Aquarius.  

The band is Ed Fletcher on drums and vocals, Eric Gabriel on keys and vocals, Robert Harvey on guitar and vocals and Bob Rosencrans on bass and vocals.