<P> The Grateful Dead began their career as the Warlocks , a group formed in early 1965 from the remnants of a Palo Alto , California jug band called Mother McCree 's Uptown Jug Champions . The band 's first show was at Magoo 's Pizza located at 639 Santa Cruz Avenue in suburban Menlo Park , California , on May 5 , 1965 . They were initially known as the Warlocks ; coincidentally , the Velvet Underground ( similarly influenced by avant - garde music ) was also using that name on the East Coast . The show was not recorded but the set list has been preserved . Gigging as a bar band , the group quickly changed its name after finding out that another band of the same name ( not the Velvet Underground , who by then had also changed their name ) had signed a recording contract . The first show under the new name Grateful Dead was in San Jose , California on December 4 , 1965 , at one of Ken Kesey 's Acid Tests . Earlier demo tapes have survived , but the first of over 2,000 concerts known to have been recorded by the band 's fans was a show at the Fillmore Auditorium in San Francisco on January 8 , 1966 . Later that month , the Grateful Dead played at the Trips Festival , an early psychedelic rock concert . </P>
<P> The Grateful Dead began their career as the Warlocks , a group formed in early 1965 from the remnants of a Palo Alto , California jug band called Mother McCree 's Uptown Jug Champions . The band 's first show was at Magoo 's Pizza located at 639 Santa Cruz Avenue in suburban Menlo Park , California , on May 5 , 1965 . They were initially known as the Warlocks ; coincidentally , the Velvet Underground ( similarly influenced by avant - garde music ) was also using that name on the East Coast . The show was not recorded but the set list has been preserved . Gigging as a bar band , the group quickly changed its name after finding out that another band of the same name ( not the Velvet Underground , who by then had also changed their name ) had signed a recording contract . The first show under the new name Grateful Dead was in San Jose , California on December 4 , 1965 , at one of Ken Kesey 's Acid Tests . Earlier demo tapes have survived , but the first of over 2,000 concerts known to have been recorded by the band 's fans was a show at the Fillmore Auditorium in San Francisco on January 8 , 1966 . Later that month , the Grateful Dead played at the Trips Festival , an early psychedelic rock concert . </P>
when did the warlocks become the grateful dead
when did the warlocks become the grateful dead
December 4 , 1965
December 4 , 1965