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# Acclaimed Dead tribute returns to 14-Below
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/acclaimed-dead-tribute-returns-to-14-below/
- Published: 2007-08-16T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-24T02:35:37.000Z
- Author: Guest Author
- Tags: Entertainment, Mid-City, #archive-import

*Cubensis returns to local nightclub*

*By GERRY SHIH I Special to the Daily Press*

MID-CITY Deadheads are a dime a dozen and decent tribute bands are easy to find. But few can safely claim to be the number one Grateful Dead tribute band in Southern California and not expect any contention.

Cubensis, as frontman Craig Marshall will insist, is just that.

The five-man group covering the Dead since 1987 has brought its faultless recreations of the legendary jam band’s shows back to Santa Monica’s 14-Below nightclub for weekly performances every Sunday night at 7:30 p.m.

Cubensis had previously enjoyed a nearly eight-year residency at 14-Below, but after the reputed nightclub changed ownership at the end of 2006, the band moved out and found little difficulty finding venues. Bars like Marlin in Huntington Beach opened its arms and offered its stage.

There were rumors of 14-Below closing, a long-time employee at the venerable local watering hole said, but with the return of Cubensis, the club is packed pretty full and “they’re coming back in droves.”

Talk to Marshall, a retired postman, and it’s quickly obvious how wholly, hopelessly, and happily he has immersed himself in the Grateful Dead.

It was 1967, still his high school years, when Marshall first heard Jerry Garcia, Phil Lesh, Bob Weir, and company live at the Shrine Expo Hall.

“Oh man,” he said, recalling that first exposure. “It changed everything. I was reborn.”

So he immediately picked up the guitar, basically an Italian “two-by-four with strings”, and began learning. He slowed Grateful Dead vinyls down to half speed and plucked along with Garcia, steadily improving, his understanding of the music growing deeper, and simple, familiar songs began to unfold into lush symphonies to his ear.

In 1986, finally frustrated by the San Francisco band’s reluctance to play in Southern California, Marshall formed Cubensis, first known as Sugar Cubensis — a clever wordplay on both LSD and psyche-delic mushrooms. The objective, he said, was to fill the void for Southern California’s Deadheads, and the group started off playing backyard parties for a handful of years, before breaking into the club scene.

Fast forward 10 years, and Cubensis was establishing itself as the number one Dead tribute band around, pulling 100 to 150 people a night, three nights a week. An L.A. Weekly reviewer wrote that the band played “with the same laid-back mastery as the Real McCoy,” and the L.A. Times, Ventura County Star, Orange County Register, and other newspapers gave highly favorable reviews.

The objective was met. Sometimes, Marshall would be approached after shows and told that Cubensis was better than the Dead themselves. He would scratch his head and respond: “No, no, we just do an echo of that. What they’ve accomplished can’t be matched.”

Marshall lived by what he said was the Dead’s philosophy: Live your own life, don’t hurt anyone, accept people, don’t preach, smile and dance everyday. He met Garcia at San Francisco International Airport once and received Garcia’s cool vote of approval. He considered taking the band to play five nights a week, a frequency that would guarantee a solid income enough to make a living, but rejected the idea. The players, all accomplished musicians, had too much to do. Rhythm guitarist Nate LaPointe continues to record with his own band and teaches guitar by day. Everyone is basically a “pro musician bum,” said Marshall.

After accumulating a growing and loyal fan base, some of whom came multiple nights a week to listen to their Dead covers, the band remained undecided about introducing some original music to Cubensis sets.

“We may bring some new music,” Marshall said. “It would probably be a good business move, so expect something.”

But after hearing his disgusted friends and acquaintances who have recorded original albums, he’s not quite enthusiastic about making the foray into that “vile pit of serpents.”

So for now, it’s still all about live jams and recreating the swirling, colorful experience of the San Francisco band that had captivated so many since the wild ‘60s.

“We’re about sharing the Dead experience with the old Deadheads and the younger fans,” Marshall said. “It’s a privilege to play this music.”

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/55/9f/559f9abc-8372-4a2e-8c2d-27386da4e363/content/images/2026/10/081607-16_02.jpg)

SMILE: Craig Marshall is Cubensis’ frontman. (Photo: Photo courtesy Cubensis)

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on August 16, 2007.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/081607.pdf?ref=smdp.com)