Deadheads with a soft spot for the Denver Nuggets have a new reason to circle November 4 on the calendar. The team is selling a ticket package for that night's home game against the Toronto Raptors that bundles admission with a Grateful Dead and Nuggets Steal Your Face hoodie, plus a pre-game concert from tribute band Shakedown Street.
The hoodie features dancing bears on the front and a Steal Your Face mash-up design on the back, according to Westword. Standard tickets for the Raptors matchup range from $45.69 to $227.93, and the ticket package is on sale now ahead of tip-off in Denver.
Shakedown Street, the Colorado-born quintet that performs music by Jerry Garcia and his collaborators, has become something of a house band for these Nuggets promotions. The group is slated to play before the game, continuing a pairing that's shown up at Ball Arena several times in recent years.
A Recurring Tradition at Ball Arena
This isn't the Nuggets' first lap around the Shakedown. Back in March 2022, the team hosted a Grateful Dead Night against the Oklahoma City Thunder that included pre- and post-game performances from the band, according to JamBase. That early version of the promotion paired a game ticket with an event T-shirt combining team and band imagery, the outlet reported.
The following year brought a different twist. For an October 30, 2023 Grateful Dead night against the Utah Jazz, tickets came with a limited-edition Grateful Dead-themed Nuggets jersey and access to a Shakedown Street pre-game concert, per Live for Live Music. The merchandise tied to these nights has shifted from year to year, moving between T-shirts and jerseys depending on the season.
By November 2024, the formula had evolved again. That year's Grateful Dead night featured another Shakedown Street pre-game concert, and fans who bought the ticket package got access to an exclusive jersey and ticket design mixing the famous Grateful Dead bears, tie-dye and Nuggets colors, Westword reported at the time.
Tip-Off Looms as Regular Season Opens
The Grateful Dead promotion lands right as the Nuggets kick off their season. The NBA regular season begins October 22, and Denver's first home game follows October 24 against the New Orleans Pelicans. Before that home opener, Nikola Jokić and the Nuggets are set to play the Oklahoma City Thunder on the road.
The Nuggets aren't the only Colorado team that's found success pairing the jam band with live sports. The Colorado Rockies have run their own Grateful Dead theme night at Coors Field, offering a T-shirt and a free pregame concert at McGregor Square by Shakedown Street, according to MLB.com. The Rockies also promoted a Grateful Dead Theme Night featuring the same tribute band in a pregame concert, per the team's own social media account.
Westword's report on the hoodie bundle was written by music editor Dave Herrera, who returned to his post at the outlet in September 2026 after helming its music section for almost twelve years previously. Herrera has also worked as a columnist, critic and features reporter at the Las Vegas Review-Journal, written for Dotdash Meredith, and had bylines in Spin and Fortune.
