Ethan Miller leads a bevy of Bay Area artists celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Grateful Dead’s ‘Aoxomoxoa’ at The Chapel in San Francisco on Oct. 28, 2019. Photos: Michael Smyth/Staff. SAN FRANCISCO — One expects to encounter a certain amount of enthusiasm for The Grateful Dead here. The Bay…

The first-ever Bear Music Fest will be nothing like its organizers originally brainstormed, and they say that’s how they would prefer it. “I think the best things in life come out of the limitations with which you’re presented,” says Kevin Merritt, the event’s executive producer. The idea pitched two…