Aurora’s The Venue will bring Summer Jam to Mundy Park on Friday, July 28. Part of their Music in Mundy Park series, the ticketed outdoor concert will feature Peach Jam and Cream Puff Warriors.
Summer Jam will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Summer Jam at Watkins Glen which took place on July 28, 1973 at the New York racetrack and brought together Grateful Dead, The Allman Brothers Band, and The Band.
“It’s literally 50 years later,” said Sean Briskey, one of two lead guitarists in Peach Jam, a Chicago-based Allman Brothers tribute band.
The original Summer Jam broke records with its crowd of 600,000. “It was bigger than Woodstock,” said Briskey, who brought the idea of an anniversary celebration to The Venue after Peach Jam sold out a winter show at the downtown Aurora location.
“It’s the jam band community coming together,” said Scott Tipping, music director of The Venue. Tipping will also perform as “musician at large” with both bands throughout the evening.
Peach Jam and Cream Puff Warriors, a Grateful Dead cover band out of Chicago, will both headline the evening starting with both bands coming together for a set of tunes from The Band.
“It was a huge event in rock history,” Packy Lundholm of Cream Puff Warriors said of the original Summer Jam. Lundholm, a guitarist in the band, added that each Grateful Dead song has “the opportunity to be different. There are infinite possibilities,” he said.
“I’m excited to get Chicago musicians together,” Briskey said.
Tickets are on sale now on Eventbrite for $30. Tickets are $35 at the door. The event is rain or shine and includes local food trucks and artisan vendors. The event starts at 7 p.m. Doors open at 6 p.m.
Batavia artist Chris Hodge designed the poster, which is reflective of concert posters of the time.
The Venue is located at 21 S. Broadway in Aurora,
For more information, visit themusicvenue.org. Tickets can be purchased at:
