- 50th ANNIVERSARY OF SUMMER JAM -
CITY SPACE EVENT
SPECIAL SHOW ANNOUNCEMENT!
Update [July 28, 2023] - Mind Left Body only has a small number of shows left in 2023! We have had an amazing year so far and love seeing so many familiar faces out there in the audience. Thank you for being such a large part of what we do and for coming out and exploring all of the fun, groovy, funky, uplifting, introspective, strange etc. spaces that the music of the Grateful Dead allows.
We have been planning a special 50th anniversary commemorative event with our partner CitySpace since the beginning of the new year and are excited to announce that we will be celebrating the bicenntennial of the Watkins Glen Summer Jam of 1973 on October 27, 2023. We are hoping to build on the success of last years Veneta, OR bicennenntial celebration and continue our partnership with CitySpace. Stay tuned for more special announcements related to this event and maybe some surprises.
For some historical information related to this event, check out the links towards the bottom of this page. Check out one of the original posters we liked (Original Poster Image Link).
Kinda cool! - We are not alone in our wanting to celebrate the significance of this regionally local event. We humbly acknowledge that there are many fine groups in the area and further abroad that are planning or have planned to do a commemorative performance in honor of this event. Check out just some of the cool posters in the image below! (As far as we know... we are the only group locally doing it with a non-profit to help support restoration of a Old Town Hall and also the only ones weird enough to do it in October - Not Really Summer Jam! )
HISTORY AND LINKS
Check out the links below to get you all up to speed on what this event was all about...
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED - Good Ol' Grateful Dead Podcast series
https://www.dead.net/deadcast?eml=2023July27/6143220/6131962&etsubid=178631377
Wikipedia - Basic background info...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Summer_Jam_at_Watkins_Glen
OFFICIAL MLB PRESS RELEASE
Celebrating the Bicentennial of Watkins Glen Summer Jam -
50th Anniversary Performance and Fundraising Event
Mind Left Body announces a unique historical performance recreation and fundraiser for CitySpace’s restoration of Old Town Hall
Who: Mind Left Body
What: Performance of Grateful Dead’s Famous Summer Jam at Watkins Glen and fundraiser
When: Friday, October 27, 2023; Doors 6:30pm; Show 7:30 pm
Where: At CitySpace in the Blue Room at Old Town Hall, 43 Main Street, Easthampton, MA
Tickets: $15 advanced tickets at cityspaceeasthampton.org, $20 at door
[Easthampton, MA, July 28, 2023] Mind Left Body will recreate a historical performance by the Grateful Dead in CitySpace’s Blue Room at Old Town Hall in Easthampton on October 27, 2023, to celebrate the 50th year anniversary of the “largest audience at a pop festival”.
We invite the community to join together in support of CitySpace’s restoration of Old Town Hall, and to experience music from what is considered one of the most historic, and regionally significant, rock and roll concerts. Fifty years ago on July 28, 1973 the Summer Jam Festival at Watkins Glen, NY broke the Guinness Book of World Records for the “Largest audience at a pop festival” with about 600,000 attendees. The small village of Watkins Glen was overwhelmed by people that July day with some speculating that an estimated one out of every three people between the ages of 17 to 24 from New York to Boston was in attendance. The festival included performances by The Band, Allman Brothers Band, and the Grateful Dead over one long, hot day (although, true to their singular legacy, the previous day saw the Dead play a multi-hour soundcheck for early-comers that is now considered one of their classic performances). Keeping the summer vibes going through the fall, Mind Left Body will perform Grateful Dead’s set from the Watkins Summer Jam July 27 performance.
Gordon Clark, guitarist with Mind Left Body, notes that, “Thanks in particular to our fanbase and the community, we are interested in building on a very successful fundraiser show last year at CitySpace where we celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Veneta 1972 show. This year, we are looking to grow the event even more. The goal is to celebrate a regional/local 50th anniversary live music milestone for the northeast, explore the music in one of the Grateful Dead’s peak artistic years, and to continue to promote and support live music in our local community.”
Mind Left Body plays this special concert in support of CitySpace and the nonprofits mission to restore the second-floor in Old Town Hall into an accessible performing arts and community space. Additional donations to CitySpace are encouraged for those who are able.
“We are thrilled and thankful to have MLB return to CitySpace in support of the restoration of Old Town Hall. This band brings a special sense of reciprocity and community spirit together to dance, sing, and have a good time,” says Burns Maxey, President of CitySpace.