After drawing more than 300 people to a Christmas concert last month, the new owners of Mount Vernon Place Church are looking to attract a different crowd in February.
Plans are in the works for a Grateful Dead-themed concert featuring Cris Jacobs & Friends and special guests from The WolfPack, “celebrating the Grateful Dead Songbook.”
The concert is scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 21, from 6 to 11 p.m. at the church, 2 E. Mount Vernon Place. It will be the second major concert in the main sanctuary since a non-profit group called UNITE Mount Vernon bought the church last July with the goal of activating it as a multipurpose venue and gathering space for Mount Vernon.
“It’s going to be awesome,” said Martin Knott Jr., a key supporter of UNITE Mount Vernon and a lead donor behind the holiday concert, of the February show. “We’re going to blow the doors off this place.”
The Grateful Dead broke up in December 1995 after the death of frontman Jerry Garcia, but other members of the legendary rock band have reunited in various forms since then.
This will be one of the first Grateful Dead-themed concerts since the Jan. 10 death of Bob Weir, another founding member of the band. Considered one of rock’s finest and most distinctive rhythm guitarists and singers, Weir received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award; an Americana Music Association Lifetime Spirit Award; a Les Paul Spirit Award and is a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations.
Cris Jacobs is a Baltimore-based singer and songwriter that Baltimore Magazine has called “The King of Baltimore Rock’n’Roll.” Joining him in Mount Vernon will be Mads Tolling on the violin, Brian Switzer on the trumpet, and Alex Kelly on the cello. Their group, the WolfPack, is a string and brass quintet that performed with Weir as Bobby Weir & Wolf Bros, playing the Grateful Dead canon with symphony orchestras around the country. The Feb. 21 concert is produced by the St. Paul Sound Room and Friends.
“We are so excited to bring together Baltimore’s own Cris Jacobs and Friends along with three former members of the WolfPack,” the producers said in an announcement about the concert. “All of these incredible musicians are masters of the Grateful Dead songbook, crafting their own take on these incredible songs. We can’t think of a better way to open up this new music venue in Baltimore as it transitions to a multipurpose venue for the historic Mount Vernon neighborhood.”
According to Knott, the concert is a fundraiser, with half of the proceeds going to UNITE Mount Vernon and half going to the Rex Foundation, a charitable organization established in 1983 by The Grateful Dead and friends to support a variety of causes. Knott is on the board of the Rex Foundation.
Doors will open at 5 p.m. and the band will play two sets of music starting at 6 p.m. and ending at 10 p.m., with a half-hour break between sets. Tickets cost $161.90 for seats in the center section of the church and $108.55 for seats on the left and right sections. Beer, wine and water will be served at no additional cost.
More information is available at: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/cris-jacobs-friends-joined-by-3-members-of-the-wolfpack-tickets-1980512182251.
