The Venue in Aurora to celebrate birthday of Jerry Garcia with live show

AURORA – The Venue will present an abundance of musical offerings in August – both live and virtual.

At 8 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 1, The Venue will celebrate the late Jerry Garcia's birthday with live performances by two Grateful Dead-inspired bands – Cream Puff Warriors and August West.

Tickets cost $30 and are limited to 50 social-distanced seats, which can be purchased at The Venue's website, themusicvenue.org. Several $20 general admission tickets for Mundy Park – which is located next to The Venue – will be sold at the door the day of the show, weather permitting.

General admission ticket holders will see the live show projected on the wall of The Venue in Mundy Park, and the garage door to The Venue will be open. Bag chairs and blankets are encouraged for general admission ticket holders.

"We're all big fans of the Grateful Dead, and last year we did the Woodstock anniversary shows," Fox Valley Music Foundation President Dave Glynn said. "We were looking to do something similar this year, but we didn't want to do Woodstock again. We wanted to do something different. So we got the idea to do a Jerry Garcia birthday bash."

The Fox Valley Music Foundation operates The Venue, which reopened its doors earlier this month with a show by blues guitarist Larry McCray. Glynn said everyone who came to the show followed the new protocols that have been put in place because of the COVID-19 pandemic, including wearing face masks.

"People were very courteous and understood," Glynn said.

He said The Venue is committed to keeping audience members, along with its performers and workers, as safe as possible.

"We want to keep everyone safe and still provide a live music experience," Glynn said. "We want our audience to feel comfortable in the experience and get to see a great live show."

At 8 p.m. Aug. 6, The Venue will begin its Music in Mundy outdoor concert series with a live performance by slide guitarist and singer Bill Grady. Advance general admission tickets cost $10. In the event of rain, the concert will be moved to The Venue's indoor stage.

"We had always talked with the city of Aurora about using that park," Glynn said. "The reason why the park was built, really, was because The Venue was next door. And that's why they created the auditorium seating in Mundy Park."

The rest of August will feature a mix of live and livestreamed shows. At 8 p.m. Aug. 7, Rick Lindy and the Wild Ones will perform a salute to Roy Orbison inside The Venue.

The Arcadian Wild will perform a show inside The Venue at 8 p.m. Aug. 13. Tickets cost $15, and weather permitting, the garage door will open to Mundy Park for same-day general admission sales at $10.

Several livestreamed shows also will take place during the month, including a performance by violinist and international touring star Anne Harris at 7 p.m. Aug. 23. She will be joined by Ernie Hendrickson.

For livestream-only shows, donations are split between the artist and the Fox Valley Music Foundation. All livestream performances can be watched on The Venue's Facebook page, facebook.com/TheVenueAurora.

In the face of the challenges created by the pandemic, Glynn said they have just tried to keep the music going.

"We as a group are really putting on our creative hats and coming up with whatever ways we can to keep the music going for people, and keep safety in mind at the same time," he said. "Our mission is to present the music of the Fox Valley and present music to the Fox Valley, and that's what we're going to continue to do, anyway we can."

More information about The Venue's upcoming shows is available at its website, themusicvenue.org.