On Friday, Dark Star Orchestra had some special news for Boston fans with the announcement that lead guitarist and vocalist Jeff Mattson will be playing with Jerry Garcia’s iconic “Wolf” guitar during their upcoming show on Thursday at the Wilbur Theatre. Given that the band will have Wolf on hand, they intend to make use of their special gift for the evening. The group recently hinted to fans that they’ll be recreating a Grateful Dead show in Boston during which Jerry played the Wolf guitar.
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Garcia’s legendary Wolf guitar was auctioned off last June at the Brooklyn Bowl for a whopping $1.6M winning bid from Brian Halligan, the HubSpot CEO and co-author of Marketing Lessons From The Grateful Dead: What Every Business Can Learn From The Most Iconic Band in History. The guitar was auctioned off to benefit the Southern Poverty Law Center, with the previous owner matching the winning bid, making for a whopping $3.2M donation at the end of the night. The auction also served as the vehicle for an all-star performance billed as Joe Russo’s Friends With Benefits that saw Neal Casal, Scott Metzger, Tom Hamilton, and Cass McCombs all get the chance to play Wolf before it went to its new home.
However, Wolf’s new owner, Brian Halligan, is clearly generous with his recently purchased prize guitar. In the time since, he’s lent out Wolf to a number of musicians, including to Joe Russo’s Almost Dead’s Tom Hamilton, who played it throughout a show in December. This tradition of generosity and keeping the music of the Grateful Dead alive and authentic will continue on Thursday when Jeff Mattson performs with the lauded instrument. You can snag tickets for Dark Star Orchestra’s upcoming Boston performance with Jerry Garcia’s Wolf guitar here.
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