Deadheads, get ready for the Two Town Shakedown

MAPLEWOOD, NJ — Deadheads and classic rock fans will have a chance to rock out to their favorite tunes when Dead Space, New Jersey’s premier Grateful Dead tribute band, performs at Two Town Shakedown, a benefit concert on Saturday, May 6, at The Woodland, 60 Woodland Road in Maplewood, at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are charged and include one drink ticket each; a cash bar with wine and beer as well as food will be available for purchase at the venue.

Proceeds from Two Town Shakedown will raise funds to expand the play spaces and outdoor classrooms at The Iris Family Center for Early Childhood Education, the pre-school program at Temple Sharey-Tefilo Israel in South Orange. Concert tickets are available at twotownshakedown.evenbrite.com.

“I’m determined to preserve outdoor spaces in which children have the ability to explore nature at TSTI, surrounded by beautiful trees and natural elements,” Carol Paster, early childhood education director, said. “This fundraiser will enable us to replace the plastic climbing structures with more open-ended outdoor experiential equipment and materials.”

Dead Space, formed by guitarist/singer Howard Bialos of Kenilworth, includes guitarist Jed Goldstein from South Orange, a TSTI pre-school parent with one daughter currently attending and an older daughter who also attended. He is thrilled to be playing his first show in SOMA in support of the school and, as a father at age 41, he feels lucky to be playing music that he loves.

“I’m having a total blast playing with this great group of guys,” Goldstein said. “When I started playing with Dead Space almost a year ago, it was the first time I was truly diving head-on into the Dead’s music, and the band has been so supportive as I was getting my legs under me. I completely fell in love with the music all over again but on a much deeper level, studying Jerry Garcia’s playing.”

Dead Space plays tunes from the Grateful Dead and the Jerry Garcia Band with original interpretations of the music that Deadheads have revered for decades. The concert is sponsored by the Kate Elliott Group of Coldwell Banker, a real estate agency in Maplewood, and KB On The Go, a catering firm based in Roselle.

  Temple Sharey Tefilo-Israel, The Woodland