Today is the day God Street Wine fans have been waiting for since the band played their “final shows” as a touring unit at The Wetlands in December ’99. The original members of GSW have announced that they will reform for a two-night stand at the Gramercy Theatre in their hometown of New York City on July 9 & 10. Tickets for the shows go on sale to the general public this Friday with a special pre-sale for Winos starting at 10AM on Wednesday and running until 10PM on Thursday if tickets remain.

We started God Street Wednesdays, our weekly look at the band’s music, back in January of 2009 and the reception these columns have received made it clear that no one has forgotten about God Street Wine. Over the past 14 months, we’ve heard from many Winos, members of the band and members of the group’s crew. The first friendship we struck up was with former GSW stage manager, lighting director and close friend Michael Weiss, who had a major role in putting these shows together.

Michael, who was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, a chronic degenerative disease of the central nervous system, in 2004, asked the band to come together to raise awareness and funds for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. As such, both shows will be benefits for NMSS, part of GSW’s incredibly generous plan to no longer be a profit-making entity. We’ll hear more from Michael later, as we’ll be dedicating all of our posts to God Street Wine today in celebration of this momentous occasion for Winos. Does GSW have plans to play more shows? Stay tuned for our interview with drummer Tom “Tomo” Osander this afternoon for his answer to that question. READ ON for a timeline of the events leading up to today’s announcement…

Timeline:

1988 – 1999 – God Street Wine formed in NYC and rose up through the improvisational rock scene alongside bands like DMB, Phish, Blues Traveler and the Spin Doctors. They joined the H.O.R.D.E. Tour traveling festival in 1995 and 1996, recorded six albums and performed more than 1,000 shows in their 11 years together. They were pioneers in the early days of the Internet, building an email list of 15,000-plus “Winos,” as their fans were affectionately known, and producing one of the first band websites. CLICK HERE for a complete history of GSW.
December 23, 1999 – Wetlands – GSW’s last show as a touring unit
September 3, 2001 – Wetlands – GSW plays in honor of the venue’s closing
July, 2008 – David H. Katz starts the Bring Back GSW Facebook Group
January 22, 2009 – Hidden Track starts the God Street Wednesdays weekly column
May 9, 2009 – Lo Faber and his band perform a set of GSW classics at Awesometown. Faber sits-in with Give Us The Money Lebowski on Wendy
May 23, 2009 – Lo and Aaron Maxwell team up to open for Echofission at Mexicali Blues in Teaneck, NJ. Lo and Aaron sit-in with Echofission on GSW tunes for most of the second set
May 30, 2009 – God Street Wine reunites to play a memorial service for original GSW taper and superfan Paul DuCharme followed by a private show that evening in a basement
January 27, 2010 – Relix publishes a GSW feature penned by HT contributor Randy Ray
March 7, 2010 – GSW announces two shows at the Gramercy Theatre

So, Winos, what do you think about this announcement? Will you be able to make these shows? What songs do you want to see them play? Let’s all discuss these topics and more in the comment section below…

Scott Bernstein

Scott Bernstein co-founded Hidden Track in October 2006 and was managing editor until taking over as EiC in January 2008. Scotty also writes for Relix Magazine and curates YEMblog.com.

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