(MONTCLAIR, NJ) -- Wellmont Theater presents Dorothy: Gifts from the Holy Ghost tour on Friday, April 15 with supporting acts: Joyous Wolf and Classless Act. The tour is in support of Dorothy Martin's third studio album as frontwoman for the pseudonymous, rock band Dorothy, is the album she’s always wanted, and has perhaps been destined to make. Born from a sense of divine, spiritual urgency, it’s Dorothy’s most bombastic and victoriously rock and roll work yet.
While the band’s first, irreverently named album ROCKISDEAD, was made on a combination of whiskey and heartbreak—inspiring Rolling Stone to name them one of rock’s most exciting new acts, and JAY-Z to sign them to his label Roc Nation—Gifts was built on sobriety, health and spiritualism, in a way that reverses the clichéd ‘good girl gone bad narrative’.
Balanced on a great rock and roll spectrum, encompassing everything from swampy blues to ‘90s alternative, on Gifts, Dorothy has fulfilled her purpose as an artist, entertainer and spiritual being. She’s conquered darkness with light, numbness with feeling, disharmony with unity—all while delivering one of this year’s most fun rock and roll records.
Joyous Wolf is an American Rock Band formed in Orange County, California, in 2014. With humble beginnings, playing any venue that would have them, Joyous Wolf – Nick Reese (vocals), Blake Allard (guitar), Greg Braccio (bass), Robert Sodaro (drums) – have created their own hybrid of hard driving rock & roll, soul, blues, and alternative music. Heavily influenced by artists spanning not only various genres, but literally decades of music, their electric live performances would take them from the clubs of the Sunset Strip to international tours, earning them a recording deal with Roadrunner Records in 2018. The quartet has shown to be a force both on and off stage, having released their critically acclaimed debut EP Place In Time on Roadrunner in 2019, which led to subsequent tours supporting rock icons such as Slash, and Deep Purple. They would support Dirty Honey on the first leg of their California Dreamin Tour in early 2021.
Consisting of members Derek Day (Vocals), Dane Pieper (Guitar), Griffin Tucker (Guitar), Franco Gravante (Bass), and Chuck McKissock (Drums) Classless Act initially formed in 2018 after connecting and bonding virtually by their love and passion of music. Now in Los Angeles, they’ve united on a mission to be the next great generation-defining act, drawing inspiration from classic rock acts of the 70’s and alt-rock groups from the 90’s. Their music echoes the hallmarks of previous generations – anthemic rhythms, shreddy guitars, soaring vocals – but punches its way into the future with clever arrangements, sharp musicianship, and proficient songwriting. Already making noise in the industry, the band has been in the studio with world-class producers like Bob Rock, Michael Beinhorn and Joe Chiccarrelli, who have helped craft hits for the likes of The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Metallica, Soundgarden, and The White Stripes. The band recently landed a deal with Better Noise Music, Mediabase and Billboard’s #1 rock label for 2020. Their debut album is expected in 2022, when the band will be hitting the road with Mötley Crüe, Def Leppard, and more, on their Summer Stadium Tour.
Tickets are available for purchase online. Doors are at 7:00pm, showtime is 8:00pm. The Wellmont Theater is located at 5 Seymour Street in Montclair, New Jersey.
In March of 1921, as the decade started to roar, theater manager H.H. Wellenbrink purchased a 115 x 150 plot of land to construct a new showplace and business office at the corner of Bloomfield Avenue and Seymour Street. Combining his own name Wellenbrink and the town’s name Montclair, he named his new theater The Wellmont. Designed by architects Reilly & Hall and built at a cost of $400,000, the modern “fireproof” Wellmont Theatre opened its doors on June 16, 1922 as a venue for vaudeville and stage plays, attracting top acts of the era like Charlie Chaplin. Chiefly, though, the theater was used as a movie house. Patrons included Thomas Edison, who watched the picture shows here. Screenings were accompanied by a pianist who played the theater’s Wurlitzer pipe organ.
With the “talkies” on the rise and silent movies on the decline, The Wellmont added sound sync equipment for film when the Stanley Fabian theater chain took over operations in 1929. By the early 1980’s the small Roberts Theater chain converted the single house room to a triplex with an eventual focus on independent films. The entrance on Bloomfield Avenue was moved to Seymour Street and the original Italian marbled lobby became a diner.
In 2006 the Roberts Theaters chain sold to new owners and the Wellmont closed for a $3 million renovation to create flexible floor seating to utilize the original 1922 single stage. With new stage lighting and a cutting-edge sound system The Wellmont, with an audience capacity of nearly 2500, became the area’s largest live concert venue when it reopened in 2008 with headliner Hanson of “MMM Bop” fame.
Another ownership change in 2013 brought many improvements. Extensive repairs and refurbishment repointed the interior’s crumbling plaster ceiling, expanded food and beverage services, and installed a state of the art audio visual experience for concert attendees. With a redesigned logo (Wellmont Theatre became the The Wellmont Theater) booking went to premier concert promoters Live Nation, positioning the historic venue as the resource for New Jersey music lovers in the arts district of Montclair.
The Wellmont reopened in September 2015 and continues to host such renowned performing artists as Tom Jones, Miss Lauryn Hill, Joan Baez, Bush, DNCE, Third Eye Blind, Jim Gaffigan, and Meat Loaf.
