As mentioned, the current incarnation of prog rock legends Yes are going on a tour this year playing three of their classic albums, The Yes Album, Close to the Edge, and Going for the One, in their entirety. That tour hits NYC for a previously discussed (and now sold out) show at Beacon Theatre on April 9, and the band have just announced that they'll be adding a second leg to the tour which sees them returning to the NYC area on July 8 at Capitol Theatre in Port Chester. Tickets for that show go on sale Friday (4/5) at noon.

Updated dates are listed below...

Continue reading "Yes expand tour, playing Capitol Theatre (updated dates)"

Alabama Shakes on a boat in February (more by David Andrako)

Blues rockers Alabama Shakes just can't seem to stay off the road. They've already been announced for some festivals this year, like Delaware's Firefly Music Festival, and now they've announced an extensive tour surrounding those dates. That tour brings the band to the NYC area for a show on June 23 at The Capitol Theatre in Port Chester. Tickets for that show go on sale Friday (3/15) at noon. All dates are listed below

Alabama Shakes frontwoman Brittany Howard is teaming up with singer Ruby Amanfu for a collaborative single, which they will release this Tuesday (3/12) via Jack White's Third Man Records. The single features a cover of "I Wonder" by Rodriguez (who, thanks to the Searching for Sugarman documentary, is huge now) on the A-side, backed by a cover of "When My Man Comes Home" by Memphis Minnie. You can listen to the Rodriguez cover at Rolling Stone.

All Alabama Shakes dates are listed below...

Continue reading "Alabama Shakes announce tour; Brittany Howard & Ruby Amanfu covered Rodriguez for Third Man single (listen)"

photos by Dominick Mastrangelo; words by Bill Pearis

Morrissey @ The Capitol Theatre, 1/19/2012

Morrissey finished up the last of his four NYC-area shows at Port Chester's Capitol Theatre on Saturday (1/19), which was his second swing through the East Coast in less than year. Morrissey opened the show with The Smiths' "That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore" (from Meat is Murder) which was apparently the first time he's ever performed the song solo. (Video of that below.) From there it was a similar setlist to what BAM audiences got a week ago and is generally a little more crowd-pleasing than his T5 and Radio City shows last year. The Cap is a pretty small room for Morrissey, with great sound and lights, and he and his band were in great form. The setlist from the show is below.

Kristeen Young opened at The Cap, as she's done this whole tour. Pictures of both artists, and the setlist and videos from Morrisey's set, below...

Continue reading "Morrissey played The Capitol Theatre (pics, setlist, videos)"

photos by Greg Cristman

My Morning Jacket / Jim James @ the Capitol Theater

My Morning Jacket play Boston tonight for New Year's Eve, followed by a Sandy benefit in NJ on Wednesday (1/2), and Jim James will be part of the next Tibet House benefit concert in 2013.

MMJ kicked off their three-night run at Port Chester's Capitol Theatre on Thursday (12/27) and continued the following two nights. As previously mentioned, each night got an entirely different setlist and a different band opened each night too, with Friday (12/28) getting Antibalas and Saturday (12/29) getting Floating Action. Friday's show got "Holdin' On To Black Metal," their cover of Elton John's "Rocket Man," "Golden," and others; while Saturday got "Circuital," "Evil Urges," "Wordless Chorus," and others.

Pictures and the setlist from night 1 are HERE. Pics of night 2 and the setlists and some videos from night 2 and 3 are below...

Continue reading "My Morning Jacket wrapped up their run at the Cap (setlists, videos, night 2 pics)"

photos by PSquared Photography

My Morning Jacket kicked off their three-night run at Port Chester's Capitol Theatre last night (12/27). They've got a different opener each night, and last night it was Deer Tick (pics from their set HERE). Tonight (12/28) it's Antibalas and on Saturday (12/29) it's Floating Action. All three nights are sold out.

MMJ, whose member Tom Blankenship recently told us his Top Albums of 2012, promised not to repeat songs at any of the three nights so if you're going tonight or Saturday you can at least expect not to hear any of last night's setlist which included songs like "Off the Record," "Outta My System," "Magheetah," and many more (the full setlist is below). However, you might have some idea what you will hear if you participated in the band's Spontaneous Curation Series, where you got to help pick the songs they'll play.

After the Capitol Theatre run concludes, MMJ will celebrate New Year's Eve with a show at Boston's Agganis Arena. They then play a Sandy benefit in NJ two days later. Jim James is also part of the next Tibet House benefit concert in 2013.

More pics of MMJ, the setlist, and a few videos from Thursday's show below...

Continue reading "My Morning Jacket began their 3-night run at The Cap (night 1 pics, setlist, videos)"

photos by PSquared Photography

Deer Tick @ The Cap

Deer Tick, who recently finished up a residency at Brooklyn Bowl (night three pics HERE), opened for My Morning Jacket on night 1 of their three-night run at Port Chester's Capitol Theatre last night (12/27). Pictures from their set are in this post and pics of MMJ are HERE.

Deer Tick are continuing to tour and will play Maxwell's in Hoboken TONIGHT (12/28) with Two Gallants, one of a few shows the two bands are playing together in December (and they'll tour Australia together in February). Tonight's show is now sold. If you didn't manage to get tickets, you can still get tickets to Deer Tick's friends Lucero's shows at Brooklyn Bowl tonight and Saturday (tickets for for night 1, night 2, or both nights).

Both Deer Tick/Two Gallants and My Morning Jacket will be heading to Cambridge/Boston for New Year's Eve (separately). Deer Tick/Two Gallants play The Sinclair while MMJ will take over the Agganis Arena with Preservation Hall Jazz Band.

More pics from the Cap and a list of updated Deer Tick dates below...

Continue reading "Deer Tick played Capitol Theatre, play Maxwell's tonight & Cambridge on NYE w/ Two Gallants (pics, updated dates)"

photos by David Andrako

Fiona Apple at the Capitol Theatre - 10/10/12

Fiona Apple, whose recent arrest for possession of hash led to an onslaught of news articles on the situation which eventually (and probably inevitably) led to Fiona backlashing against all the internet gossip, came to Port Chester's Capitol Theater last night (10/10) for her first of multiple post-hash-incident shows in the NYC area. Fiona was great as usual, though she ended her set abruptly without an encore. Last night's show, like the rest of the tour, was opened by Fiona's guitar player Blake Mills. PIctures from the show are in this post.

Her tour continues, hitting Wellmont Theater (10/12), Huntington's Paramount (10/13), Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank, NJ (10/15), Terminal 5 (10/16-17), and Albany's Palace Theatre (10/19). The Terminal 5 shows are sold out but tickets for Wellmont, Paramount, Count Basie Theatre, and Palace Theatre are still available.

More pics from Capitol Theatre below.

Continue reading "Fiona Apple played the Capitol Theatre, her first of many upcoming NYC-area shows (pics)"

photos by Dana (distortion) Yavin, words by Andrew Sacher

Blondie @ State Theatre - 10/2/12

Anarchy symbols, peace signs, skulls, and other images lit up the high walls and ceilings of Port Chester's Capitol Theatre last night (10/7) as Blondie came out for their third NYC area show (and final date) of the tour they'd been on since September. Debbie Harry, at 67 years young, was looking as great as ever decked out in sparkling black sunglasses, a metallic silver coat, and bleach blonde hair to go with her sharp attitude, sleek dance moves, and a very in-tact voice. Debbie was joined on stage by original members Chris Stein (guitar) and Clem Burke (drums), and the lineup is rounded out by the more recently added Leigh Foxx (bass), Matt Katz-Bohen (keyboards), and Tommy Kessler (guitar), the latter of who looks like he wants to be a frontman and could've chilled with the Van Halen solos (though a chunk of the crowd seemed to love it). But that aside, the whole band was on point and still ageless in spirit.

In 2011, Blondie put their finishing touches on Panic of Girls, their first full length since 2003, so it wasn't a surprise that they chose to play a number of songs from that record. And don't get me wrong, Panic of Girls is a solid effort and the songs sounded good at the show, but of course the real treats came from the old singles. At under an hour and a half, my only complaint about the set is that I would have liked to hear more, but we still got a handful of crowd pleasers like "Dreaming," "Hanging on the Telephone," "Call Me," "The Tide Is High," and others. At the end of the rap-inspired "Rapture," they worked in a portion of fellow NYC legends Beastie Boys' "No Sleep Til Brooklyn," which they've been doing all tour (on past tours they've done it with "Fight For Your Right"). Debbie worked the crowd the whole show, especially doing so on "One Way or Another," for which she got everyone clapping and put the mic in the audience for the crowd to chant the song's title.

Unfortunately, none of the northeast shows on the tour were with Devo, who joined Blondie on most of the September shows (we did catch that tour in Austin though). This leg of the tour also hit the NYC area last Tuesday (10/2) at New Brunswick's State Theatre on Thursday (10/4) at Staten Island's St. George Theatre. The pictures in this post are from the State Theatre show, which The Smithereens opened. (No pics from the Capitol Theatre show but you can see some shots of the great looking newly renovated venue from Regina Spektor's show last week.) Though the public dates on the tour are over, as mentioned, Blondie will perform a YouTube Presents concert from the Google offices in NYC on Wednesday (10/10) at 4 PM, which will stream live on YouTube.

More pics from the State Theatre show (setlist written on a drum head included) and a video of Blondie doing "Rapture/No Sleep Til Brooklyn" in Houston are below...

Continue reading "Blondie played State Theatre & Capitol Theatre (pics, review)"

photos by Toby Tenenbaum

Regina Spektor @ Capitol Theatre - 10/3/12

Regina Spektor brought her tour with Only Son to Port Chester last night (10/3) for a show at the Capitol Theatre. It was her first of two NYC area shows on this current run and fourth in the area this year overall. Her next show here happens on October 24 at Beacon Theatre (sold out). Pictures from last night's show are in this post.

In case you're still wondering about this venue, we also have a bunch of shots here of that too. Toby points out:

It is exactly one a block from the Portchester Metro North train station.
Takes 39 minutes to get there from Grand Central.
They clearly spent money on refurbishing the two story double height lobby and mezzanine area.
One of the cool features is the aerial light display between sets. Last night they beamed 20ft Jelly Fish.
The general admission area accounts for the majority of the space with a small section set aside for fold up chars at the rear of the floor (slightly raised). There is seating either side of the soundboard. Level 1 balcony is all seating. With private balcony seating along the perimeter. There is a bar on the 1st floor.

Capitol Theatre shows continue with Sleigh Bells and Araabmuzik on Friday (10/5), Blondie on Sunday (10/7), Ben Folds Five on Tuesday (10/9), Fiona Apple on Wednesday (10/10, and more. Crystal Castles and HEALTH, who played Roseland Ballroom last night (10/3) would have played tonight (10/4) but that show has been cancelled. Tickets for Capitol Theatre shows are on sale.

More pics from lat night's show are below.

Continue reading "Regina Spektor played the new Capitol Theatre in Port Chester (pics of Regina & the venue)"

Earlier this week we posted that E Street Band member Steven Van Zandt is working to fund the reunion of fellow Jersey band The Rascals, who haven't played live with their original lineup in 40 years. As of this post, their Kickstarter is just about halfway to its goal with 26 days to go.

At the time we had no idea how quickly the actual shows would be announced, but it has already been revealed that the reunion is set to make its debut in Port Chester, NY with a three-night run at the Capitol Theatre from December 12-15. As mentioned, the shows are dubbed "Once Upon A Dream" and are being produced and directed by Van Zandt with lighting and projections being handled by Mark Brickman (who has done lights for Pink Floyd, Paul McCartney, and more). Tickets for all three shows go on sale today, 9/28, at 11 AM.

You can watch the Kickstarter video below...

Continue reading "The reunited Rascals playing 3 nights at Capitol Theater"

Dirty Projectors @ Capitol Theatre - 9/25/12 (via Citybug)

There were a couple guys in the crowd that were yelling in-between songs "Let's Go! Wooooo!" If this was a reference to a song, frontman Dave Longstreth didn't seem to get it. "Where you want to go?" he asked politely. After more incoherent woooooing, Dave reassured the crowd, "We're going there, man."

And go there, they did. Dave and the band performed most of Swing Lo Magellan just as meticulously arranged and produced as the album is--it happens to be their most accessible to date and translates very well live. [Noisey]

Dirty Projectors have been on the road since the release of their new album, Swing Lo Magellan, and after having already played NYC twice over the summer, they returned for another area show at the newly reopened Capitol Theatre in Port Chester on Tuesday (9/25) with Lavender Diamond (who also played Mercury Lounge the next night [9/26] and will play Glasslands on Sunday [9/29] with Helado Negro). A video of the DPs playing "Wittenberg IV" at the Capitol Theatre show and their setlist is below. Their tour brings them back to NYC for a show at Carnegie Hall on January 11 with yMusic. Tickets for that show are still available.

Capitol Theatre shows continue with David Gray and Foy Vance tonight (9/27). On Friday (9/28), The Roots were scheduled to continue their residency with a show with Talib Kweli, but as they did with their Septembr 14 show, they've cancelled this Friday's show too. In place of that gig, Roots drummer Questlove, Talib Kweli, and Q-Tip will DJ the first-ever "Soul Planetarium" night at the Cap instead. "Having Questlove, Talib, and Q-Tip spin on the same bill would be awesome in a small dark closet," says [Capitol Theatre booker] Peter Shapiro, who helmed the theatre's relaunch this year and produced 'U2 3D,' the first-ever live action film in the digital 3D format. "Having them each spin Friday night in a legendary rock palace-meets-next generation Planetarium should blow minds." Tickets for that show are available.

Q-Tip does his next Offline Party at Irving Plaza on October 19. Tickets for that show are on sale now.

Dirty Projectors video and setlist are below.

Continue reading "Dirty Projectors played Capitol Theatre (video, setlist); Roots cancel another show; Questlove, Talib & Q-Tip DJing instead"

photos by Ryan Barkan

Maya Rudolph & Gretchen Lieberum at Brooklyn Bowl - 9/20/12

"I kind of feel like going to bed," Maya Rudolph deadpanned midway through her rendition of Prince's "Controversy" at Brooklyn Bowl [Thursday] night. "Oh well, I guess I'll stay up and DANCE MY FUCKING ASS OFF!" Between her zealous delivery and a look on her face that could melt a little red corvette -- not to mention a swag costume (steel-studded trench coat, three-inch heels, single black lace glove -- she seemed to be doing one of the impressions that made her a breakout star on Saturday Night Live. As it turns out, she was singing alongside jazz singer-songwriter (and college friend) Gretchen Lieberum and backed by the Roots on a full night of the best Prince karaoke in history. [SPIN]

Saturday Night Live regular Maya Rudolph teamed up with Gretchen Lieberum and The Roots as "Princess" to perform a set entirely comprise of Prince covers at Brooklyn Bowl on Thursday (9/20). They played a number of Prince classics from throughout his career including "Dirty Mind," "Let's Work," "Purple Rain," and others. The full setlist is below. Pictures and videos from that show (including opener Nicki Bluhm) are also in this post.

Maya and The Roots also performed Prince's "Darling Nikki" on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon (for which the Roots are the house band) the night before the show (9/19) as well. A video of that can be watched over at Gawker. As speculated, Maya also joined The Roots at the Capitol Theatre in Port Chester the next night (9/21) which was one night before the Roots played ATP which concludes over at Pier 36 today (9/23).

More pictures, videos and the setlist from the Brooklyn Bowl show are below...

Continue reading "Maya Rudolph & The Roots covered Prince @ Brooklyn Bowl (and on 'Fallon' & at The Cap) -- pics, videos, setlist"

The Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, NY opened a few weeks back and if you've been curious to check the new venue out -- complete with astral projections on it's planetarium-esque dome -- but have yet to pull the trigger on tickets, today might be the day. It's "Fee-Free Friday" at The Cap, meaning any tickets you purchase online today via Ticketfly are free of service charges.

Some upcoming shows you might be interested in include Tuesday's Dirty Projectors / Lavender Diamond show (9/25), Regina Spector on 10/3, Sleigh Bells and Araabmuzik on 10/5, Fiona Apple on 10/10, Yeasayer on 11/13, and My Morning Jacket's three-day run in December.

The Fee-Free Friday offer runs till midnight tonight.

My Morning Jacket at Williamsburg Park in August (more by David Andrako)

As mentioned, My Morning Jacket, who were in NYC for a show at Williamsburg Park, will return to the area at the end of the year for a three-night run at Port Chester's Capitol Theatre from December 27-29. The shows will be part of the band's Spontaneous Curation Series, where you can help pick what songs they play, and MMJ promise not to repeat songs on different nights. There will also be TBA guests at each night. Those shows were announced over a month ago and they just finally were given ticket links. Tickets for all three nights go on sale Friday (9/14) at noon.

Two days after that run ends, My Morning Jacket will play a New Year's Eve show at Boston's Agganis Arena (12/31) with Preservation Hall Jazz Band, who they've collaborated with in the past. This one won't be part of the curation series. Tickets for that show go on sale Friday (9/14) at noon with a venue presale starting Thursday (9/13) at 10 AM.

As discussed, MMJ will also be in the NYC area for a Levon Helm tribute at the Izod Center on October 3 in East Rutherford, NJ with Ray LaMontagne, Mavis Staples, Lucinda Williams, Gregg Allman, Warren Haynes, Jorma Kaukonen, and more. Tickets for that show are still available.

All dates are listed below...

Continue reading "My Morning Jacket playing New Year's Eve in Boston after Capitol Theater shows (dates & ticket info)"

Sleigh Bells at Terminal 5 in February (more by Chris La Putt)

Sleigh Bells, who have toured this year with a number of interesting openers, including Liturgy and Diplo, Black Bananas, Javelin, Elite Gymnastics, and others, have just announced another tour, and this time support comes from hip hop producer Araabmuzik. That tour hits the NYC area for a show at the newly renovated Port Chester venue Capitol Theater on October 5. Tickets for that show go on sale Friday (8/17) at 11 AM. All tour dates are listed below.

Meanwhile, you can catch Araabmuzik in NYC even sooner at the free East River Park show on Monday (8/20) with a stacked lineup of Teengirl Fantasy, Flosstradamus, and Nick Hook (of Cubic Zirconia).

A list of all dates, the tour flier, and videos from both artists are below.

Continue reading "Sleigh Bells touring w/ Araabmuzik, playing the Cap (dates)"

Blondie at Highline Ballroom in 2011 (more by Dominick Mastrangelo)

As mentioned, Blondie are set to kick off a tour with Devo next month, which unfortunately doesn't include any Northeast shows. But after that, Blondie will make their way over and while they're here, they'll play three NYC area shows, which happen on October 2 at State Theatre in New Brunswick, October 4 at St. George Theatre in Staten Island, and October 7 at the soon-to-be-open Capitol Theatre in Port Chester. Tickets for the State Theatre show are on sale now, tickets for the St. George Theatre show just went on sale today (8/15) at 10 AM, and tickets for the Capitol Theatre show go on sale Friday (8/17) at 10 AM.

The Blondie show at Capitol Theatre is one of a few other recently announced shows at the newly-renovated venue, including Trey Anastasio and Bob Dylan. An updated Capitol Theatre schedule and a list of all upcoming Blondie dates are below.

Continue reading "Blondie expand tour, playing 3 NYC area dates including Capitol Theatre (dates and updated schedule)"

The soon-to-be open Capitol Theatre in Port Chester will open its doors on September 4 and the kickoff show is a doozie: Bob Dylan! That's one week before his new album, Tempest, is released. Tickets go on sale Friday, August 17 at 10 AM with a presale through BobDylan.com on August 13 at 10 AM.

This show happens shortly after the previously-mentioned Big Flats show and almost two months before Bob's upcoming Brooklyn show at the Barclays Center. Updated Dylan dates are at the bottom of this post.

Tickets to a few of The Cap's initial line-up of shows went on sale today (8/10) including Dirty Projectors (9/25), Regina Spektor (10/3), Hugh Laurie & the Copper Bottom Band (9/08). A flyer with The Capitol Theatre's schedule to date is below.

Continue reading "Bob Dylan playing The Capitol Theatre's first show"

My Morning Jacket at MSG in 2011 (more by Chris La Putt)

My Morning Jacket recently made a video for "Outta My System" off 2011's Circuital which stars Zach Galifianakis and features some weird adult swim-on-acid animation. You can watch that below.

As mentioned, MMJ are currently on a tour which brings them to NYC on August 19 at Williamsburg Park for a show with Shabazz Palaces. Tickets for that show are still available. You can help curate the setlist for that show and others on their tour.

We also just mentioned when revealing the Capitol Theatre initial schedule that MMJ will do a three-night run at the Port Chester, NY venue from December 27-29. Tickets for all three of those shows will be "on sale soon."

A list of all dates and the "Outta My System" video are below.

Continue reading "My Morning Jacket have a new video starring Zach Galifianakis, touring (4 upcoming NYC area shows)"

Capitol Theater projection test (photo by theater's production manager Jon Dindas)

As mentioned, the historic Capitol Theater, which is located in Port Chester, NY and has been home to the Rolling Stones, Janis Joplin, the Grateful Dead, Pink Floyd, David Bowie and more, is making its return and will be booked/operated by Brooklyn Bowl owner Peter Shapiro, in partnership with Bowery Presents. Shapiro tells us he is "very excited" at how the renovations are going and as revealed in a video which you can watch below, the theater is set to open this September. Stay tuned for the initial lineup announcement.

Peter is working with longtime Pink Floyd lighting designer Marc Brickman on the theater's lighting design and NYC Production House Batwin & Robin is consulting on projections, that will be able to project on to the theater's ceiling during shows, which you can see a test shot of in the picture above (check out a larger version of the trippy scene HERE).

Venue video below...

Continue reading "Capitol Theater in Port Chester opening this September"

The Capitol Theatre (note the new URL), located in Port Chester, NY, was built in 1926 and has been the home for a number rock concerts over the years, including shows by Pink Floyd, Janis Joplin, The Grateful Dead, and others. By the 1980s, the theatre began to book less and less concerts and more recently it has been used for events like weddings and bar mitzvahs. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.

Ex-Wetlands owner/current Brooklyn Bowl owner Peter Shapiro, in partnership with Bowery Presents, plans to begin booking shows there again, with a re-opening planned for mid-2012. According to a press release,

"The Capitol Theatre is a rock and roll icon and we are going to treat her as such," says Shapiro. "We are going to spoil her and give her the best of everything - the best sound, the best lights, and the best video projection technology of any theatre anywhere. Our plan is to turn the knob to 11 in every way possible."

John Moore of Bowery events also had this to say:

"Since spending Thanksgiving weekend 1992 at the theatre with Phish, I've dreamed of promoting at The Cap' one day," says John Moore, partner at The Bowery Presents. "We are excited to partner with Peter on the reopening and introduce a new generation of talented performers to its legendary stage, as well as reacquaint some of the biggest names in music with the house. We look forward to creating memorable concert experiences and reestablishing Port Chester as a destination for music lovers."

The Capitol has a 1,835-capacity, 65-foot ceiling, a general admission floor, seated balcony, VIP seats, and six presidential box suites. Its Port Chester location is 22 miles from NYC and is accessible by I-95 or by taking the train from Grand Central to the Port Chester Metro North station.

The NY Times points out that there may be some competition from other local theaters:

The 500-seat Ridgefield Playhouse in Connecticut, which is about 30 miles from Port Chester and puts on about 100 concerts a year, insists that musicians not play within 60 miles for two months before a concert and one month after. The Paramount Center for the Arts, a 960-seat theater in Peekskill, N.Y., also about 30 miles from the Capitol, in recent years has presented shows with Gregg Allman, Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead, and the B-52s. It has even stricter stipulations: bands must not play within a 90-mile radius for two months before and three months after a concert.

But Shapiro has said that he "would not make similar demands of acts, partly because he does not consider it necessary. The Capitol, he argued, is much larger than those other stages, so he can court a different caliber of band."

The Paramount's demographic also differs from most Bowery Presents shows. Hopefully The Capitol will start bringing more interesting shows to Westchester, like fellow (but smaller) Westchester venue Tarrytown Music Hall has done with shows like Jeff Tweedy, Andrew Bird, Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings, and The Zombies (not that Tarrytown isn't also bringing in plenty of shows for baby boomers). We'll probably see a lot of similarities between The Capitol and NJ's similarly-sized and Bowery-booked Wellmont Theater which is also about the same distance from NYC in another direction. The Wellmont gets everyone from Chicago to Passion Pit to Dark Star Orchestra.

A picture of The Capitol's interior, Peter Shapiro at the Okayplayer holiday party, some old fliers and the full press release, below...

Continue reading "The Capitol Theatre in Port Chester to host live shows again (thanks to Pete Shapiro) (and Bowery Presents)"