After a well deserved and much needed break last week, I’m back, refreshed, and I have some great news that’s gonna start the week off with a bang! The Capitol Theater, in Port Chester, NY, site of the legendary Dr. Stanley Krippner Dream Experiments with The Grateful Dead and their audience, forty years ago, is re-opening as Westchester’s premier Rock showcase! This is going to be a serious world class music hall! The head of the whole operation is Peter Shapiro, former owner of Wetlands Preserve and current owner of Brooklyn Bowl, who knows a thing or two about how to run a successful music venue! Peter’s partnered with concert promoters, Bowery Presents, who produce shows at The Bowery Ballroom, Terminal 5, The Mercury Lounge, Music Hall of Williamsburg, and lots of other rooms all over Manhattan and beyond! They’re even producing this week’s live music pick, John Prine and Lucinda Williams at The Palace Theater in Albany! So those guys know what they’re doing too!

The Capitol Theater had a long successful run as a rock venue in the 70’s, before falling on hard times. They got through it though, and now, with new owners, a new business model, and a newly renovated theater, this promises to be one of the best places to see a show anywhere! The theater itself is a beautiful, turn of the century, art deco palace, the kind of place that makes you feel good just being in it! I am so excited about this!

Just to show you what kind of league these guys are going to be playing in, coming up on their calendar are Bob Dylan on September 4^th, The Roots and Bob Weir on September 7^th, Buddy Guy and Jonny Lang on September 9^th, and The J. Geils Band on September 19^th! That’s some line up, and they have more stellar music on tap for the rest of the year! Visit their website for more information. www.thecapitoltheater.com.

One of the bands booked in the next few months at The Capitol is My Morning Jacket, who’ve been to Woodstock and played at The Barn with Levon. At The Newport Folk Festival a couple of weeks ago, They performed a moving tribute version of “It Makes No Difference” and dedicated it to Levon. Here’s a link to the story in Rolling Stone. And here’s a link to video of the performance.

Enjoy! It’s great!

Here’s the live music picks for the week.

Friday, August 17 - Two great shows upstate and 3 great ones in the city! At Williamsburg Park in Brooklyn, JANE’S ADDICTION kick off a fabulous weekend of music in the park. The Highline Ballroom hosts Rockabilly pioneer, WANDA JACKSON, and GARLAND JEFFREYS returns to The Rodeo Bar. Now, in my last column, I recommended Garland’s August 3^rd show at this venue. I told you to get there early or you’d never get in. I told you Jeffreys could be playing much larger venues, and I told you that this was a special treat. Well, guess what? Only two weeks later, they’re bringing him back, only this time, there’s a $25 cover charge! This is the first time The Rodeo Bar EVER charged admission! Alright? Alright? Was I on the money with that pick, or what? You should have listened. Now you gotta pay 25 bucks if you wanna go!

Moving upstate, we’ve got the fantastic CKS at The Bearsville Theater. If you read this column, you know that this band consists of three time Pinetop Perkins Blues Music Award nominee for Keyboard Player of the Year, Bruce Katz (Gregg Allman, Delbert McClinton, John Hammond), Best Drummer in The Hudson Valley and soulful vocalist Randy Ciarlante (The Band, Levon Helm Band), and “Gregg Allman’s secret weapon”, Scott Sharrard, on guitar! These guys are one of the best bands around! I’ve dug them for years in different incarnations and I’ve profiled them in these pages. If you’re near Woodstock, don’t miss this! Unless, of course, you’re up in the Capital Region and you would rather take in Americana giants, JOHN PRINE and LUCINDA WILLIAMS at The Palace Theater in Albany. For this kind of music, it doesn’t get much better than these two on a double bill! Whoever goes to this is in for a very, very enjoyable evening!
Saturday, August 18 – Neo-Soul diva, SHARON JONES AND THE DAP-KINGS continue the glorious weekend of music in Williamsburg Park, and THE STAMPINATO BROTHERS, formerly of NRBQ, bring yet another unbelievable show into The Rodeo Bar in Manhattan! I’m telling you, the same thing could happen to these guys as happened with Garland Jeffreys. You could easily see them back here next month with a price attached to admission. See ‘em here now, before it’s too late!
Sunday, August 19 – And the absolutely amazing, top shelf weekend of music in Williamsburg Park concludes with the aforementioned MY MORNING JACKET! Boy, I wish I didn’t have to make a living so I could just go to Brooklyn for the weekend!
Wednesday, August 22 – In the Catskills, STONE TEMPLE PILOTS will rock Bethel Woods Center for the Arts. STP lead singer, Scott Weiland, is one of the best at his craft, and will leave you mesmerized!
Down in the city, The Reverend AL GREEN will sooooothe The Beacon Theater, as he crooons his love songs and makes the women swoooon!
Coming up next week is a show that I’ve been looking forward to since it was announced. I won’t tell you who it is, but it’s Friday night at The Bearsville Theater. Be there!

Have a great week!

Fred Perry is the owner of Reservoir Music Center on Route 28 in Kingston, and founding member of Alt-Country supergroup, The Brooklyn Cowboys, is from a 3rd generation musical family and lives in the Hudson Valley, where he does what he can to promote live music.