Curbside Concerts, who bring the live music experience to you, will have a pair of shows in the Hamilton, NY area thanks to the Arts at the Palace and the Hamilton Movie Theater. Bringing back live music with proper precautions for COVID-19 in place, Curbside Concerts was recently launched in an Uber Eats style, with users able to use their phones to find local artists who will perform a live set at your address.
The partnership between Hamilton Movie Theater and Arts at the Palace is a strong effort to resume live music in a controlled setting. Artists will perform for four 30 minutes time slots each evening.
As they move about town we encourage the folks that booked them to sit on their porch or yard in a socially-distanced manor. “Free delivery” and a fun night interacting and listening to these local and regional musicians is our mission. After the first one last week, the artist Seth Becker of The Old Main said, “I’d like to keep doing this!” Sounds good to us. We encourage all communities to do this safely!
Sean Nevison, General Manager, Hamilton Movie Theater
On July 1 you’ll find Chris Eves and Johnny Jones, followed by Jes Sheldon and Mike Davis on July 8. In the event of rain, shows will be held on the following Thursday. For more information visit the Arts at The Palace website.
Scotia Freedom Park’s Quarantunes Series kicked off on Friday, June 20 with a performance from American Idol finalist Madison VanDenburg. The summer concert series, normally held in person, is now streaming online for free from the Freedom Park Quarantune Studio. Through the end of August, new concerts will go up on YouTube and Facebook at 7:00 p.m. each Wednesday and Saturday. Concerts will also be aired live on Spectrum channel 1302 and Fios channel 37.
The Quarantune Series is dedicated to the Class of 2020. The series’ headliner, Madison VanDenburg, is a recent Shaker High School graduate who progressed to the top 3 of American Idol’s season 17 last year. Some of her notable performances on the show include covers of Dan + Shay’s “Speechless,” Adele’s “All I Ask,” and Lady Gaga’s “Shallow” from A Star Is Born. VanDenburg’s new song “Reason” was released to Spotify and Apple Music on June 19, a day before her Quarantune concert.
Other Quarantune Series performers include Celtic quartet Screaming Orphans, local rock duo Sirsy, bluegrass band Skeeter Creek, the Capital District Youth Pipe Band, and more. This season’s lineup is especially diverse, encompassing artists of all ages and genres.
This season’s sponsors include Berkshire Farm Center, GoToScotia.com, Scotia-Glenville Dental Center, Marshall & Sterling Insurance, and the park’s neighboring Jumpin’ Jack’s Drive-In. Each individual concert is also sponsored by a different local business, such as Stewart’s Shops and Scotia Cinema. While the concerts are completely free, Freedom Park is still accepting donations online via Venmo and Paypal.
Quarantune Series T-shirts are also available on their website in unisex sizes from S to XL, featuring the season’s lineup with the slogan “The Season That Almost Wasn’t.”
Check out this stream and more through our series NY Stream and Support, where you’ll discover artists around the Empire State streaming nightly, and ways to support musicians and charitable groups close to home!
What lengths are you willing to go to keep your life’s work alive; will these adaptations muddle the concert experience forever.
Devastation throughout the music industry has crippled artists and their mediums – Venues. Amid a global pandemic we are seemingly waiting – for venues to open, shows to begin and the concert experience to shapeshift into a safe, sustainable event. Nobody is sure what the final product will be, yet passion radiates. Through blooming efforts like the National Independent Venue Association (NIVA) right here in New York, we have band together to save our industry and the concert experience as we knew it.
The Past:
Being elbow-to-rib is just part of the experience. Hours spent waiting in line that sparked anxious anticipation, or getting sucked into the stage by the crowd when the lights go dim, before the main act, cannot be replaced by live streams. Maybe you’re the one up front hanging over the barrier, screaming every lyric verbatim; maybe you’re setback, studying your favorite instrument or player; you’re moving around, dancing or moshing (respectfully of course); or you’re the type that hangs at the bar with friends, reminiscing how you’ve seen this particular band hundreds of times. All of these moving parts create energy.
When you walk into a venue it sets the mood, the crowd and band feeds off one another. From local dive bars and smaller venues, to theatres and arenas, stepping in pre-soundcheck has a therapeutic energy for performers, as does the commotion when the doors open. Artists paint backstages, leaving totems or memorabilia that builds a venue’s character. When those spaces are cut to half capacity, or less, that energy is depleted.
Everyone’s safety and economic sustainability is paramount, but nobody is talking about sustaining these colorful parts of the canvas. Adapting is necessary. Yet, promoters, artists and venues are stuck in limbo. Letting go of the experience as we knew it remains untold.
Music Canada sites 40% of concertgoers won’t return until six months after restrictions lifted.
The Present:
NIVA was created by Independent Venue Week, top venues and promoters across the nation, “to fight for the survival of independent venues, their employees, artists, fans and their communities,” (nivassoc.org). Sucking in 450 members across 43 states in the first three days, they are now pushing 2,000 members nationwide (50 States) for an endless-scrolling roster on their website. Founded by the industry’s best, NIVA states that 90 percent of independent venues will collapse if they don’t open this year. With rumours saying this lockdown can lead well into 2021, will we be able to recover.
Capacity restrictions will limit venues’ revenue, and minimum thresholds vary. A Chicago study deemed a 12:1 ratio of economic impact among small venues (nivassoc.org). Twelve dollars of economic stimulus to hotels, restaurants and shops flooded in for every dollar spent inside the venue. Extrapolate that on a $50 ticket, or a night out for a group of excited fans. The impact is everything.
According to a USA Today article, Johns Hopkins Director of the Master of Bioethics degree program and Research Scholar, Travis Rieder, said there’s serious doubt about live music returning before 2021 and “a shortage of test and lack of vaccine simply make things too risky.” Unfortunately, he continues that “the risk of those events as we would have done them in the past outweighs the benefit of doing them.” Masks, temperature checks and spacing restrictions may not be enough. Is your favorite band or venue worth the risk.
With the music industry on the rise prior to COVID-19, Pollstar predicts a daunting $8.9 billion hit, should quarantine continue and venues remain dark. They go on to state “industry losses could total about $5.2 billion in just missed ticket sales alone,” and not to mention residual impacts on the economy and all of those employed in the box offices, concession stands, parking valet, and so on.
The answer is NOTHING. Nothing will stop us from preserving our life’s work, the concert experience, our art, and all the pieces that work together to keep it alive.
On Thursday, June 18, NIVA made an official statement urging for federal help:
We, the undersigned artists, respectfully submit this letter in support of NIVA’s request for federal assistance for independent music venues and promoters across the United States.
This is no petty petition. Industry giants, artists and celebrities wave an official SOS including: Joel, Eilish, Seinfeld, Gaga, Letterman, Goldberg, Iver, Lauper, Plant, Nelson, Aoki, Mayer, Leno, Weir, Watts…
The irony in their signatures – it merits no value when we are all on lockdown. Something super-fan would unassumingly die for is now a cry for help, for congress to help kickstart the industry back to the creative and thriving outlet it once was, pre COVID-19.
We will continue to fight, support and be the voice for all artists, venues and industry mediums that are struggling. Stay tuned for ‘The Vault,” featuring venue and artist specific coverage on this topic. Please contact NYS Musicso your voice can be heard.
Capital One City Parks Foundation Summerstage is virtually celebrating the 155th anniversary of Juneteenth, a day commemorating the end of slavery in the United States. The New York City concert series, now known as Summerstage Anywhere, is having a digital day of dance on Friday, June 19, with hourly tribute performances starting at 12:00 p.m. EST leading up to a panel discussion at 7:00 p.m. Originally planned to be held in-person, the Juneteenth event will be free and fully virtual on Summerstage’s Instagram and YouTube channels.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CBiim-5npb4/
Performers include RudduR Dance, who will perform an excerpt of their three-part contemporary ballet “Witness” at 6:00 p.m. “Witness” intertwines art and activism to depict the past, present, and future of race in America. During his candidacy, current French president Emmanuel Macron visited a rehearsal. RudduR Dance was founded in 2015 by Guggenheim fellow Christopher Rudd.
At 7:00 p.m., Hope Boykin of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater will host a panel discussion called “Reflecting the Times.” Boykin, an alumna of Howard University, is a three-time recipient of the American Dance Festival’s Young Tuition Scholarship. Following the panel, there will be a tribute performance of “Hanging Tree” featuring Jamel Gaines Creative Outlet (JGCO) Dance Theatre, vocalist Marcelle Davies-Lashley, and poet Carl Hancock Rux. For almost 25 years, JGCO has performed across the United States as well as internationally.
Observed annually on June 19, Juneteeth celebrates the end of slavery in Texas in 1865. Following the U.S. Civil War, Abraham Lincoln’s 1863 Emancipation Proclamation still had yet to be enforced in Texas until Union general George Granger issued an order in Galveston freeing the last remaining slaves in the Confederacy.
“As a Black woman in America, I am a direct beneficiary of the struggles and battles for justice and I stand on the shoulders of those who fought and continue to fight for my freedom,” said Danni Gee, Dance Curator and Music Programming Associate for SummerStage. “I am honored to be able to celebrate this important anniversary of Juneteenth in our country’s history on SummerStage Anywhere. I am proud to present this program even more so in light of current events and it is crucial to me that the communities we serve know that we stand with them.”
Flushing Town Hall announced a tribute to the late Jimmy Heath, nicknamed Little Bird in the industry, who was an NEA Jazz Master and Queens Jazz Orchestra Music Director. Heath passed away back in January of 2020 at the age of 93 and was a jazz legend for his saxophone skills in particular. The event will be live-streamed on Flushing Town Hall’s Facebook page on Friday, June 19 at 7:00 PM.
Percy Heath (Left) and Jimmy Heath (right) performing in June 1977.
Jimmy Heath received three Grammy nominations over the years. He was nominated for Best Historical Album with John Coltrane: The Heavyweight Champion: The Complete Atlantic Recordings (Album) during the 38th Annual Grammy Awards in 1995, Best Large Jazz Ensemble Performance with Little Man, Big Band (Album) during the 36th Annual Grammy Awards in 1993, and Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Group with Live At The Public Theatre (Album) during the 23rd Annual Grammy Awards in 1980. Jimmy Heath was also a recipient of the 2003 NEA Jazz Masters Award and in 2004 he was awarded an honorary Doctorate in Human Letters. With performing in over 100 albums and writing over 125 compositions Jimmy Heath was truly a legend in the Jazz world.
Flushing Town Hall plans to honor him with this special tribute by including appearances by many celebrated musical artists who have crossed paths – and taken the stage – with Jimmy Heath throughout his career. People on the docket include Jimmy Heath’s wife, Mona, and jazz legends Albert “Tootie” Heath, Barry Harris, Jimmy Owens, and Dorthaan Kirk; and members of Queens Jazz Orchestra, including Antonio Hart, David Wang, Jeb Patton and Douglas Purviance. On top of the musical component of the tribute there also will be testimonials about Jimmy Heath from special guests such as New York City Council Member Francisco Moya.
Flushing Town Hall seemed like the right venue for this tribute for Jimmy Heath according to Town Hall Executive and Artistic Director Ellen Kodadek because, “Jimmy Heath was an iconic presence at Flushing Town Hall. Whenever we would announce that our Queens Jazz Orchestra would return, performances would sell out – because people wanted to come together to experience the music and the man.”
The event will take place Friday, June 19 at 7:00 PM and can be viewed for free on Flushing Town Hall’s Facebook page. Donations will be accepted to support the Jimmy Heath Fund at Queens College. They can be sent to: The Jimmy Heath Fund, c/o Mike Lipsey, Queens College Music Department, 65-30 Kissena Blvd., Flushing, Queens, 11367. Donations are also being accepted for the Jimmy Heath Scholarship Fund at Queens College. They can be made by writing a check to the QC Foundation (and putting “Jimmy Heath Scholarship” in the memo), and mailed to: Queens College Foundation, Keily Hall, Queens College, Queens, NY, 11367, or by calling Joann Acquista, Queens College, Director, Donor Relations, at (718) 997-5864.
For more information on the event visit Flushing Town Hall’s website.
Thanks to COVID-19 restrictions, drive-in movie theaters across the nation are making an unexpected comeback. The currently closed Troy Savings Bank Music Hall (celebrating their 145th anniversary this year) is taking advantage of the resurgence at the Jericho Drive-In in Glenmont, NY, where local sibling duo Jocelyn and Chris Ardnt will headline a concert with their band. Tickets for their July 9 show can be found on the Troy Music Hall website for $50 per car, a price that includes a screening of the 2019 film Yesterday immediately after the concert.
Both siblings of the duo have been compared to rock legends: Jocelyn’s voice with Grace Slick and Janis Joplin, and Chris’s guitar work with Jimi Hendrix and David Gilmour. They’ve traversed both coasts while attending Harvard University, performing with artists such as G. Love, Danny Louis of Gov’t Mule, and Cory Wong of Vulfpeck and appearing on NBC’s Today Show.
Even though this will be the first in-person concert in months for many, pandemic guidelines are still in place and drive-in patrons are expected to behave accordingly. Patrons must stay inside of their vehicles, and are required to wear masks if they need to step outside for any reason. While Jericho’s restrooms are still open, they’re encouraged for emergency use only. Since the Troy Music Hall Box Office is closed, questions about tickets and the show should be redirected to their phone number, 518-273-0038.
Adirondack Theatre Festival (ATF) & Bloomington Playwrights Project (BPP) have announced a brand new interactive virtual experience named ‘In The Box Entertainment’. Beginning this September and running through February 2021, these from-your-couch experiences will include a cruise, hands-on-insane magic shows, a holiday talent show with live voting, an interactive hunt for a criminal, a film festival, and a “wine and canvas” night gone wrong.
Chad Rabinovitz, the Producing Artistic Director for ATF and BPP will create and direct the entire series. Also on the stellar team is; playwright Hank Greene (Knights of the Sales Office) and Jeffrey Small as the consulting producer. From Saratoga Springs, Mills Entertainment will ensure that these online experiences perform at high levels, taking Zoom from ‘a video chat to an interactive television experience’.
“Our goal from the start was to create entertainment that isn’t a consolation prize for not having live theatre, but instead to develop an iteration of live theatre that benefits specifically from being digital. We’re not putting our art form on Zoom, we’re creating an art form for Zoom,” states Chad Rabinovitz.
Shows will be live ticketed performances experienced within the comforts of your home. Rounding out the unique experience will be a themed box mailed to the ticket holder prior to the show of their choosing.
More information and ticketing can be found at the BPP, ATF or at www.intheboxentertainment.com. Tickets may also be purchased by calling the Wood Theater Box Office at (518) 480-4878.
In The Box Entertainment Lineup:
Sep. 10-12 – Magic in a Box: Remote Control with Max Major A Virtual Mind Reading Experiment
Sep. 15-19 – Magic in a Box: Glitches in Reality with Simon Coronel
Oct. 15-18 – Film Festival in a Box: 5th Annual Adirondack Film Festival
Nov. 3-14 – Cruise In a Box: Living Room Cruise Lines
Dec .10 – Bloomington, IN – Talent in a Box: Holiday Family Talent Show
Dec. 17 – Glens Falls, NY – Talent in a Box: Holiday Family Talent Show
The Apollo Theater and Gibson have partnered together to bring music fans “Let’s Stay (In) Together: A Benefit To Support The Apollo”, a live streaming benefit concert. Airing June 4 at 7:30 PM ET, the concert will be free for views made possible through Apollo’s media partner Tidal. Originally planned for June 2, The Apollo decided to postpone the show and stand with others in the music industry to observe Blackout Tuesday.
This special event will feature performances by “Captain” Kirk Douglas of The Roots, Kool & The Gang, Gary Clark Jr, Robert Randolph, Ray Chew and many more artists. Not only will the artists perform songs from legends like B.B. King, Patti LaBelle and Stevie Wonder, the Apollo’s 86 year contribution to the arts and culture will be highlighted. Viewers will also witness poems and performances dedicated to the memory of those whose lives have been lost due to the Coronavirus Pandemic.
Proceeds are set to benefit an emergency relief fund to financially support the theater now and into the future once it had to cancel live events through the month of June due to the coronavirus pandemic. Portions of the funds will also be used for micro grants to support local merchants and businesses in the 125th Street neighborhood that Apollo Theater calls home.
By partnering with Gibson through the Gibson Gives foundation, this marks the beginning of a new partnership that in the future will include brand new show programming, music preservation, music education initiatives, and support established and emerging talent.
“Music has the incredible power to connect, transform and heal. We hope you will support the legendary Apollo Theater and join us for a special event featuring music that lifts our spirits, shapes our lives, and continues to unite us all.”
Hamilton Movie Theater has announced that they will continue Hamilton Unity Concerts starting Sunday, May 31 and running through the end of June.
Concerts will be live streamed at 7PM on their Facebook page. Hamilton Unity Concerts Part II will support a variety of non-profit organizations. A link will be provided on their Facebook page for people to donate to the organizations and offer tips to the artists.
The concerts will kick off with Vermont-based indie-rock band Jesse Taylor on May 31. Other artists who will perform include: Liz Fiddle, Jeffrey Monty, Sam Herbert, and Blaine Holcolmb. Check out more details below.
The Jazz Foundation of America has partnered with music publication Relix to produce an online concert on May 14 at 8 PM ET, dubbed #TheNewGig. Hosted by actor/producer Keegan-Michael Key, the lineup will include; Elvis Costello, Sheryl Crow, Jon Batiste, Ivan Neville, Angelique Kidjo, Robert Cray, Stanley Jordan and more. Performances are expected to be new and will be pre-produced prior to air time. Drummer Steve Jordan will serve as the concert’s musical director.
Relix publisher Peter Shapiro said in the press release: “We are honored to be collaborating with the Jazz Foundation of America to host #TheNewGig on Relix’s YouTube platform. Jazz and blues lie at the foundation of everything, really, and it is at the core of the music that we feature everyday on our websites, in our magazine, and on our social platforms. As part of giving back, it’s a privilege to host this very special event.
In addition, the stream will feature performances by Herbie Hancock, Patti Smith, Brittany Howard and more who performed at the organization’s annual fundraiser ‘A Great Night in Harlem’. Many celebrities including Danny Glover, Bruce Willis and Mark Ruffin are set to make appearances during the music fundraiser.
Monies raised from the online concert will benefit the COVID-19 Musicians’ Emergency Fund. Established in March of this year, the emergency fund is geared towards helping musicians and their families affected by the pandemic by offering funding to cover basic living expenses.
“An entire community of artists who survive month-to-month have gone from standstill to freefall, financially speaking, but their music has continued to give us solace and comfort in quarantine,” said Joe Petrucelli, Executive Director of the JFA in the press release. “Support for #TheNewGig and the COVID-19 Musicians’ Emergency Fund offers them direct assistance and creates a sense of solidarity and hope in a time of despair and uncertainty.”
To tune into the #TheNewGig, head to the Relix YouTube Channel on May 14 at 8 PM ET, with a 10 PM ET rebroadcast. For more information, visit Jazzfoundation.org.
