The Book Museum of the City of New York will host a conversation with David Byrne and Maira Kalman and their book American Utopia on January 13. The conversation includes author, illustrator and artist Maira Kalman as well as Talking Heads frontman Byrne, who have worked together on a book version of Byrne’s American Utopia musical. The audience Q&A will be hosted by WNYC’s Alison Stewart.
Byrne and Kalman’s book, also titled American Utopia, was released on October 27 and contains some words from the musical, but it is mostly centered around illustrations. According to NPR’s review of American Utopia, “[the book] contains little of the play’s language; in fact, it contains little language, full stop. Some pages offer only a few words, or a notable place name — Truth or Consequences, New Mexico makes an appearance, as do Bullfrog, Utah and Goofy Ridge, Illinois—or, in one case, the chorus of the Talking Heads hit ‘Road to Nowhere.’ The resulting effect is much more like reading a book-length poem than reading a play, though few poems or poetry collections come filled with charming illustrations of trees, dancers, and party-hatted dogs.”
Just before the book was released, a concert-film version of American Utopia was released on HBO, directed by Spike Lee. Learn more here.
The conversation will be hosted on Zoom and will begin at 7 p.m. ET. While the event is free to register, there is a suggested donation component. Click here to register.
Roger Berlind, a producer or co-producer of more than 100 plays and musicals on Broadway, including hits The Book of Mormon, Dear Evan Hansen, City of Angels and the revivals of Guys and Dolls and Kiss Me, Kate, died on December 18 at his home in Manhattan.
The cause of death was reported by his family as cardiopulmonary arrest. He was 90 years old
In a four-decade career in the theater, Berlind backed a great deal of original work on Broadway, amassing 25 Tony awards.
photo by Picture Perfect/REX
According to the New York Times, Berlind helped bring buoyant musicals to the stage, like the smash 1992 revival of Guys and Dolls with Nathan Lane, as well as sophisticated literate dramas, like the original 1984 production of The Real Thing, Tom Stoppard’s dazzling exploration of the nature of love and honesty. The Real Thing swept the Tonys, winning for best play and best director (Mike Nichols) and garnering top acting awards for Jeremy Irons, Glenn Close and Christine Baranski.
Berlind was able to play the piano by ear and felt he was destined to be a songwriter, but that dream faded and he worked on Wall Street for a while. Tragedy struck while he was a partner at a brokerage firm, when his wife and three of his four children were killed in an airliner crash at Kennedy International Airport. Days later, he resigned from his firm.
Berlind told the New York Times in 1988, “The whole idea of building a business and making money didn’t make sense anymore. There was no more economic motivation.”
Born Roger Stuart Berlind on June 27, 1930 in Brooklyn, his parents were Peter Berlind, a hospital administrator, and Mae (Miller) Berlind, an amateur painter who also gave painting lessons while raising her four sons. When Roger was three, the family moved to Woodmere, Long Island, where he attended Woodmere Academy. He would later go on to Princeton University, majoring in English.
There, his life revolved around the theater and he joined the Triangle Club, which performs student-written comedies, and Theatre Intime, a student-run theatrical organization. In 1998, Berlind would donate $3.5 million to build the 350-seat Roger S. Berlind Theater as part of an expansion of Princeton’s McCarter Theater.
“He loved the big-band music of the ’40s, he could play almost any song from the American songbook and he had a great memory for lyrics,” his son William said in a phone interview with the New York Times. His own tunes ran to the simple and nostalgic, as reflected by their titles, “Lemon Drop Girlfriend” and “Isn’t It a Rainbow Day?” among them. But Tin Pan Alley was uninterested, and, needing a job, Mr. Berlind was pointed by friends to Wall Street.
Second wife Brooke Berlind said in an interview “The significant thing about Roger is that he made an incredible turnaround.”
While his first musical, Rex, was a flop, he had his first hit with the original 1980 production of Amadeus. The play, written by Peter Shaffer, directed by Peter Hall and starring Ian McKellen and Tim Curry, took home several Tonys, including best play.
Following that, early works included Sophisticated Ladies, Nine and 8½. Later successes included Proof, Doubt, The History Boys, Kiss me, Kate, the 2012 revival of Death of a Salesman and the 2017 revival of Hello, Dolly! He would work with actors including Glenn Close, Bette Midler, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Jeremy Irons, among many others.
Survivors include his wife and son, two granddaughters and a brother.
Saturday Night Live’s final episode of 2020, hosted by Kristen Wiig, featured two electric performances from musical guest Dua Lipa. The episode opened with Vice President Pence (Beck Bennett) and Vice President-Elect Harris (Maya Rudolph) receiving the COVID-19 vaccine.
One of the few artists who thrived during the pandemic, Dua Lipa’s second album Future Nostalgia cemented her status as a pop staple. It dropped in the first month of quarantine and didn’t need an accompanying tour to bolster its release, although one is coming in September 2021.
Future Nostalgia righted the wrongs of its predecessor, the 2017 self-titled debut Dua Lipa, by finding a distinct sound amid complaints of being too generic. Dua also improved her live performances, coming off more confident and energetic onstage than in the past. Future Nostalgia is ending the year on several publications’ best of 2020 lists, and is up for five Grammy Awards, including Album and Song of the Year.
Dua’s first song of the night was “Don’t Start Now.” While Future Nostalgia’s lead singlewas released on Halloween of 2019, it had major staying power throughout 2020. It reached its Billboard Hot 100 peak of #2 on its 19th week of release, and surpassed Lipa’s 2017 single “New Rules” as her biggest hit. The nu-disco bop channels “I Will Survive” by Gloria Gaynor, as well as Daft Punk and the Bee Gees, dealing with themes of female empowerment and independence.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDsyocmK3XI
Dua closed her SNL debut with “Levitating,” an album standout that became a single in August. The dance floor-ready anthem spawned remixes with Madonna, Missy Elliott, and DaBaby, although none compare to the original solo version. “Levitating” is arguably Future Nostalgia’s high point, expertly updating the Studio 54 sound for 2020. The DaBaby remix made Barack Obama’s recently unveiled list of favorite songs of 2020.
Saturday Night Live returns in January. Revisit Kristen Wiig’s memorable final episode as a cast member on SNL, where Mick Jagger dedicated “She’s A Rainbow” to Wiig and the cast gave her an emotional send-off.
Since 2001, Yo La Tengo have spent most nights of Hanukkah performing eight nights of sold out benefits during the Festival of Lights. This year, they’re scaling back the eight nights to a single one night, which will livestream on Friday, December 18 at 8pm ET, from The Greene Space at WNYC & WQXR.
Since their inception at Maxwell’s in their former hometown of Hoboken, NJ, before moving to The Bowery Ballroom in downtown Manhattan, the shows featured surprise guests including John Oliver, Ray Davies, David Byrne, Syl Johnson, Sarah Silverman, Lucinda Williams, and Graham Nash.
This edition of the stripped-down Hanukkah concert will stream live from The Greene Space’s Lower Manhattan studio, and in doing so, keeps two decades of Yo La Tengo tradition alive. The three-hour performance features the classic format of an opening act, a comedian, and then a set by Yo La Tengo.
Under the financial stress of the pandemic, the New York Philharmonic musicians have agreed to a four-year contract with 25% salary cuts until August 2023.
From nyphil.org
Although pay will increase from 2023 to 2024, the wage cuts total more than $20 million, and musicians will still be paid less than at the start of the pandemic when the contract ends. Deborah Borda, Chief Executive and President of the orchestra, honestly stated that the cuts were “necessary.” The pandemic will keep the Philharmonic closed for at least 15 months, causing at least $31 million in losses.
Musicians have had wage cuts since May, but this contract is the most substantial. However, musicians at the New York Philharmonic have been understanding. The head of the player’s negotiating committee, Colin Williams, said “in recognition of the challenges of this time, we have done our part to help preserve the institution by forgoing more than $20 million of our wages.”
Photo by Chris lee from nyphil.org
In venues like the Metropolitan Opera, where 30% pay cuts have been requested, not all workers are willing to deal with such financial losses. The Met’s management planned to lock out workers who had not agreed to the proposed cuts. The employees of the opera have been without pay since April and will not be paid until the cuts are accepted. After the venue begins to recover financially, the cuts will be reduced to 15%. At the Philharmonic, cuts will drop to 10%.
The Philharmonic has cancelled all planned shows up until June 2021. This is only a portion of NYC’s live art impacted by the pandemic. All Broadway theaters are closed until May 2021 at least, making this the longest time Broadway has been dark, ever.
The contract, which ends in 2024, makes the lasting impact of this pandemic even more visible to the art and music community. Despite live venues’ plan to open sometime this upcoming year, it is clear that the financial road to recovery will be slow.
Broadway Buskers Concert Series concluded their season of live streamed performances for Broadway fans everywhere, this past October.
Since 2018, Broadway Buskers has hosted concerts in Times Square to showcase Broadway workers’ original music in between shows. The Times Square Alliance did not let COVID-19 stop them from sharing music and good vibes with the Broadway community. From August to October, fans streamed Broadway Buskers concerts every Tuesday at 7PM.
Photo via Getty Images
The final two shows wrapped up the series with a bang. Juwan Crawley (Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Aladdin), Cheeyang Ng (Eastbound, MĀYĀ), and Anthony Norman (The Prom, Chicago Med) closed the season after baby chemist (Katie Lee Hill & Travis Artz: New Amsterdam, SpongeBob LIVE on Nickelodeon; Transformers: Cyberverse, My Very Own British Invasion) and Jai’Len Josey (SpongeBob SquarePants) performed the week before. Watch Buskers performances on the Times Square Alliance’s YouTube channel.
Even though the quarantine has hurt many, people are connecting virtually like never before. Songwriter and Broadway actress Jennifer Sanchez notes:
“The most rewarding part about buskers has been connecting with the artists and the gifts of their songs. The openness and supportiveness was special…even when the virus shut it down and we all felt kind of isolated, we were able to make collaborate and music. It’s pretty magical.”
Cheeyang Ng describes the shift to online as “challenging,” because “without the face-to-face human connection one gets when we’re doing something like that in Times Square is quite sad.” Still, having virtual concerts “means the opportunity for a wider range of people to hear some new musical theatre.” Even though Broadway is closed, programs like Broadway Buskers are making theatre more accessible than every before.
baby chemist, photo by Gabriella Spiegel
For baby chemist, their set became “hybrid show of live interview, sketch, and banter mixed with pre-recorded musical performances.” Hill said “by playing into this new hybrid format, we were actually able to create an atmosphere that was closer to the off-beat vibe of what one of our live, in-person shows is like!”
She loves “that Broadway Buskers gives actors a platform to show another side of their artistry, giving them a chance to perform in a way you might not have heard them get to do yet in an onstage musical.”
With these weekly shows, the Times Square Alliance has celebrated songwriters from all places and backgrounds. Audiences watched the talent the Broadway community has to offer for free. If possible, however, fans can donate to Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS’ COVID-19 Emergency Assistance Fund to help those struggling. Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS has been funding AIDS treatment and creating grants to help those in need since 1988.
Live music venues in New York such as the Capitol Theater in Port Chester, State Theater in Ithaca and Tralf Music Hall in Buffalo started 2020 with great lineups for the year to come. While walking through Times Square on March 12, however, came the first of many announcements of the Coronavirus and its restrictions that affected every aspect of society since.
Take the 2020 Love Rocks NYC event at the Beacon Theater, for example. The marquee annual music event raises money for a common goal: to help feed New Yorkers who are too sick to cook or shop for themselves and do it through the healing power of live music. With emerging news of COVID-19, the sold out theater restricted attendance to press and artists only, capped at a 300-person maximum. Ticket holders who could no longer attend would use a link to stream the show, a familiar practice that, with the pandemic taking hold, would be the only way to see live music in the foreseeable future.
Love Rocks NYC featured various artists and actors including Rochester, New York native Steve Gadd (Eric Clapton, Paul Simon) on drums for all performances. Highlights of the star-studded evening included special guest performances by Derek Trucks, Warren Haynes, Dave Matthews, and The Black Crowes. Before closing his three-song set, with Peter Gabriel’s classic “Sledgehammer,” Dave Matthews told everybody, “Now after tonight I have to remind y’all to go home and stay by yourselves, wash your hands, and don’t listen to the President.”
Being inside the theater that night to see the most special guest, Mr. David Letterman, who reunited with Paul Shaffer for the first time since the Late Show ended in May 2015, was a treat for all. Letterman made light of these newly presented restrictions for the live music entertainment world, quoting Tom Petty’s song “Letting You Go.” “It’s a restless world, uncertain times you said hope was getting hard to find.”
Letterman elaborated, “after listening to that song, tonight it occurs to me that when things are hard, harder than they’ve ever been, even more troubled, you have got to look for something positive and one of the great gifts, one of the great blessings of life, honest to God, is live music.” These words continued to echo across the Beacon Theater, and worldwide to this day, as major live music performances have no definitive return.
David Letterman (Beacon Theatre, 3/12/20)
New York State has a rich, vibrant live music scene that immediately reacted to the cancellation of the year’s major music events. Local artists across the State have since found ways to fill the void. Central New York’s John McConnell immediately took to Facebook Live offering interaction with his audience. As McConnell reflects on the overall changes in live performances, he says, “There was a time where you could play a soulful song in a venue and open your eyes to something other than a cell phone in your face. Wallpaper gigs help pay the bills, but do not always feed the soul.”
Another immediate stand out is Jess Novak, who utilized the streaming app Twitch to bring AM and PM live music to the quarantined masses. Some of us found our silver lining at The Gear Factory in Syracuse, being able to collaborate at the creative space with musicians like Ben Shearer, who would normally be on the road. Even though large live music events remained out of question, New York’s outdoor landscape in the spring and summer allowed Colloca Estate and Grace Tyler Estate Wineries to act as venues, so McConnell and Novak could still perform to a live audience, until temperatures brought in the impending “Frost.”
To offset the eventual change in weather, which would end live music outdoors, many local and major musicians alike continued with virtual options, some with a simple twist of fate. In Spring, Phish started “Dinner and a Movie,” a free weekly streaming event. Each week featured an archival release of a live Phish concert with the goal to raise money for their non-profit, The Waterwheel Foundation, towards a food empowerment project. In late September, the Dinner and a Movie series ended with the announcement of Trey Anastasio’s “first-of-its-kind” eight week virtual residency called “The Beacon Jams” at the Beacon Theater.
All eight weeks were free to stream on Twitch and encouraged viewers to donate to the Divided Sky Fund that will focus on delivering quality care and compassionate treatment for those suffering from addiction. Trey has been a major advocate for progressive treatment of addictions since his personal struggle and subsequent recovery in Upstate New York, culminating in this Divided Sky Fund. The community responded by raising over a million dollars, many donors will even receive an autographed print of the event by Artist Jim Pollack and Trey Anastasio. A total of 5,300 copies were signed.
To paint the picture of what has occurred inside the Beacon Theater during its residency you, have to go to Rochester’s live music photographer, Jake Silco. Silco captured the essence of every night with its lit up backdrop in all of its glory – with the band facing brick, opposite of where the crowd would normally be. The empty Beacon Theater seats were alive with full stage lighting intertwined. A new face on screen from Buffalo, NY was pianist Jeff Tanski, he helped Anastasio rehearse for over 150 hours for the Grateful Dead’s “Fare Thee Well” shows in a Manhattan Studio in 2015.
Now to the rhythm section that was on site every week who has collaborated with Trey since 1999: Tony Markellis (Bass), Russ Lawton (Drums), Ray Paczkowski (Keyboards) and Cyro Baptista (Percussion, Paul Simon) helped kick the nightly grooves off. It was only appropriate that the whole residency started with an Anastasio solo song titled “Corona,” with its lyrics shouting: “When Corona touches oceans and the judgement comes at last, when all of this over and the truth meets the past.”
The song ends appropriately with a reference that all of us want right now, reiterating “when all of this is over.” As if this wasn’t enough to start the October residency, there was a Sinatra/Beatles studio-like string section who assisted from weeks two through eight. Named on the spot as the “Rescue Squad Strings,” the quartet was comprised of Anja Wood, Rachel Golub, Katie Kresek and Maxim Moston.
During week five, Syracuse native and drummer, Jon Fishman, came down to help resurrect Anastasio’s Ghosts of The Forest composition with Jennifer Hartswick (TAB), Celise Henderson (Lizzo), and Jo Lampert (Joan of Arc, David Byrne) on backing vocals. Ghosts was written as a tribute to Chris Cottrell, Anastasio’s life long friend.
The final musicians that joined for weeks seven and eight were Natalie Cressmann (TAB) on trombone and James Casey (Lettuce) on saxophone, who made the trip to New York from Kauai, Hawaii.
Attached to the Theater at The Beacon Hotel was where I was able to stream the shows as close to the source as possible, with the floor vibrating beneath you. Just as the same Times Square I walked through the day of COVID-19’s arrival, this same city has been subject to a “Story of the Ghost” [town] since. The Upper West side that would usually be flooded with 2,001 fans before and after the show was desolate and many of the performers could be spoken to after each night’s gig. Gone are the days in front of the State Theater in Ithaca being able to speak to Anastasio about his old club dates at The Haunt.
After the October 23 Beacon Jam, I spoke briefly with Anastasio, 6-feet away via a mask of course, on the Broadway street corner about the great Jazz musician Theloinus Monk. I had enveloped a copy of Monk’s Tips For a Gig: 20 Gig Tips From One Of The Greatest Jazz Masters Of All Time by Thelonious Monk for the occasion. When presented with it and his knowledge of Monk he exclaimed,” Yes, of course! Oh I love it!, I will read it! I’ll put it up and tack it on the wall for the next show, alright see ya later”
The following week October 30, to help create a festive vibe of Halloween weekends past on the empty Upper West side a Halloween PhanArt Card.
A quick “Happy Halloween buddy!” to which Anastasio replied on the go, “Thank you my friend!” Jon Fishman also received some PhanArt, with a request if he was planning on staying in NYC for a cover of Derek and the Dominos “Got to Get Better in a Little While.” Fishman’s Facebook posts will show his active political engagements and how in his home state of Maine he has been elected for two three-year-seats on Lincolnville’s Board of Selectmen.
One of Monk’s tips “a genius is the most like himself,” immediately dismisses a request for a cover song, but it could have been appropriate for the band and soulful backing singers to rejoice on Eric Clapton’s lyrics: “Revolution all across the land, just like Sly, You got to take a stand, please don’t hurt nobody, don’t knock nobody down, give them a helping hand to get up off the ground”
Italian illustrator, Moreno Chiacchierra who composed Frank Zappa’s comic art work in 1982 during a tour of the country inspired the art exchanges with Jon and Trey. In the just released What Calls You Home documentary, Anastasio comments on his relationship with Fishman. “So um, I count every minute playing with him as a blessing , I hope it’s me , if one of has to go first, because I don’t want to be on earth without having him to play music with.”
Monk’s tips are debatable as an influence over the course of eight Fridays, “In Rounds” where the band performed more than 150 different songs without a single repeat and not one cover. One major influence on Anastasio is Frank Zappa, especially after the just released 2020 Documentary Zappa. Trey produces the same non-stop work ethic in various compositions. New solo material produced during quarantine at his Upper West Side apartment, just blocks from the Beacon, called Lonely Trip was incorporated in the residency. He also helped The Roots come back to life on the Tonight Show. Anastasio was Jimmy Fallon’s first in studio musical guest since the lock down at Rockefeller .
When Jon Fishman accepted his local Syracuse “SAMMY Lifetime Achievement Winner Award” in 2015 at the Dinosaur BBQ he referenced sneaking out of his Halton Rd. house to make the short trip down “the errant path” to Manley Fieldhouse to see Zappa perform live.
Fishman was spotted last fall in attendance at a metal band show for Cattle Decapitation at Wescott Theater in Syracuse. Now, The Errant Path is a weekly radio show announced by Jon Fishman on Sirius XM. After hosting Bootsy Collins on air in November, his latest December episode amongst various jazz tracks included Frank Sinatra’s “Drinking Again” and John Lennon’s “Mind Games.”
At the 2017 SAMMY AWARDS CNY local, Megan Voss, was the only woman to be honored in its Hall of Fame. She brought her husband, producer, Eric Clapton and drummer Steve Jordan to the event. Like Anastasio who teamed with Relix for Beacon coverage, Jordan just participated as the musical director with them for America’s “Bird Calls” benefit concert – a virtual celebration of the life of Charlie Parker that raised money for the Jazz Foundation of America.
A New York City native, Jordan will be the musical director for the upcoming Play On CBS music special, benefiting racial justice and hunger across the nation. A quick nod to another Syracuse native and fellow Lifetime Achievement award winner in 2017, and Frank Sinatra’s conductor for 10 years, Vincent Falcones. His arrangements have been revisited.
Fishman and Anastasio, alongside other members of Phish, sang acapella on Sinatra’s “Send in the Clowns” during the final moments before midnight at Madison Square Garden, where the band rang in the New Year to start 2020 with its appropriate closing lyrics “Well, maybe next year.”
My grandfather Frank Romano (Falcone Cousin) remembered seeing Vinnie perform in 1948 at the Inn Between Restaurant in Camillus, New York with, “Vinnie on piano, Norm on Bass, and Sal the saxophone player.” Frank (Romano) reflected on Sinatra’s and Falcone performance at Saratoga Performing Arts Center on August 25th, 1975 as well.
Speaking with Saratoga Springs native, Tony Markellis, outside the Beacon Hotel before making the trip back upstate that day, about an infamous Utica gig from the past. I got his input on Monk’s Tips as well.
Markellis, who in his lifetime has seen Jimi Hendrix perform twice in New York State – once at Buffalo City Memorial Auditorium on March 23, 1968 and the other at the Singer Bowl in Flushing Meadows, New York on August 23, 1968, delivered his esteemed thoughts.
We immediately switched gears to talk about Ray Paczkowski’s playing on the keyboards every night, Markellis said, ” He’s brilliant, I mean his playing is so unlike anybody, he’s kind of playing like Monk in a rock setting that nobody does and he makes it work.”
Tony Markellis (Beacon Hotel 11/21/20)
A brief conversation happened with Paczkowski outside the Beacon, just minutes before he casually walked in and performed on the Phish Classic “You Enjoy Myself.” We spoke about drummer and producer Brady Blade. Packowski played with Brady, Trey, Tim Reynolds, and Tony Hall under the Dave Matthews and Friends Arena tour, that came through Rochester and New York City in the December of 2003. He referenced how great it was collaborating with Brady, but went on to quickly say, “His brother Brian Blade, is a whole ‘nother trip”
soule monde (Onondaga Community College 11/23/13)
Well, Ray certainly knows his stuff because just last week Brian Blade along with Christain McBride and Chick Corea were nominated for Best Jazz Instrumental for a 2021 Grammy. Like Chick Corea, who performed at Onondaga County Community College’s “Legends of Jazz Series” in September 2014, Ray Paczkowski and drummer Russ Lawton have also performed at the Frederick Marvin & Ernst Schuh Recital Hall back in November of 2013. The duo performed outside of the Trey Anastasio Band under the name Soule Monde that operates as a highly funky, Afro beat improvisational keyboard and drum performance.
When James Casey was asked about his interpretations of Thelonius Monk’s tips, he said it was required reading in college. As a drummer I stated “make the drummer sound good” in turn Casey replied “that’s what it’s all about.”
On top of his studies at Berklee was saxophone player Sam Kininger, out of Utica, New York, who was referenced under the Beacon Marquee as well. “I’d watch Sam play every Sunday and Tuesday night, never, ever making my 9 a.m. class on Monday or Wednesday because we were all out there until 2:30, taking it all in. I had learned my vocabulary there.” Markellis also commented about “Uticat” Kininger. “Of Course I know Sam! He’s one of the greats!” Sam Kininger started 2020 live and funky in front of crowds in January and February at Putnam Place in Saratoga Springs. He also performed with Lettuce on November 20, 2019 at the Stanley Theater in Utica.
Sam Kininger (Stanley Theater 11/20/19)
On the final evening of The Beacon Jams in Upstate, NY from October 25, 2002 at the Stanley Theater was reminisced by everyone on stage. Anastasio plays off the band, of a great night where “the plaster fell from the ceiling,” the band was booming and the unison of the crowd “was rocking to the beat of the humanity.”
Via Eliza’s production assistance and the Twitch live stream to an empty theater, under the name “romanoorange,” I was able to get feedback on a night that all of us from Liverpool, NY were in attendance can still remember, the balcony “pulsating to the music.” Drummer Russ Lawton touched on Monk’s Tips and Utica by saying, “Thanks for passing the tips on to me, so great. Of course I love the tip that if you’re not a drummer you still need to count. When you have people grooving with you it’s the best,.UTICA, best rocking show ever!!!”
In light of the trend to give back during COVID-19, perhaps Phish could release the show as an archival release with proceeds going to the Stanley Theater? After all, don’t they owe them for structural damage?
Before heading back Upstate for the winter, just a couple blocks from the 1929 palace for motion pictures and vaudeville (Beacon Theatre), The New York Historical Society is currently running a live exhibit Bill Graham and the Rock & Roll Revolution on Bill Graham, one the most influential concert promoters of all time. What would he propose for how live music should be viewed going forward? Maybe testing around the corner at the West 69th Urgent Care that offers three forms of walk in tests for COVID-19 before being able to enter the Beacon? What would the artists who make up the exhibit say?
After Beatlemania, John Lennon celebrated his 31st birthday at The Hotel Syracuse on October 9th 1971, his final live on stage performance was with Elton John at Madison Square Garden on November 28, 1974 He also found a silver lining in his “isolation” only releasing material from The Hit Factory and his home at the Dakota Building.
Roger Waters, who carried on touring to bigger venues like the Carrier Dome created “The Wall” between him and his audience making the restrictions as part of the performance. Perhaps we could utilize the size of the newly redone Carrier Dome with its 50,000-person capacity for a socially distant live concert or continue with the virtual options to help raise money for a cause by revisiting Paul McCartney’s infamous performance at the Carrier Dome on September 23, 2017.
Bruce Hornsby just helped honor our front line workers at Upstate Hospital in Central New York with a virtual concert that raised more than $500,000 in donations. Upstate Foundation reimagines gala with virtual Upstate Strong COVID Relief Benefit Concert featuring Bruce Hornsby and the Noisemakers Dec. 4.
Maybe the cosmos have the answer, where live performances have never stopped.
“The Sky Church is still here, as you can see,” according to Hendrix at Woodstock. On December 2, 2020, a meteor crashed into Earth’s atmosphere above Central New York where dogsledder captures the meteor on video after an ‘explosive’ boom. The next show at Tully Lake on December 21, Jupiter and Saturn will form “Christmas Star” the first visible “double planet” in 800 years. Like Little Feat’s lyrics “So it seems that the world keeps on turnin’ but so what I don’t doubt it, it just keeps on the move.”
We all have to keep moving to the beat of humanity into 2021.
The penultimate SNL episode for 2020 brought Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band together in Studio 8H for the first time, and their first public performance in four years. This SNL episode also featured Tonight Show musical director Questlove in a sketch on classic versus modern rap.
This week’s episode was hosted by NYC born and raised Timothée Chalamet, who gave a shout out to his mom, who was featured in the 90s sketch Massive Headwound Harry. Chalamet gave a musical interlude during his monologue, talking about his love for New York City, and was joined by Pete Davidson to talk about a Staten Island Christmas.
“Ghosts” was the first song of the night, a track off the recently released Letter To You. For Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band’s second song, a Christmas lit SNL stage framed an energetic performance of “I’ll See You in my Dreams.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYW-DIG-CV4
Rolling Stone reports E Street Band founding bassist Garry Tallent and violinist Soozie Tyrell had to skip the SNL performance due to COVID-19 protocols. Springsteen tweeted earlier in the week, “Garry and his family are fine as is Soozie, but we thank Jack Daley of the Disciples of Soul for sitting in.”
Despite having a career starting in the 1970s, Springsteen did not appear on Saturday Night Live until 1992, on an episode hosted by Tom Hanks.
Bruce Springsteen last appeared on Saturday Night Live on the 2015 Christmas episode, performing “Meet Me in the City” and “The Ties That Bind.” SNL returns next week with Kristen Wiig and musical guest Dua Lipa.
A surprise for anyone who caught any of the eight weeks of The Beacon Jams – “What Calls You Home” – a 17-minute short documentary featuring interviews and behind the scenes footage was released on Thursday, December 10. .
Created by the MSG Entertainment team, “Whatt Calls You Home” features exclusive performance highlights and in-depth conversations with Trey Anastasio and members of the production who helped bring the virtual residency to life.
The Beacon Jams was an overwhelming success – held at the historic Beacon Theatre, Trey along with his band and several special guests performed 151 original songs (with no repeats) and more than 20-hours of live music. Over eight weeks, hundreds of thousands of fans tuned in for the live streams, and in turn helped raise $1 million in donations for the Divided Sky Fund, part of Phish’s WaterWheel Foundation, which will help fund a drug treatment center in Vermont.
“What Calls You Home” is a fascinated look at how this unique residency came together at such a critical time in the music industry and across the nation and world, a true tribute to the power of live music.
Read NYS Music’s reviews of each weekend of The Beacon Jams here.
Connecticut-based Goose have announced plans for their seventh annual Goosemas holiday celebration, this time with a live stream concert from Rockefeller Center in New York City. On Friday December 11 at 7pm ET, Goose will offer an exclusive Twitch stream on the new Relix Channel, with proceeds benefiting Save Our Stages and Conscious Alliance.
A first of its kind livestream, Goose will perform more than seven stories high in the Manhattan skyline. Goosemas is an annual year end celebration, having grown from small clubs to the Wall Street Theater in Norwalk, CT over the past six years. Peter Anspatch recalls his first show with the band:
Goosemas 4 was my first gig playing with Goose so the annual show has a big place in my heart. I’m bummed we can’t be with our family and friends in person for this one, but the location is going to make it that much more exciting to stream. I’m beyond stoked we were able to pull that together in such a chaotic year. Big shout out to our whole team for always crushing it, Peter Shapiro, and thanks to Rockefeller Center for hosting what will be a very special night.
As with annual tradition, Goosemas will also include a charitable aspect during 2020’s most important giving month. Proceeds from the benefit will go to two separate organizations; NIVA’s Save our Stages — a national charity that provides support to independent live event venues and promoters throughout the United States in these trying times; and Conscious Alliance — a nonprofit that connects a network of creatives to collect large-scale donations in order to combat hunger in historically underserved communities.
photo by Scott Harris
Donations from Goosemas at Rockefeller Center will help keep Conscious Alliance on the road this winter delivering 200,000 meals to kids and families in need. Every $1 donation = 2 meals to someone going without food this holiday season.
Goose has amazing momentum right now and we are so excited to be working with them on this incredibly special performance at Rockefeller Center– one of the most iconic locations in the world. There isn’t a more epic way to ring in the holidays than with a rock show in the sky.
Peter Shapiro, Publisher of Relix Magazine and Twitch Relix Channel.
Donations are now being accepted at GOOSEMAS.com. Those who make donations through the Goosemas website will receive early access to the Goosemas Merch Store on Wednesday, December 9th at 10 am ET, and opening to the general public at 1pm ET. For more information, visit GOOSEMAS.com.
