NYS Music 202​0

Tag: Saratoga Performing Arts Center

  • SPAC Reimagined unveils the Ellen Reid Soundwalk

    As part of its SPAC Reimagined Series, Saratoga Performing Arts Center is hosting a free, audio-immersive event, the Ellen Reid Soundwalk, allowing people to walk and listen to music as they wander around the area.

    The GPS-enabled installation opened on September 21 and runs until November 1 which leaves a month to visit the hiking trails, geysers, and the natural springs of the Saratoga State Park. The audio experience is tailor-made and meant to illuminate the natural environment. The event requires hikers to download the free application and grab some headphones before going on the route.

    Ellen Reid Soundwalk

    The Soundwalk was crafted and created by Pulitzer prize-winning composer Ellen Reid. Her Soundwalk features a newly written score, performed by the SOUNDWALK Ensemble. Ellen Reid understood the anxiety around current events and explained the helpful purpose of the Soundwalk.

    We’re all experiencing the anxieties of living in an uncertain world. We miss our communities, and we miss the very thing that makes our cities special: the people.

    Ellen Reid

    Reid’s Soundwalk was co-commissioned by Saratoga Performing Arts Center, the New York Philharmonic, Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts, Mann Center for the Performing Arts in association with The Fairmount Park Conservancy, and Britt Festival Orchestra.

    Ellen Reid Soundwalk

    Movement around the park triggers the soundscape and the musical cells were carefully crafted to harmonize with the park’s landscape and attractions. The person walking will get to choose their path, which dictates the music the listener will hear. Participants can also dictate the music, ensuring that each experience will not be the same when roaming the State Park.

    As a bonus, special musical “easter eggs” have been hidden around the park for people to navigate and discover. The Soundwalk is open until November 1, which leaves many opportunities for people to have a customizable, immersive, musical experience.

    On your way to SPAC, don’t forget that Stewart’s Shops is your ice cream shop! With over 345 shops in 31 counties across New York and southern Vermont, the convenience store chain is known for their fresh &local dairy products. With dozens of choices at the cone counter, you’re bound to find something you love! Try a shake, sundae, or cone today,  What’s Your Flavor?  

  • Flashback: The Who perform their first and only show at SPAC, August 2, 1971

    Two years after releasing Tommy and just ahead of the release of Who’s Next, UK rock stalwarts The Who performed at Saratoga Springs Performing Arts Center on Monday, August 2, 1971.

    The show would serve as The Who’s only performance at SPAC, with a then-record attendance of 33,652 (reported as 27,800 by The Who), which shattered the previous record of 22,647 set by Chicago in 1970. Christian rock star and future Gospel Music Hall of Fame singer Mylon served as support for the show.

    The Glens Falls Post-Star had this to say of the show in their concert review:

    The crowd was everywhere, in the seats, on the lawn, on the stage, in the aisles and even on the steel girders on the side of the theater. The latter, fortunately, was only temporary until the police ordered the dozen young people down.

    They were a noisy, restless audience to say the least, but seemed to lap up everything the four-man group offered. The Who gave them their money’s worth for an hour and a half, and do they work. As to the quality of their music, It was loud. I’ll leave further critique to those who favor this type of rock music. But the fact that they brought nearly 28,000 paying customers to SPAC is not to be denied.

    They seemed to sing all the songs the crowd came for, as well as anumber of new ones, and had a difficult time convincing the crowd to go home.

    Opening the show for the first have was Mylon, a long haired, grating singer-guitarist backed by five musicians and three girl singers. They did everything from rock to country-western, spirituals and even a standard, “Sixteen Ton.”

    the who SPAC

    The Post-Star review goes on to detail the sound at the show as well as fans camping on the lawn:

    The sound throughout the program was loud for those in the theater, and everywhere backstage theater walls and floor were actually vibrating. Out on the lawn, the sound was more moderated. Thanks to the closed circuit TV system used again last night, those on the lawn had a perfect viewing spot. Watching the TV cameramen in the aisles and one on stage on a ladder trying to cover the show for those on the lawn was almost a show initself.

    There were the usual several minor cuts and abrasions, as well as several fainting incidents requiring backstage first aid, with some also going to the hospital.

    Reportedly several on the lawn camped there from late Sunday night in order to be sure of a good place, so that should give some indication of the popularity of The Who. For anyone so inclined, a close examination of the group’s tons of sound equipment would be a short course in the electronic world of amplification at its fullest.

    The intermission was especially long, as management pleaded for the young people to clear the aisles to comply with state fire laws. They never did get the aisles clear, but finally did get most of the kids to sit down so those in seats could see the stage.

    A unique feature to evenings at SPAC – a program was distributed to attendees, as seen below.

    Program cover
    the who
    Program back

    Among the small print, the program says of The Who:

    Unlike so many groups in the fickle world of pop music, The Who have remained together as a band since their start in 1964. The creative sparkplug of the group is Pete Townsend, guitarist, songwriter and composer of Tommy. Bass player John Entwhistle is another fine songwriter. The two other members of the group are drummer Keith Moon and the explosive microphone-twirling singer Roger Daltry.

    (Ed. Note: Townshend, Entwistle and Daltrey’s names were misspelled in the program)

    Aside from the rock opera concept, The Who have been pioneers in many other areas of pop music. They were the first to refine guitar feedback to a high art, the first to use the previously sacred Union Jack as clothing and the first to wind up their performances by smashing their instruments.

    The program goes on to note that The Who had just played two sold out shows at Forest Hills Tennis Stadium in Queens. They wrapped up their tour shortly after their Saratoga performance, with final tour stops at the Yale Bowl in New Haven, CT, Cobo Hall in Detroit and Chicago Auditorium.

    Setlist: Love Ain’t For Keeping, Pure And Easy, My Wife, I Can’t Explain, Substitute, Bargain, Behind Blue Eyes, Won’t Get Fooled Again, I Don’t Know Myself, Baby Don’t You Do It (Marvin Gaye), Pinball Wizard, See Me Feel Me, Water

    the who

  • Flashback: Phish headline for the first time at SPAC

    On July 10, 1994, Phish headlined for the first time at Saratoga Performing Arts Center. Two years prior, the Vermont group had opened for Santana at SPAC, one of the few opening slots Phish would perform in their career.

    via Brendan McKenna, as published in PhanArt: The Art of the Fans of Phish

    The summer of 1994 would feature The Eagles, Peter Gabriel, James Taylor, The Beastie Boys and the debut of Dave Matthews at the classic Upstate amphitheater, in addition to Phish, whose performance was at the tail end of their summer tour.

    Of note from the first set is the “Stash,” which appears on Live Bait 10, and fun with the lyrics of “Julius,” adding “I haven’t decided, no no no’ during the chorus, and “Ya Mar” where the band gave shout-outs to Trey’s dog Marley, including “Who is she?” (also their record label’s name) and “Who’s the Mar Mar?”

    Tickets were only $18.50 for reserved seats

    The middle of the second set held the heat with a strong “Mike’s Groove”, adding in “Low Rider” to the typical three song sequence inside of “Mike’s Song.” At the end of the second set, The Dude of Life came to the stage and sang his composition “Crimes of the Mind” with the band.

    Listen to the show below or tune in via Phishtracks.com.

    Phish.net/Rec.Music.Phish shirt from 1994, via PhanArt

    Setlist via Phish.net

    Phish – SPAC, Saratoga Springs, NY – July 10, 1994

    Soundcheck: Jive Talkin’, The Old Home Place, Nellie Kane, work on Jive Talkin’

    Set 1: Chalkdust Torture, Horn > Peaches en Regalia > Rift, Stash, If I Could, My Friend, My Friend > Julius, Cavern

    Set 2: Sample in a Jar, David Bowie, Glide, Ya Mar, Mike’s Song -> Low Rider -> Mike’s Song > I Am Hydrogen > Weekapaug Groove, Bouncing Around the Room, The Squirming Coil, Crimes of the Mind

    Encore: Golgi Apparatus, Rocky Top

    Notes: My Friend included a Purple Haze tease and Julius contained a Buried Alive tease from Trey. The Dude of Life sang vocals on Crimes of the Mind


  • Grateful Dead perform at SPAC on June 28, 1988, ending three year ban

    After being banned from SPAC for three years, the Grateful Dead returned on Tuesday, June 28, 1988 for one final outing at the famed Saratoga Springs venue. This being their first show since the release of 1987’s In the Dark and the Top 10 single “Touch of Grey,” a new generation of Deadheads were seeing the group for the first time, who were disparagingly referred to as ‘Touchheads’ by some veteran fans.

    While this was the final performance for the Grateful Dead’s at Saratoga Performing Arts Center, the band had a strong fanbase in the greater Capital District. Add in a new audience of younger fans and the band would find themselves heading half an hour south for future performances in the region, at the Knickerbocker Arena, starting in 1990.

    Grateful Dead SPAC

    Locally broadcast on WPYX, the Tuesday show was aired on the radio in an effort to dissaude fans from arriving at the show without a ticket. This did not prevent gatecrashing from occuring early in the night, and fans on the lawn were found heading into the pavilion balcony as they did in 1985.

    Rain fell on the crowd as storms passed through, and lightning was seen during the rain-soaked “Candyman,” leading to a chill coming over the crowd as the show wore on. A solid variety in the straightforward first set seemed to swap Bobby and Jerry songs from the outset of “Hell in a Bucket,” and ending with “Victim or the Crime” and “Foolish Heart.”

    More rain came down early in the second set, similar to the rain in 1985 that began during “Fire on the Mountain.” Listen to “Scarlet Begonias” > “Fire on the Mountain” > “Estimated Prophet” > “Crazy Fingers,” and you’d likely be enjoying dancing in the rain as the thousands of fans did that night.

    Following a hypnotic “Drums” and “Space,” a beautiful version of “I Will Take You Home” by Brent Mydland appeared, and a late second set “Stella Blue” found Jerry stumbling just before pouring buckets of emotion into the ending jam. The Dead had left their mark on SPAC, one of the most beloved venues in the Northeast.

    Grateful Dead, Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC), June 28, 1988

    Set 1: Hell In A Bucket-> Bertha, Walkin Blues, Candyman, When I Paint My Masterpiece, Row Jimmy, Victim Or The Crime, Foolish Heart

    Set 2: Scarlet Begonias-> Fire On The Mountain, Estimated Prophet-> Crazy Fingers-> Drums-> I Will Take You Home-> Goin’ Down The Road Feelin’ Bad-> I Need A Miracle-> Stella Blue-> Not Fade Away

    Encore: Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door

  • Flashback: Phish at SPAC, June 26, 1995

    On June 26, 1995, Phish performed for the third time (and second as a headliner) at Saratoga Performing Arts Center. Phish’s 1995 Summer Tour was into full swing by this point with the final 11 shows in the Northeast, four of which were in New York.

    Phish SPAC 1995

    Back in 1995, reserved tickets for this performance at SPAC cost only $20. An “Acoustic Army” soundcheck with teases of “Shine” (six months and a day before “Shine” would debut on New Years Eve during “Fly Famous Mockingbird”), and Little Feat’s “Time Loves a Hero” reappeared for the first time since soundcheck on April 15, 1989.

    A little Led Zeppelin could be found in “Possum” with a “Heartbreaker” tease, and in “You Enjoy Myself” containing a hint of “Immigrant Song.” The highlight of the show is surely a spacey and unfinishes “Down with Disease” that led into a monster “Free,” seen below.

    The penultimate performance of The Meditations “Don’t You Want to Go?” was found in the first set, alongside a unique trio of “It’s Ice” > “Dog Faced Boy” > “Tela,” and the aforementioned “Possum.” Set 2 is a fiery one from the start, with a “Down with Disease” > “Free” that Phish.net calls “a multi-movement masterpiece.” A huge “You Enjoy Myself” (seen below) and “Sleeping Monkey” > “Rocky Top” encore are among the many highlights of this stand out show. It would take 9 years before Phish returned to SPAC, shows that stack up well against June 26, 1995. This show was released by Live Phish in 2017.

    Setlist via Phish.net

    Phish – SPAC – June 26, 1995

    Soundcheck: Time Loves A Hero > Dog Log/Time Loves A Hero mashup, Nellie Kane, Santana Instrumental, Rocky Mountain Way

    Set 1: My Friend, My Friend, Don’t You Want To Go?, Bathtub Gin, NICU > The Sloth, My Mind’s Got a Mind of its Own, It’s Ice > Dog Faced Boy > Tela > Possum

    Set 2: Down with Disease [1] -> Free > Poor Heart > You Enjoy Myself, Strange Design > Run Like an Antelope

    Encore: Sleeping Monkey > Rocky Top

    [1] Unfinished.
    My Friend started with a Pomp and Circumstance March No. 1 tease from Trey. Trey teased and quoted Long Tall Glasses in Bathtub Gin. Possum contained a Heartbreaker tease and YEM contained Immigrant Song teases from Trey. Down with Disease was unfinished.

  • Opera Saratoga Keeping the Love of Opera Alive with New Series

    Opera Saratoga has launched a new series of online programming called OPERA SARATOGA: CONNECT!. This comes in response to the recent limitations placed on many in the music industry from the Coronavirus Pandemic. Moving away from the standard path of releasing archived material that many other organizations have taken, Opera Saratoga has developed six new programs including Daily, Kids, Symposia, Classes, Trivia and Mentorship.

    Opera Saratoga’s Artistic and General Director Lawrence Edelson explained: “We have decided to launch programs for our audiences that have been created specifically for the way people engage online producing a combination of newly created video performances for social media, as well as new opportunities to enjoy and learn about opera that are more interactive. Opera Saratoga has always focused on building community. OPERA SARATOGA: CONNECT! was designed to allow us to do just that – connect digitally with our community. Each element of this initiative allows audiences to enjoy opera, classical vocal music, and musical theater in a different way, from short videos released every day throughout the summer featuring members of our Festival Artist program, to interactive trivia games, classes, and symposia, featuring guests from around the globe.”

    Programming will be a combination of free and a few paid activities to which there are scholarships available for those experiencing financial hardships during the pandemic. This will provide a wide opportunity for many to experience opera classical vocal music, and musical theater in many different ways right from your home. Complete details about each of the six programs as part of OPERA SARATOGA: CONNECT! may be found online. 

    For over 50 years Opera Saratoga, formerly known as Lake George Opera, has been a pillar in the upstate community for world class opera. Not only do they perform for more than 25,000 people at the annual Summer Festival but also have become the launching point for emerging operatic artists. They utilize not only their own stage but also the cultural, historic and natural resources of the surrounding Saratoga Springs, the Lower Adirondack and New York State Capital areas to bring unique and innovative opportunities to the public.  

    Check out below their newest opera ‘The Selfish Giant’ based on the classic children’s story by Oscar Wilde. This was produced remotely after the start of COVID-19 in partnership  with the New York City based company American Lyric Theater.

  • Daryl Hall & John Oates Announce 2020 Tour

    Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees Daryl Hall and John Oates have just announced that they will be on the road once again this spring and summer for a North American Tour. British rockers Squeeze and Scottish singer-songwriter KT Tunstall along for the ride.

    A series of random warm-up dates in will span February, March and May before the proper tour begins. Those stops will include a performance at Madison Square Garden in New York City on Feb. 28.

    The official tour for the best selling duo begins on May 29 and will make 32 stops along the way. Three stops in New York will include St.Joseph’s Amphitheater in Syracuse on July 30, Northwell Health at Jones Beach on Aug. 25 and finally SPAC on Aug. 31.

    Fans will be delighted to know that Hall & Oates will focus the set on their huge pop hits like “Private Eyes,” “Rich Girl,” “Maneater,” and “You Make My Dreams.” Hall & Oates expressed how excited they were to revisit their timeless hits in a recent interview with Rolling Stone.

    “I feel a professional responsibility to play the songs that people want to hear,” Oates says. “They are the songs that have made us who we are. We have a lot of them. The only problem is we have too many of them, but that’s a problem that many artists would love to have.”

    “A few years back we had a big show where we didn’t play ‘Private Eyes’ for some reason,” says Hall. People got pissed off. They got angry at us. You can’t do that. You have to play these songs.”

    Tickets go on sale Friday for all tour dates and can be purchased by clicking here.

    Hall & Oates 2020 Tour Dates

    *  w/ Squeeze
    ^ w/ KT Tunstall

    Feb. 26– Giant Center – Hershey, PA *
    Feb. 28 – Madison Square Garden – New York City, NY *^
    Mar. 21 – Fantasy Springs Resort – Indio, CA
    Mar. 27 – Neal S. Blaisdell Center – Honolulu, HI
    Mar. 29 – Maui Arts & Cultural Center – Kahului, HI
    May 15 – Foxwoods – Mashantucket, CT
    May 16 – Foxwoods – Mashantucket, CT
    May 23 – HoagieNation – Philadelphia, PA * (Presale starts Wednesday 1/22)
    May 29 – Hollywood Bowl – Los Angeles, CA *^
    May 31 – North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre – Chula Vista, CA *^
    June 3 – Theater of the Clouds at Moda Center – Portland, OR *^
    June 5 – White River Amphitheatre – Auburn, WA *^
    June 7 – Toyota Amphitheatre – Wheatland, CA *^
    June 10 – Shoreline Amphitheatre – Mountain View, CA *^
    June 12 – Ak-Chin Pavilion – Phoenix, AZ *^
    June 14 – Pepsi Center – Denver, CO *^
    June 17 – Dickies Arena – Fort Worth, TX *^
    June 19 – Germania Insurance Amphitheatre – Austin, TX *^
    June 21 – The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion – Houston, TX *^
    July 10 – Budweiser Stage – Toronto, ON *^
    July 12 – Riverbend Music Center – Cincinnati, OH *^
    July 14 – Blossom Music Center – Cleveland, OH *^
    July 16 – Xcel Energy Center – St. Paul, MN *^
    July 18 – Hollywood Casino Amphitheater – Chicago, IL *^
    July 20 – DTE Energy Music Theatre – Detroit, MI *^
    July 22 – Ruoff Music Center – Noblesville, IN *^
    July 24 – Hollywood Casino Amphitheater – St. Louis, MO *^
    July 26 – American Family Insurance Amphitheater – Milwaukee, WI *^
    July 28 – S&T Bank Music Park – Pittsburgh, PA *^
    July 30 – St. Joseph’s Health Amphitheater at Lakeview – Syracuse, NY *^
    Aug.13 – Ameris Bank Amphitheatre – Atlanta, GA *^
    Aug.15 – MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre – Tampa, FL *^
    Aug.18 – PNC Music Pavilion – Charlotte, NC *^
    Aug. 20 – Veterans United Home Loans Amphitheater – Virginia Beach, VA *^
    Aug. 22 – Merriweather Post Pavilion – Columbia, MD *^
    Aug. 25 – Northwell Health at Jones Beach – Wantagh, NY *^
    Aug. 27 – PNC Bank Arts Center – Holmdel, NJ *^
    Aug. 29 – Xfinity Center – Mansfield, MA *^
    Aug. 31 – Saratoga Performing Arts Center – Saratoga Springs, NY *^
    Sept. 2 – Bank of New Hampshire Pavilion – Gilford, NH *^