Legendary Grateful Dead tribute act Dark Star Orchestra will play in Utica at The Stanley Theatre on March 17, 2022. This follows the group’s pair of shows to ring in 2022 at The Palace Theatre in Albany on December 31, 2021 and January 1, 2021.
Performing to critical acclaim for over 20 years and over 3,000 shows, Dark Star Orchestra continues the Grateful Dead live concert experience. Their shows are built off the Dead’s extensive catalog and the talent of these seven fine musicians. On any given night, the band will perform a show based on a set list from the Grateful Dead’s 30 years of extensive touring or use their catalog to program a unique set list for the show. This allows fans both young and old to share in the experience.
By recreating set lists from the past and developing their own sets of Dead songs, Dark Star Orchestra offers a continually evolving artistic outlet within this musical canon. Honoring both the band and the fans, Dark Star Orchestra’s members seek out the unique style and sound of each era while simultaneously offering their own informed improvisations.
In addition to appearing at some of the nation’s top festivals, Dark Star Orchestra hosts its own annual music festival and campaign gathering, titled the “Dark Star Jubilee,” currently in its eighth year where they headline all three nights and are joined by a mix of established and up and coming national touring acts. Beyond the shores of the United States, the band has taken its internationally-acclaimed Grateful Dead tribute to the beaches of Jamaica in the dead of winter for the past six years, with their event appropriately titled ‘Jam in the Sand.’ Featuring an ocean-side stage, Dark Star Orchestra sets up camp to perform shows for four nights along the tropical sands of an all-inclusive resort, selling out the event each year for hundreds of lucky attendees.
For us it’s a chance to recreate some of the magic that was created for us over the years. We offer a sort of a historical perspective at what it might have been like to go to a show in 1985, 1978 or whenever. Even for Deadheads who can say they’ve been to a hundred shows in the 90s, we offer something they never got to see live.
keyboardist and vocalist Rob Barraco
Fans and critics haven’t been the only people caught up in the spirit of a Dark Star show. The band has featured guest performances from six original Grateful Dead members: Phil Lesh, Bob Weir, Bill Kreutzmann, Donna Jean Godchaux-MacKay, Vince Welnick, Tom Constanten and even toured with longtime Dead soundman, Dan Healy.
The Stanley Theatre has always adhered to all recommendations and guidelines from Oneida County in regards to COVID-19. With this said, the theatre will require any applicable mandates at the time of the performance.
Tickets for Dark Star Orchestra in Utica will go on sale on Monday, December 20 at 10:00 a.m. and can be purchased through Ticketmaster, or by calling The Stanley Theatre Box Office at 315-724-4000.
The Allman Betts Band has announced their ‘Trippin’ into Spring 2022′ tour dates. The run will begin on March 1 in Milwaukee, WI, and will make stops across the country and Hawaii.
Ahead of the Spring tour, the Allman Betts Band will be on the road as part of The Allman Family Revival tour – a 19 date, star-studded celebration of the life, spirit, and music of Gregg Allman.
When The Allman Betts Band released Down to the River in June of 2019, the debut album represented not only the first time the group had recorded together, but, in fact, the first time the seven-piece ensemble had ever played together. If Down to the River was the sound of the band’s combustible sparks igniting, then Bless Your Heart is their bonfire, built for the summer of 2020 and beyond; a double-album follow-up fueled by road-forged camaraderie and telepathic musical intensity, vibrantly reflecting the individual and collective experiences of these seven, all drawing inspiration from the band’s symbolic hometown- a place Devon Allman calls “the United States of Americana.”
All up to date news and tour information can be found at allmanbettsband.com.
The Allman Betts Band ‘Trippin’ Into Spring’ 2022 Tour Dates
3/1 @ Turner Hall Ballroom | Milwaukee, WI 3/2 @ Kalamazoo State Theatre | Kalamazoo, MI 3/3 @ Kent State University | Kent, OH 3/4 @ Riverfront Live | Cincinnati, OH 3/5 @ Robins Theatre | Warren, OH 3/6 @ EXPRESS LIVE! | Columbus, OH 3/9 @ Town Ballroom | Buffalo, NY 3/10 @ The Stanley Theatre | Utica, NY 3/12 @ Garde Arts Center | New London, CT 3/16 @ Lebanon Opera House | Lebanon, NH 3/18 @ Loos Center for the Arts | Woodstock, CT 3/24 @ Hart Theatre at The Egg | Albany, NY 3/27 @ Whitaker Center | Harrisburg, PA 4/1 @ Hawaii Theatre | Honolulu, HI 4/2 @ Maui Arts & Cultural Center | Kahului, HI
Hey Uticats, Police, Primus, and Phish fans, do you remember when Oysterhead played the Utica Memorial Auditorium on November 9, 2001? It was Stewart Copeland and Les Claypool’s first time in Utica. Trey Anastasio’s first of four musical projects debuted in the Mohawk River city at the base of the Adirondacks.
If you recorded the HBO show Reverb ,you’ll have a VHS tape of Oysterhead’s inaugural tour footage from Los Angeles’s Palladium to New York City’s Roseland Ballroom during its Fall 2001 episode. Their last television performance would be from NBC studios in NYC for on Late Night with Conan O’Brien.
Ironic collaboration considering the trios background during the 1980’s. Stewart Copeland went from playing the Fire Barn Club across from Syracuse City Hall with his band “The Police” to selling out the Carrier Dome a year later at Syracuse University & various other arenas across the world during the decade.
Les Claypool was in California during the 1980’s auditioning for Metallica’s vacant bassist slot at the time. He was also brainstorming with drummer Jay Lane and guitarist Larry LaLonde about a new project called Primus.
In 1983, we know that Trey Anastasio just hooked up with Syracuse native drummer Jon Fishman at University of Vermont to form their new group appropriately named Phish.
The only collision was during Fall Tour 1996 when Les Claypool and his band Primus sat in with Phish for “Wildwood Weed Harpua” in Las Vegas. Phish covered “So Lonely”by the Police in November 1998. That’s all we knew. These artists were certainly castaways at sea during the 1980’s while The Police’s “Roxanne” dominated the air waves.
It all started in New Orleans by “Superfly” during Jazz Fest who curate random musicians to play the late night gig. Les was called on by Superfly with the intention “of musicians to get other interesting musicians to play a night club after Jazz Fest” Claypool called up Trey and Stewart from always wanting to work with them. It was that simple. Although Trey told HBO’s Reverb of the trios seed while the pearls were jamming
I get these glimpses of potential and chemistry between the three of us. First time we got together we did a jam in my barn and I thought it was incredible. Then we did the Strand Theater show and I thought it kind of sucked. But then Stewart sent me the good moments of the show and those motivated me…We got to do another album, We got to tour Japan.
Trey Anastasio
Trey told The New Yorker in Fall of 2015 the hilarity of the trio snowshoeing through Vermont to the surprise of locals who recognized the formation. “Could you imagine walking through the snowy woods and seeing me Les and Stewart on the trail?” They didn’t make it to Japan but they made their way to Utica, New York’s Memorial Auditorium for their 14th show of a national 22 tour date support of their only album The Grand Pecking Order.
The Oysterhead trio’s distinct backgrounds came to light in Utica when Les addressed a sign from the GA crowd in bold magic marker titled “Les is Evil.” Claypool told the New York audience during Rubberneck Lions:
I’m looking directly at a bright red sign that says Les is Evil. I don’t know if that’s a fair thing to say. Are you saying in comparison to Mr. Happy Pants Trey Anipasta that I’m the evil one? Is what your saying? Because in the grand scheme of things compared to Marilyn Manson or GG Allin… I’m not very evil. In this situation if were looking at Trey Anastasio as the symbol of good than yes i am a symbol of evil. But not so much evil like ah Satan or Vlad the Impaler. More like Evil Kanevil… If there was a Harley Davidson sportster in this room and four trucks…I would jump those sons of bitches for you all
Les Claypool
Les Claypool & Trey Anastasio traded vocals all evening, with the 2001 anthem “Army’s on Ecstasy” resonating with the fall crowd. The Army’s on ecstasy so they say, I read all about it in USA Today. During “Shadow of Man,” Les appeared from the darkened hockey rink stage with a pair of extended eye balls attached to a LED space helmet portraying psychedelic illuminations toward the performance.
Trey used Jimmy Page like theremin signals from his antler-adorned custom Languedoc guitar, flickering sounds from the edge of his palm to the Upstate crowd. His acoustic Martin was pulled out for the twangy tune “Birthday Boys,” a tun that Claypool referenced in Colorado in February 2020, that the song is about four things. “Vegas, a penis, some cocaine and pair of breasts.” Trey added “it’s also about Kid Rock who was there with Les and I… the birthday boys”
Stewart Copeland emerged from behind his hanging percussion kit adjacent to the drum rig for all the bells and whistles of sound. He even got on vocals asking the clergy to “Wield the Spade.” After funking out on “Mr. Oysterhead” to close the night, the trio paid homage to the most Viking-like rock acts to grace the Americas, as Les Claypool took on Robert Plant’s howling for a cover of Led Zeppelin’s “Immigrant Song” for the encore.
Les Claypool returned to Utica just once in 2019 to the Saranac Brewery as part of The Lennon Claypool Delirium show. Attendees in the Utica crowd that night were fellow bassist Krist Novoselic from Nirvana and Rochester harpist Mikaela Davis. In November 2005 Trey returned to the Aud with Tony Hall on bass as changing cast of the Trey Anastasio Band during the Phish hiatus. The 11/11 nights special guests included Jon Fishman and Mike Gordon with the exception of Page McConnell. On Phish Fall Tour 2010 the Vermont quartet culminated their concert film Guyutica on DVD upon return to the Utica Memorial Auditorium, There is something about those Upstate, NY hockey arena stages that just rock.
God Damn, Playing in this Hockey Arena rink shit is fun
Les Claypool, Utica
Oysterhead, Friday 11/09/2001 Memorial Auditorium: Utica, NY
Set: Oz is Ever Floating, Rubberneck Lions, Little Faces—>Hello Skinny—>Army’s on Ecstasy, Radon Balloon, Pseudo Suicide, Shadow of a Man, Wield the Spade, Birthday Boys*, Mr Oysterhead
Bard College alumnus Chevy Chase will appear at a series of National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation screenings in Utica, Albany and Binghamton in December. The events will include Chevy Chase performing live on stage plus an audience Q&A following the screenings.
Chevy Chase is an original member of NBC’s Saturday Night Live and over the years became a household name for his blockbuster movies like National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, National Lampoon’s Vacation, Caddyshack, Fletch, Three Amigos, and many more.
The screenings are taking place in different cities across the United States with three stops in New York currently. More screenings in New York could be announced in time though. The tour announces dates as they go, being precautious of COVID-19 spikes across the country.
The three stops in New York start in Utica on December 13, 2021 at the Stanley Performing Arts Center at 7:30PM. The second stop in New York will be on December 15, 2021 at the Palace Theatre in Albany at 7:30PM. And the last stop in New York currently will be on December 19, 2021 at the Visions Veterans Memorial Arena in Binghamton at 7:30PM.
Tickets to all three Chevy Chase National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation screenings in New York and to the other stops on the tour can be purchased here.
For more information on Chevy Chase and his upcoming tour visit his website.
Orebolo, an acoustic trio featuring Goose members Rich Mitarotonda (vocals, guitar) Peter Anspach (vocals, guitar), Jeff Arevalo (upright bass) have announced a series of six winter tour dates.
In December, the trio will make stops in Upstate New York at Tarrytown Music Hall, and Homer Center for the Arts, as well as Spruce Peak Performing Arts in Stowe, followed by a three shows in Colorado in late January.
The group has built a faithful following nationwide, following a series of virtual festival appearances in 2020, and an acclaimed performance at Lockn’ Presents FRED The Festival in August 2021. Formed during the height of the initial COVID-19 surge, the members of Orebolo shared a home and found comfort in learning new covers and creatively exploring Goose’s deep catalog acoustically.
Starting this project was a source of relief for all of us, especially during such a crazy time. Our initial practice and recording space was inside our solarium – the vibe was really tranquil, and we wanted our listeners to share in that feeling. I’m stoked we have the opportunity to take this out on the road and perform in some incredible rooms.
Peter Anspach
Pre-sale tickets will be available Wednesday, October 13 at 10AM venue local time using the code ‘OREBOLO’. The general on-sale will follow on Friday, October 15 at 10AM venue local time. For more information, and to purchase tickets, visit orebolo.com.
You can expect a pop-up concert at Kemble Park near Utica College this Sunday, October 3, 2021. Nomadic Voices latest pop-up placemaking event fills the park with young singers, rappers, poets, musicians, dancers and more.
Utica College’s DEI Collaborative wants this Cultural Showcase to bring the community together, by introducing students to diverse experiences to show off Utica’s best. You’ll be able to watch rapper Leeky XIV and R&B singer Nazzy Deloach along with many others, free of charge. You can never go hungry where there will also be a diverse amount of cultural foods from your favorite vendors.
This will be one of our largest events to date and we will be showcasing some amazing local talent. I’m excited to connect the college community with the Cornhill community and give young performers a platform to shine.
Tabo Bo
Utica College’s very own Mr. Tabo Bo inspired the idea, finally having the time now after COVID-19 to execute a realistic in person event. The goal is to have students immerse themselves in new environments for community engagement and more importantly to think of others while giving of themselves. The Diversity, Equity and Inclusion team came together for this event to help build the culture of Utica College as well as the greater Utica Community. under the leadership of a Utica Alum, Utica College is proud to provide an event from their very own students at Utica College, that is for the people by the people, ,
Kemble Park is located between Oneida, James and Kemble Streets. Street parking will be available between James and Kemble street. This event is free and open to the public.
On February 10, 2022, The Stanley Theatre in Utica will welcome Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s “Swan Lake,” with the Russian Ballet Theatre production making this their only stop in New York State. .
Complete with an entirely new prologue. Without giving away too many spoilers choreographer Nadezhda Kalinina has renewed the oldest St. Petersburg version of the ballet telling a new tale about sorcerer Rothbart. Swan Lake will always honor Russian traditions and you can expect hand-painted sets, radiant costumes, and brilliant choreography. These designs were originally envisioned by the great theater designs made to accentuate the production.
The theater is lucky to have a young and upcoming designer by the name of Sergei Novikov, who oversees the beautiful new sets along with 150 brand new costumes. She aims to bring a more modern twist to the timeless ballet. Novikov also works alongside award-winning Irina Strukova who is known for her work with Netflix, HBO, and on Crazy Rich Asians. Extravagant hair designs and special effects makeup with dazzling costumes, these two women make this revamped timeless classic unforgettable.
Of course, below is the Swan Lake you already know and love. Funny enough it seems the dancers seem to be in sync to almost any other song you play. You won’t know until you try.
Tickets can be purchased now on Ticketmaster, or by calling The Stanley Theatre Box Office at (315) 724-4000
The Alice Cooper Show has been going for almost 50 years, starting with horror movie-like antics on stage. The capacity crowd at Utica’s Stanley Theatre couldn’t file into their seats fast enough for opening act Ace Frehley of KISS and headliner Alice Cooper on September 22. The last time Cooper performed in Upstate NY was with Johnny Depp and Joe Perry of Aerosmith, for the super group “The Hollywood Vampires” at Turning Stone Casino Showroom In May 2016, where Cooper even has his own golf locker.
photo courtesy of Stanley Theatre
Ace Frehly felt his NYC roots in Utica and got the crowd involved singing “I’m back, back in the New York groove” off his 1978 solo album, written on a Brooklyn subway. Ace simply said in between all tunes “Utica, you guys rock” as he continuously launched guitar picks like confetti to the crowd.
Alice Cooper took the stage at 8:45 and opened the show with “Feed My Frankenstein,” featured on the big screen in Wayne’s World with Wayne and Garth’s iconic experience seeing Alice live and hanging with him backstage.
Alice recounted “I used to be such a sweet, sweet thing ’til they got a hold of me” before launching into “No More Mr. Nice Guy.” Backing vocalist and lead guitar player Nita Strauss was a complete stage presence to be reckoned with. She frolicked from stage left to right while soloing. It seemed as if she was committing “Frettasault” on that axe. She and Alice traded the infamous “It was alright!” vocals on the Velvet Underground classic “Rock and Roll.” Alice then serenaded the crowd back to their teenage years “I got a baby’s brain and an old man’s heart, took 18 years to get this far” for the anthem “I’m 18.”
Nita Strauss took center stage solo for an improvisational section that went for minutes and could have continued for days. She used an Eddie Van Halen style on the upper guitar neck in a way that was hair raising. Strauss has said in the past, “I do remember being a kid and hearing Van Halen. My dad was always playing Van Halen in the car.”
The first haunted house of fall was the stage set up inside the majestic Stanley Theater with all sorts of cast and sleepy hollow like production throughout. The golden architecture of the Stanley transformed the venue to the old castle in the Johnny Depp movie “Dark Shadows” where naturally Alice is the night’s entertainment.
Alice’s wife Sheryl Goddard was part of the “Thriller”-like Choreography cast that had her dressed like an old spirit haunting the theater stage. Alice was subjected to a straight jacket and even had his head decapitated on site. He returned to full evil carnival ring leader attire before being chained up by a giant “teenage Frankenstein” to carry him off stage.
photo courtesy of Stanley Theatre
The encore was something out of a Phish New Years gag with an onstage celebration of LED light visuals, bubbles, confetti, multi-colored giant balloons and explosions of sound. Alice came out with a spiked cane in hand and head to toe in a white suit orchestrating the celebration. Naturally the crowd and band erupted to the summer’s teenage national anthem “Schools Out.” Alice even referenced the teachers who beg the question, “How can you eat your meat if you don’t have any pudding?” by throwing in a verse from Pink Floyd’s “Another Brick in the Wall.”
A lot of Alice’s material represents the “Motor City” Detroit sound where he hails from, and he’ll head back home this week to Westland, MI for the dedication of Alice Cooper Court, a stretch of road off Michigan Avenue by the former Eloise Psychiatric Hospital. Hopefully a stolen hellcat car doesn’t drive down into a train like he references in his new song “Go Man Go.”
Setlist: Feed My Frankenstein, No More Mr. Nice Guy, Bed of Nails, Rock & Roll (The Velvet Underground), Fallen in Love, Go Man Go, Under My Wheels, He’s Back (The Man Behind the Mask), Social Debris, I’m Eighteen, Poison, Billion Dollar Babies, Roses on White Lace, My Stars, Devil’s Food, Black Widow Jam, Steven, I Love the Dead, Escape, Teenage Frankenstein Encore: School’s Out
Alice Cooper opened his fall tour Friday night in Atlantic City at the Oceanic Casino. The crowd began filing into the arena hours before the set started, with many in attendance wearing Alice Cooper t-shirts and eye make-up. The stage was hidden behind a giant curtain with Alice’s trade-mark eyes, and Alice songs played with the crowd already starting to sing-along. As the entrance music started to swell, the massive curtain fell, revealing the two-story castle set, and the words rang out: “Welcome to Alice Cooper’s Nightmare Castle!” As knights carried the curtain away, a drawbridge opened and Alice walked onstage in a plume of smoke.
From the opening notes of “Feed My Frankenstein,” it was clear Alice is still in great shape, and his band spent considerable time practicing together during the live music lockdown. Their excitement to be back onstage was evident by their smiles and energy displayed throughout the two-hour set. Alice Cooper doesn’t just play a concert, he puts on a SHOW, with the pomp and props of a theater production. A master entertainer, Alice made multiple costume changes throughout the set, referencing different eras of his 50-year career. How effortless his performance seems is a testament to his drive and conditioning, he controlled the band, stage and the crowd as well, eliciting sing-alongs and responses with hand gestures and using his sword and cane like a conductor. He had a microphone holster on his giant leather belt, and handles the mic like a gunslinger. When he was on top of the castle behind a spiked wheel, it evoked an image of a mad captain steering a pirate ship.
With over 50 years of albums to choose from, the setlist was a solid collection of his biggest hits, ranging from the Alice Cooper Band era and his solo career, leading into his last two records, Paranormal and Detroit Stories. There was a clever segue from the new song “Go Man Go,” about cruising around in a stolen Hellcat, with the last verse implying the car could be destroyed in a train wreck (with a similar vibe to KISS’s ‘Detroit Rock City’) leading into his classic “Under My Wheels.” Those songs and their placement were vintage Detroit songwriting and Alice wordplay, complete with an American muscle car and macabre ending. A few more notable songs played were “Fallen in Love” co-written with ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons, new songs “Rock’N’Roll” and “Social Disease” which showed him still flexing his song-writing muscles during lockdown, and a combination of “My Stars/Devils Food/Black Widow” that led into the intense drum solo from “Black Juju.”
The props and theatrics were non-stop, ranging from a crutch he wielded during “Eighteen” to mock the fact that he’s been singing a song about being a teenager for 50 years, to the giant baby who uses a skull-studded-cannon to shoot money into the crowd during “Billion Dollar Babies.” The baby theme continues with the huge images of evil babies projected on the castle during “Dead Babies,” and the baby-faced doctors who place Alice in a straightjacket and oversee his execution in a guillotine. Alice has multiple encounters with his wife, Sheryl Goddard, including her waving his severed head victoriously to the crowd after he’s decapitated. The show opened with the giant Frankenstein monster that comes onstage during “Feed My Frankenstein” and he closes the show with his arms and chains draped around Alice for “Teenage Frankenstein.”
The band returned for an encore with a sprawling, sing-along version of “School’s Out,” including a breakdown of Pink Floyd’s “We Don’t Need No Education,” that featured confetti, streamers and giant balloons being shot into the crowd as Alice popped any balloons that came back to the stage with his sword. They came back to the stage for multiple bows as the crowd kept cheering.
Alice Cooper and Ace Frehley play in New York this Wednesday, September 22 at the Stanley Theater in Utica. This tour takes Alice (and opening act Frehley) across the Midwest and South, ending in Georgia at the end of October. Full dates for the tour can be found here.
On Saturday, September 18 Handshake.City will host the 5th Annual Downtown Getdown Music and Arts Fest in Downtown Utica. This festival made its debut in 2016 and continues to bring people together to celebrate Utica’s music and creativity.
Be there by 10am for the ‘Getdown to the Mat,’ that is an all-levels yoga class with In Bloom Yoga. Of course, free of charge and no registration required.
After lowering your heart rate and blood pressure, Handshake.City brings live music, art and a vendor fair from noon to 6pm. Who will be performing you ask? None other than Utica’s finest local talent. Ashleigh DeCarr will open at 12pm with an acoustic Americana-contemporary background. Then we’ll hear from The Lower Tolpa, Deeplex, Vada March, and the recently reunited The Reuben James at 4:30pm. That’ll be a complete circle of rock, dub reggae, acoustic pop and folk rock. Please welcome these guests for their first time on this stage.
If that’s not enough there will also be live glass blowing and wood carving demonstrations. The vendor fair will have food and beer for sale along with homemade and vintage goods.
Take your best shot at the Server Sprint at 2pm. Servers will race through Handshake.City with a loaded tray for the chance to win prizes and cash, and now you can too! Register just before the race starts and get ready for the races.
Street hockey with Utica College Pioneers Men’s Hockey team will be at 3pm with other family friendly events as well.
Downtown Getdown is free, with more information available here.
