Stewart’s Shops and the Dake Family Foundation have announced a $25,000 contribution to the Palace Theatre’s Community Engagement Initiative. The Initiative is a widespread effort to expand the Palace Theatre’s accessibility to the nearby community.
The grant will focus on widening the Palace’s presence as a resource for communities around the Capital Region, subsidizing expenses associated with using the space, helping groups to participate in various arts programs to use the Threatre for practice and rehearsal.
Stewart’s Shops is committed to giving back to all our shops’ communities. We are proud to support the Palace Performing Arts Center’s Community Engagement Initiative. Together, we can create a stronger, more inclusive Albany, harnessing the transformative power of the arts to uplift lives and inspire positive change.
Susan Dake, President of Stewart’s Shops & Dake Family Foundation
The Dake Family Foundation’s gift will also support the Initiative’s workforce development training, which assists individuals with becoming trained NYS certified security guards. In addition, it also offers paid internship opportunities to expose candidates to the arts and entertainment business industries. It also allows for collaboration with other community organizations that serve youth and families throughout the summer, providing safe spaces to enjoy family-friendly programming.
Live entertainment is the cornerstone of what we do at the Palace, but collaboration and community engagement are also pillars of our success. When an organization has great partners like Stewart’s Shops and the Dake Family, we are able to provide access to the Palace Theatre and present it as not just a place for great entertainment, but also a community resource to the Capital Region.
Kevin Johnson, Executive Director of the Palace Theatre
The theatre has many summer offerings including a Summer in the City Movie Series, an Annual Block Party, a Safe Trick or Treat even, and other community-centered programs throughout the season.
Dave Matthews Band announced a fall tour across the U.S., featuring two shows at New York’s Madison Square Garden on Nov. 17 and 18.
The headline run will kick off on Nov. 7 in Savannah, GA, and will include a stop in the band’s hometown Charlottesville, VA, as well as Uncasville, CT, and Greenville, CT.
From their hometown show at John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville, the band will donate a portion of proceeds to the resident-led redevelopment of Charlottesville’s public housing. The contribution will add to the five million dollars that Bama Works, Dave Matthews Band, and Red Light Management have already committed to the project.
Dave Matthews Band’s ongoing partnership with The Nature Conservancy has resulted in three million trees being planted since 2020. This year’s partnership, which will continue with the fall tour, will raise the total to four million trees. Fans can contribute by adding an optional donation of $2 per ticket to plant a tree with The Nature Conservancy’s Plant a Billion Trees campaign. The campaign is a forest restoration effort with the goal of planting a billion trees around the world by 2025. For more details, visit here.
Following the upcoming fall tour, Dave Matthews Band will head to South Africa for shows in Pretoria and Cape Town. Matthews and guitarist Tim Reynolds will travel to Mexico’s Riveria Maya in 2024 for their seventh all-inclusive concert vacation from Feb. 15-18.
Online presale tickets are available now for members of the DMB Warehouse Fan Association, available here. Citi Bank cardmembers will have access to presale tickets beginning Sept. 12 at 9 AM ET until Sept. 14 at 10 PM ET through the Citi Entertainment Program. For more information visit here.
Tickets will go on sale to the general public on Friday, Sept. 15 at 10 AM local time.
The 2023 Adirondack Independence Music Festival takes place this weekend, September 1-3, returning to the Charles R. Wood Festival Commons in Lake George for three nights over Labor Day weekend.
The 2023 Adirondack Independence Music Festival features a stellar lineup of rock and jam bands, food, and craft vendors, and a great view of the Lake George fireworks on Saturday evening. This year’s festival will feature headliners moe., who will once again be performing four sets over two nights, as well as Dark Star Orchestra performing two sets of Grateful Dead music.
Also performing this year over the three days are Rubblebucket, Keller Williams, Dumpstaphunk, Mihali, Prince/Bowie performing the music of Prince and David Bowie (featuring members of Pink Talking Fish, Twiddle, The Machine and the Cool Cool Cool horn section), Dogs in a Pile, Melt, Neighbor, Eggy, Roots of Creation, Jimkata, Lucid, Karina Rykman, Sophistafunk, former Lettuce/Soulive saxophonist Sam Kininger & The A-Beez, Baked Shrimp, Escaper, Creamery Station, Suke Cerulo Band, and Hilltop.
Music in the Festival Commons will begin at 1 pm on Friday and 12:00 pm on Saturday and Sunday, running continuously across two side-by-side stages until 11 pm each night. The event is for all ages, and children 12 and under get in free. For tickets and more information, visit here.
Essex, a new music venue, is coming to Rochester’s Neighborhood of the Arts in the fall, already booking two acclaimed Rochester-based acts Joywave and Danielle Ponder.
Photo credit Shawn Dowd/Rochester Democrat and Chronicle.
Essex, a music hall and multi-events space, will open at 1048 University Ave. The venue said on its website that it aims to add vibrancy, culture, and life to the Rochester community.
The owners of Essex are Josh Miles, Zach Mikida, Mack Hartman, and Dave Drago. The first three deal with the hospitality side of the venue, while Drago handles the music. The venue features two bars and an industrial-looking outside, changing soon to be a little warmer and accommodating.
In an area that has very few venues, the music hall will be a nice addition to the area, and allow more bands to travel Upstate without going to such major cities as Buffalo or Niagara Falls. The main focus of the venue is to showcase various artists that come to the area, allowing people to enjoy good music and vibes.
Danielle Ponder announced shows for Friday, Oct. 6, and Saturday, Oct. 7. Both shows will begin at 11 p.m. and tickets cost $30. Indie rock band Joywave announced shows for Thursday, Nov. 16, and Friday, Nov. 17. Both shows will begin at 7 p.m. and tickets cost $35. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit here.
Brooklyn-based group PEAK announced their first round of Fall 2023 tour dates, playing new locations as well as returning to old favorites. They’ll stop for a hometown show at the Brooklyn Bowl on October 5, as well as shows in Syracuse, Albany, and New Paltz.
The self-described psychedelic indie-funk group recently released large archives of live audio on their Bandcamp page, as well as select live performances on YouTube from recent shows in Burlington, VT, Bridgeport, CT, and more.
PEAK also announced that the group has begun recording their third studio album, set to release in early 2024.
Downtown Albany will host Pearlpalooza on Saturday, September 16, 2023 on North Pearl Street, with a day full of music, yoga, vending from local businesses and much more in store.
The free, all-ages music festival, returns for its 14th year, presented by Remarkable Liquids, and co-hosted by WEQX, The Downtown Albany Business Improvement District, and Sugar Productions, running from 11am to 7pm.
photo by Steve Malinski
Starting off the day will be MVP Health Care Presents YogaPalooza 2023, a street-wide mass yoga gathering event, beginning at 11am. A team of instructors from The Hot Yoga Spot will instruct and assist this free 60-minute yoga class that is perfect for all levels.
Music begins at 12pm with Sly Fox & The Hustlers, followed by The Rob Beaulieu Band at 130pm, B Chaps at 3pm, ALEXSUCKS at 4pm, and headliner Fishbone at 6pm.
Surrounding the music will be the shops and businesses of North Pearl Street, as well as high-quality local vendors, fine dining, retail, and entertainment establishments.
Parking is available at ParkAlbany’s Riverfront, Quackenbush, and Green-Hudson Garages for $8
Basic ground rules to keep in mind: no outside alcoholic beverages or glass containers; no dogs or pets, with the exception of service animals; no recording performances, and security has the right to inspect any bags brought into the event.
PearlPalooza 2023 is also presented by Nine Pin, Rare Form Brewing, Zero Gravity, Silver Therapeutics, MVP Health Care, New Scotland Spirits, ParkAlbany, O’Connell & Aronowitz, Global Partners, Putnam Place, CDTA, Homestead Funding Corp., Hampton Inn & Suites, the City of Albany, The Hollow Bar + Kitchen, and The Hot Yoga Spot.
Pearlpalooza Schedule
11:00 AM | Yogapalooza Noon | Sly Fox & The Hustlers 1:30 PM | The Rob Beaulieu Band 3:00 PM | B Chaps 4:15 PM | ALEXSUCKS 6:00 PM | Fishbone
With profound sadness, we report that James Casey, who played saxophone in Trey Anastasio Band, Lettuce and Billy and the Kids, has lost his two-year battle with colon cancer. The news was shared on James’ social media on Monday morning, August 28.
A statement from James’ family shared on social media and GoFundMe reads:
It is with profound grief and a broken heart that we confirm the passing of James Casey. He died peacefully in the early morning of August 28, 2023, surrounded by his wife and family.
James persevered through his colon cancer battle for two years, and it was the honor of his career to release solo music and perform during that time. James brought joy to everyone around him and his legacy will live on, both through his music and the advocacy work that’s become so integral to him.
It was so important to James to help others avoid his fate – to learn the importance of early colon cancer screenings, know your family history, and be an advocate for your own health. When detected early, colon cancer is almost always curable. He shared his diagnosis publicly and illuminated his ongoing battle to raise awareness and help others.
James was a remarkable human being, beloved for his wit, humility, kindness and generosity. He will be dearly missed.
James Casey was born in Washington, D.C., raised in Phoenix, Arizona, and emerged from a musical family with an insatiable passion for the arts. He enrolled at Berklee College of Music in Boston, and later relocated to New York City, where he quickly established his presence in the music scene, joining fellow Berklee alumni in Soulive, and Lettuce and later, Trey Anastasio Band, all as saxophonist. Across North America and stages around the world, Casey was a sought-after musician whose talent knew no bounds.
Among the artists James performed or collaborated with include The Roots, Phish, Meghan Trainor, Anderson .Paak, The Jonas Brothers, Maceo Parker, Carly Rae Jepsen, J.Cole, Leslie Odom Jr., Dave Matthews Band, Sabrina Claudio, Chaka Khan, Wu-Tang, John Legend, Roy Hargrove, Soulive, Lettuce, Shawn Mendes, 5th Harmony, and many more.
James also appeared on albums for artists including Brooke Parrott (Another City), J. Cole (2014 Forest Hills Drive), Jesse McCartney (In Technicolor), Chromeo (White Women), Talib Kweli (P.O.C LIVE!), Brady Watt (Good Medicine), Phish (Big Boat), Michael Kiwanuka (Kiwanuka, Final Days), among many others.
Bandleader Trey Anastasio said on social media:
I’m heartbroken about the loss of our friend and bandmate James. My heart is with James’ mother and father, his beautiful wife Ayla, and with the rest of his amazing family.
James was a magnificent soul. His spirit and personality glowed. His playing was elegant, stormy, soulful and lyrical. He was a powerful and melodic improviser, and spot on when reading intricate charts. His tone was full and warm, his singing voice was beautiful. I loved harmonizing with James. His smile filled the room.
I’ll never forget the feeling of jousting with James on baritone sax and guitar. We would make eye contact and just go for it, diving into waves of sound together. Dark, scary, blues-filled jams. He was a force of nature. It felt like being in a tiny boat together in a huge storm in the middle of the ocean.
It’s impossible to describe the deep connection that James, Natalie, and Jen had as a horn section in TAB. It was a magical, once in a lifetime section. Deep bonds of musicianship and friendship.
James’s connection with Ayla was indescribable. She poured her complete soul into caring for James throughout every second of his battle with cancer. James talked about how much it meant to him. All of James’ friends and family will be forever grateful to Ayla. All of us in the band loved seeing the two of them together. You could feel the deep love they had for each other. My heart is with Ayla today. We love you Ayla.
We all especially loved the nights on tour when James’ incredible family would come to shows. I loved seeing them laughing together in catering, or at soundcheck. James was a kind, loving, talented, and caring person, and a beautiful friend. His family completed that picture. James will be missed by all of us who loved him. James, you live in our hearts forever
Trey Anastasio
James was also known to perform with Phil Lesh and Friends, as well as Billy & The Kids, the latter of which was a quarantine connection in Hawai’i, with a detailed first-hand account from Benjy Eisen showcasing his innate ability to connect with musicians of any ilk. Said Eisen, “He showed up to rehearsal at a remote little jungle shack in Kauai and before he officially met everyone, he just started playing. Improvising. And he was instantly a full-time Kid.”
Relix notes that it was when Casey crossed paths with Trey Anastasio Band trumpeter Jennifer Hartswick during the 2012 Bowlive run at Brooklyn Bowl, leading to Anastasio recognizing his immense talent, inviting him to join Trey Anastasio Band, forming an iconic horn section of Casey, Hartswick and trombonist Natalie Cressman.
TAB horns – photo by Filip Zalewski
Two years ago, James announced he had been diagnosed with colon cancer, one that disproportionately affects African-American men and women. James continued to perform when he could in between treatments, releasing a Christmas album, A Little Something for Everyone. The first solo work from Casey, the album was created in partnership with the Nancy Langhorne Foundation, with proceeds benefitting the Colorectal Cancer Alliance and Eastern Virginia Medical School’s HOPES Clinic, providing free colon cancer screenings for the uninsured.
Casey began sharing tracks from his still unreleased solo EP, The Kaua’i Project, and released an inspiring short film, Music as Medicine: a James Casey Story, both earlier this year. The film advocates for early colon cancer screening–particularly within the Black community–by utilizing Casey’s music to raise awareness about the disease.
James waged a battle against cancer with humility and grace, fighting valiantly until the end. James made it a point to use his platform and voice as a way to advocate for early colon cancer screenings, taking his battle public and advocating for the lives of others. His absence from the New York City music scene and the stages he would have played upon, will not be forgotten.
Colorado band Magic Beans has announced a span of fall tour dates, including a stop in Albany on October 26. Spanning all along the East Coast, this is the group’s most extensive tour yet, with more dates to be announced and a New Year’s Eve event in the works.
The self-described funk-soul-rock group has released a number of new singles this summer, including “Northland,” “Memory,” “You & Me,” and “Better Man.” Their latest album, Unzipped, released in 2022, takes significant influences from lo-fi recording techniques, hip-hop, and 90s neo-soul.
Magic Beans currently operates out of Colorado, where they will play hometown shows to begin the tour. Bassist Chris Duffy hails from Brooklyn, and the group will stop at Albany’s The Hollow on Oct. 26. Magic Beans is Scott Hachey (Guitar/Vocals), Casey Russell (Keyboard/Vocals), Chris Duffy (Bass/Vocals), and Cody Wales (drums).
Seize Atlantis, an energetic rock band formed in Glens Falls, released their remaining show dates for their tour, Ruins Rebuilt.
They started as a mere jamming project way back in 2018, with different band members and a different name. But just after a few shows crawled the demanding COVID-19, forcing the band into a 7-month hibernation, where they took this time to rebrand themselves as Seize Atlantis. Since their COVID hiatus, they’ve been on a steady incline of music production.
Seize Atlantis is made up of four music lovers: Mike Dardas (bass and backing vocals), Cody Platt (drums), James Mullen (lead vocals and guitar), and Luc Bourgault (lead guitarist).
With only 10 shows left, you won’t want to miss them. Seize Atlantis will be visiting Glens Falls, Albany, and Lake George.
RUINS REBUILT TOUR DATES
9/2 Glens Falls Charles R Wood Theater
9/9 Glens Falls Mean Max Brew Works
9/16 Albany Fuze Box
9/23 Lake George The Lagoon
10/6 Glens Falls The Grateful Den
10/14 Lake George The Lagoon
10/27 Albany Empire Underground
11/18 Glens Falls Mean Max Brew Works
11/25 Albany Empire Underground
12/31 Glens Falls The Grateful Den
For more information on Seize Atlantis, including announcements, tickets, and upcoming tour dates, be sure to check out their Instagram, FaceBook, and LinkTree.
Grammy-award-winning singer Lauryn Hill will be back on the road this Fall celebrating the 25th anniversary of her 1998 album The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. She reunites with her former group the Fugees to go on tour from September 8 through November 9, with two appearances in New York.
The 25th anniversary tour marks the first time Hill has performed on tour since 2020, as the R&B/rap superstar will dive into her discography to bring some of her best songs to the concert stage.
Since The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill’s release, the project has accumulated numerous accolades, going RIAA certified Diamond, the first album by a female rapper to go number one on Billboard, and five Grammys stemming from her work.
Her reunion with the Fugees, composed of Wyclef Jean and Pras, will serve as co-headliners throughout the U.S. and Canadian shows. Additionally, reggae star Koffee opens for the Australian leg of the tour on October 3 and 5.
Tour Dates and Ticket Information
Sept. 8 – Minneapolis, MN @ Mystic Lake Sept. 23 – New York, NY @ Global Citizen Festival Oct. 1 – Gold Coast, AUS @ Promiseland Festival Oct. 3 – Melbourne, AUS @ Rod Laver Arena (with Koffee) Oct. 5 – Sydney, AUS @ Kudos Banks Arena (with Koffee) Oct. 7 – Auckland, NZ @ Eden Festival Oct. 17 – Newark, NJ @ Prudential Center (with Fugees) Oct. 19 – Brooklyn, NY @ Barclays (with Fugees) Oct. 21 – Washington, DC @ Capital One Arena (with Fugees) Oct. 23 – Philadelphia, PA @ Wells Fargo Arena (with Fugees) Oct. 26 – Toronto, ON @ Scotia (with Fugees) Oct. 28 – Chicago, IL @ United Center (with Fugees) Oct. 30 – Fort Worth, TX @ Dickies Arena (with Fugees) Nov. 2 – Denver, CO – Ball Arena (with Fugees) Nov. 5 – Los Angeles, CA @ Kia Forum (with Fugees) Nov. 7 – Oakland, CA @ Oakland Arena (with Fugees) Nov. 9 – Seattle, WA @ Climate Pledge Arena (with Fugees)
Tickets are on sale now at Lauryn Hill’s website where more information on the tour can also be found. The Fugees will not perform at the shows in Australia and New Zealand.
