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.
The Capitol Theatre in Port Chester will celebrate 1000 shows since the “Original Rock Palace” reopened in 2012, with a performance by Dark Star Orchestra, on Saturday, May 20.
photo by Scott Harris
Designed by celebrated architect Thomas Lamb in 1926 and listed in The National Register of Historic Places, the 2,000-capacity theater, known as “the original rock palace,” has showcased legends such as Traffic, the Grateful Dead, Black Sabbath, Chuck Berry, David Bowie, Janis Joplin, Pink Floyd, and The Rolling Stones.
In 2012, The Capitol Theatre underwent a major renovation under the guidance of music entrepreneur Peter Shapiro. Since then, it has been hailed as a true hub of culture & community in the northeast. Major performers including Bob Dylan, Phil Lesh, Ringo Starr, Joan Baez, Skrillex, Bonnie Raitt, Snoop Dogg, Kacey Musgraves, The Strokes, Tom Petty, Cyndi Lauper, and Willie Nelson, as well as comedians like Kevin Hart and Amy Schumer.
The Capitol Theatre’s “venue within the venue” Garcia’s (created in partnership with Jerry Garcia’s family) will also celebrate its ten year anniversary this May. You can expect performances by an array of artists, and even a signature anniversary drink, the Cherry Jerry.
Attendees of the Dark Star Orchestra show will receive a Capitol Theatre “1000th show” button, marking another important milestone for the legendary venue.
Primus – photo by Steve Malinski
Performing to critical acclaim for over 20 years and over 3000 shows, Dark Star Orchestra continues the Grateful Dead live concert experience. 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. By recreating set lists from the past, and by 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.
For more information, or to purchase tickets, please visit The Capitol Theatre’s Website.
Celebrate the 50th anniversary of the historic Summer Jam at Wonderland Forest, a new 500-acre campground and concert venue in Lafayette just outside Syracuse over July 28 and 29.
Summer Jam 50 offers a recreation of the original Summer Jam from 1973, with music from Dark Star Orchestra (Celebrating the Grateful Dead Experience), Daniel Donato’s Cosmic Country (A Celebration of The Allman Brothers Band), and The Weight Band (Celebrating the Music of The Band.)
The inaugural Summer Jam Music Festival in 1973 took place at Watkins Glen Race Track in Schuyler County and featured these three historic bands with 600,000 fans in attendance.
Each band will play both days of Summer Jam 50 at Wonderland Forest in Lafayette, as she weekend culminates with a full two-set recreation from Dark Star Orchestra of the Grateful Dead’s original show on July 28, 1973.
Wonderland Forest’s location in the rolling hills of Central New York’s Apple Valley offers the perfect atmosphere for a variety of special events and occasions. Camp Wonderland, for long a local camping site, will soon feature vintage RVs for rent, private glamping, as well as traditional camping sites. Gatsby Landing is an elegant indoor/outdoor event area that can accommodate wedding ceremonies and receptions, team-building excursions, and much more, all surrounded by the breathtaking views of Apple Valley.
We are honored to be hosting our first event at Wonderland Forest by recreating this iconic music festival. Wonderland Forest promises to be an amazing new venue experience for music lovers, campers, and outdoor enthusiasts alike.
Dan Mastronardi of Wonderland Forest
A portion of Summer Jam 50’s proceeds will benefit the non-profit 501(c)(3) The Allman Brothers Band Museum in Macon, Georgia (known as ‘The Big House’). Big House Foundation’s primary mission is to preserve and promote the rich musical heritage and inclusive diverse culture of The Allman Brothers Band through music education programs and exhibits.
Summer Jam 50 at Wonderland Forest in Lafayette tickets go on sale May 11 at 12 p.m.
Dark Star Orchestra’s Winter Tour East 2023 will be find the Grateful Dead tribute group playing eight shows in 6 cities, among them a pair of shows on Friday, March 10 and Saturday, March 11 at the Palace Theatre in Albany.
Performing to critical acclaim for over 20 years and over 3000 shows, Dark Star Orchestra carries on the Grateful Dead live concert experience, building shows 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 by 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.
Dark Star Orchestra offers much more than the sound of the Grateful Dead, they truly encapsulate the energy and the experience. It’s about a sense of familiarity. It’s about a feeling that grabs listeners and takes over. It’s about that contagious energy…in short, it’s about the complete experience and consistent quality show that the fan receives when attending a Dark Star Orchestra show.
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. Other notable guests have included Mike Gordon and Jon Fishman of Phish, Keller Williams, Warren Haynes, Steve Kimock, Peter Rowan, Ramblin’ Jack Elliot and many more.
Tickets to all shows go on sale Friday, January 13 at 10 AM ET via ticketmaster.com. Tickets are also available for purchase at the Palace Theatre Box Office, located at 19 Clinton Ave. Box Office hours are Monday – Friday Noon to 5PM as well as select days and hours for events and on sales.
Dark Star Orchestra Winter Tour East 2023
March 9 – Red Bank, NJ – Count Basie Center for the Arts
