In celebration of The Capitol Theatre’s reopening on Tuesday, we’ve assembled a collection of audio plucked from the venue’s storied past. Over the past weeks, we’ve sorted through countless bootlegs recorded at the venue over the years. While there are many to choose from, here are some of the most memorable moments that took place at The Cap during its hey-day right up until its early-90s reopening.

But first, a bit about The Cap’s history…

The Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, NY—affectionately known as The Cap—first opened its doors to the public on August 18, 1926. Designed by noted architect Thomas Lamb, the venue first opened as a luxurious movie theatre, hosting classic films such as “Casablanca,” “Gone With The Wind” and “The Taming of The Shrew” for as little as 5 cents.

By the late 1960s, The Cap was renovated as a psychedelic performance space and began hosting rock concerts under the direction of promoter Howard Stein. Throughout the early 70s, the venue held performances by legendary performers including the Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, Derek and the Dominos, Traffic, Pink Floyd, Santana and many more. However, by 1976 the theatre was shut down due to a new village ordinance that prohibited live entertainment after 1 AM. Over the years that followed, The Capitol Theatre decayed and became a mere landmark of the grandiose theatre that once lived there.

The next phase of The Cap’s history began in 1983 when local developer Marvin Ravikoff began work on a new round of renovations. The theatre opened its doors once again in 1984, hosting mostly plays and musicals until the early 90s, when a series of rock acts like Phish and Blues Traveler briefly returned the venue to the spirit of its former self. However, the Cap struggled to thrive due to the poor economy at the time, and in 1997 became a facility for conventions, seminars, weddings and formal events.

The Cap remained this way until December 2011, when Relix Publisher/Brooklyn Bowl owner Peter Shapiro announced that the venue would be re-opening with himself at the helm. Shortly after, Shapiro and his team began work on a third round of serious renovations to transform the venue, once again, into a “psychedelic rock palace.” Shapiro says he plans to breathe new life into the historical theatre – with state-of-the-art light, sound and video systems and more.

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Grateful Dead – “Attics of My Life” (6/24/70)

The Dead are playing what will easily go down as one of the very greatest nights of music in their career. Tucked inside a Dark Star that peels away the entire physical reality of the theater itself, comes a hallowed passage of music. It’s one of the earliest performances of “Attics of My Life,” still about half a year away from being released on the American Beauty LP.

The recording elevates silence to the level of an active participant in the concert experience. Vast empty space is filled with the hymn-like “Attics.” There is a palpable intimacy here that you can taste with your ears.

When, at the lyrics, “When I had no wings to fly…” an audience member screams, utterly overcome by the moment, we truly feel the combined experience – the play between band, audience and venue, with indistinguishable boundaries lost between all in attendance – even those of us listening decades later.

This delicate power allows the Capitol Theater to forever live on as a mythical and magical spot on the map across all Grateful Dead time. Noah Weiner, Dead Listening Guide

NEXT
Pink Floyd – “Atom Heart Mother” (4/22/70)

This was the eighth show of Pink Floyd’s 1970 Spring US tour. Breaking away from their seminal Barret-era pieces, the group can be heard expanding material from the Zariskie Point and More soundtracks into lengthy jams alongside familiar songs from Ummagumm, while transitioning toward the sound of the Atom Heart Mother period. Here we have a 20 minute version of the yet-to-be-named title track from Atom Heart Mother. As Roger Waters says to the crowd before starting the song, “This doesn’t have a title yet, so if you think of anything clever, let us know!” Unfortunately the sound quality isn’t great.

NEXT – “Don’t Get Me Wrong” with John Popper (10/6/90)*

Phish made their debut at the Capitol Theatre on October 6, 1990, opening for the (at the time) more established Blues Traveler. Phish delivered a typically goofy and segue-laden early 1.0 set, featuring a run from “The Squrming Coil” into “Dinner and a Movie,” concluding with “Bouncing Around the Room” early in the set. As expected, sit-ins were exchanged between both bands, with Trey sitting in on BT’s rendition of “Gloria”, and John Popper joining Phish for their encore, lending vocals and harmonica to the debut of their collaborative composition, “Don’t Get Me Wrong.” The tune was originally an additional section of Reba, coming between the lyrics and what fans commonly know to be the subsequent instrumental portion, dissected from its original home and graced with lyrics and a harmonica solo from Popper. The song was only ever performed on 2 other occasions, all with Popper and all occurring within the latter portion of 1990. The song has not been heard since.

NEXT Faces – “Love In Vain” (10/3/70)*

After the split of the Small Faces, Ronnie Lane, Kenney Jones and Ian McLagan joined forces with former members of the Jeff Beck Group, singer Rod Stewart and guitarist Ronnie Wood. For various reasons, the group had yet to drop the “Small” part of their name when they arrived at The Cap on October 3, 1970, but from this recording we can see that the new lineup propelled the group in a new direction. Led by Stewart’s soulful blues croon and Woods’ high-flying guitar acrobatics, this version of Robert Johnson’s “Love in Vein” immediately joined the ranks as one of the all-time great moments at The Cap.

NEXT – “Black Magic Woman/Gypsy Queen” (10/14/70)*

Santana arrived at The Cap just a year after his legendary performance at the nearby Woodstock music festival, and just days before releasing his much-loved second studio effort, Abraxas. Taken directly from the venue’s soundboard, this recording offers a taste of the soaring energy that took place within the walls of The Cap on October 14, 1970. Over 40 years later, it’s still almost palpable.

NEXT Byrne – “You & Eye” (10/28/93)*

David Byrne’s appearance at the Capitol Theatre came on October 28, 1993 and mostly featured songs that would appear on his 1994 self-titled album, davidenryb. Just two years following the dissolution of Talking Heads, Byrne’s music still remained close to his former band’s polyrhythmic, groove-centric sound. The show closes with a version of the not-yet-released “Eye & You” that very much demonstrates that style.

NEXT Dead – “China Cat Sunflower” > “I Know You Rider” (11/6/70)*

“There are only two theaters, man, there are only two places that are set up groovy for music and for smooth stage changes, good lighting, and all that….the Fillmore East and The Capitol Theatre,” Jerry Garcia one said. Throughout 1970, The Cap existed as The Dead’s East Coast home and housed many of the greatest moments from the band that year. This “China” > “Rider” perfectly exemplifies the energy of 1970 Grateful Dead.

NEXT. – “Buster” with John Medeski (10/5/96)*

Celebrating the release of their third album, No Doy, moe. made their way to The Cap on October 5, 1996 to open for Medeski, Martin & Wood. To close out the show, John Medeski joined the group on their new tune “Buster,” winding up in the midst of a 20 minute jam session that would cement this evening in the venue’s history for all time to come.

NEXT Martin and Wood – “Jelly Belly” (10/5/96)*

With moe. providing support on this night, MMW rolled in to the Capitol Theatre in the fall of their Shack-man tour, the first to feature them regularly headlining venues of this capacity. Playing a mixture of tunes from their then-current album and the previous release, Friday Afternoon In The Universe, this is a particularly electric show, with no acoustic piano, and Chris Wood frequently switching from upright to electric bass—a new element in MMW’s sonic stew at the time. Though setlists from this time period contain minimal variation, the band attacks each tune with their signature harmonic exploration, this show being an especially psychedelic demonstration of their live reconstruction. This epic “Jelly Belly” stands as a perfect example of the vibe MMW generated at this show, stretching the aggressive funk to over twice the length of the original recording.

NEXT – “Mike’s Song” (11/28/92)*

Phish’s final performance at the Capitol Theatre took place on November 28, 1992 as part of a two-night stand at the venue during its early 90s reopening. On the second night, the Vermont quartet closed out the first set with a rendition of “Mike’s Song” that set the course straight for the cosmos. Lacing in teases of “Walk This Way,” the group charges through a chaotic, organ-fueled jam that demonstrates the exploratory direction that had begun to take hold of the band by the end of 1992.

NEXT (12/27/98)*

Strangefolk’s first and only performance at The Cap took place on December 27, 1998. The group recently released the show in its entirety as a tip of the hat to longtime friend and advocate, and Relix publisher Pete Shapiro. Shapiro, who got the four original members of Strangefolk on the phone to discuss playing together again, caught this show at The Cap and asked the group to play the grand reopening of the venue. The conversations went so well that the group reunited this summer and will perform the Capitol Theatre’s stage once again this fall.

Listen to audio from the show here.