In the midst of a truly emotional evening at The Capitol Theatre, one of the standout moments from September’s “There’s A Reward” memorial for Neal Casal was when venue owner Peter Shapiro dedicated a stage at LOCKN’ to the late musician.

Shapiro began his speech by recalling Casal’s involvement at the 2015 Dead50 shows, and how Casal’s setbreak music birthed what would become one of his most acclaimed projects.

“A big part of what happened was those shows created Circles Around the Sun… We just planned to do this halftime music and it took off,” Shapiro said. “And we were like, ‘Guys you need to do a show.’ And the first show that Circles Around The Sun [did] – and we are so honored – they did that in the Forest at LOCKN’ in August of 2016, the next summer.”

Shapiro went on to describe how “Neal’s life truly was a Circle Around he Sun,” by noting how Circles Around The Sun played their first and last shows with the late guitarist on the Garica’s Forest stage.

“From now on that is Neal’s Stage at Garcia’s Forest… And I know tonight, in Virginia, there’s no one in that Forest except for Jerry and for Neal. And that’s the truth,” Shapiro said in closing.

If you’d like to make a donation to MusiCares® in honor of Neal Casal click here.

Watch Shapiro’s speech, as well as the full concert (the longest in Capitol Theatre history) below: