Venues - The Capitol Theatre, Passaic, NJ

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Dr. Weber, Aug 31, 2009.

  1. Hanglow

    Hanglow Member

    Saratoga New York
    Curious that they did film bands at this venue.
    Does anyone have info on the filming there?
    Wonder if anything has been archived.Some great
    acts passed through that old aromatic theatre ;)
  2. Dr. Weber

    Dr. Weber New Member

    In scanning the list of concerts, the Rolling Stones played on 6/14/78 with opener Etta James...

    I remembered the Cockroaches ploy used at the El Mocambo in Toronto, as this quote from Wikipedia confirms...

    On March 4, 1977, looking for an unprepossessing venue to record in, The Rolling Stones played the first of two performances at the club, billing themselves pseudonymously as "The Cockroaches". It was their first live club date in 14 years. Their opening act was Canadian rockers April Wine of Nova Scotia. The Stones show was recorded and released as the album Love You Live, which reached #3 in the UK, #5 in the US.

    Dr. Weber
  3. davmar77

    davmar77 I'd rather be drummin'...

    clifton park,ny
    the who played there in 79. they got some big names over the years.

    here's the list.

    as far as filming the shows, it wasn't for commercial use. the few circulating videos are taken from the house video feed. there's the clash, springsteen, the dead and garcia band at least.
  4. toptentwist

    toptentwist Well-Known Member

    Houston, TX
    I can confirm that the Rolling Stones played the venue but I can't confirm how they were billed.

    Somewhere I have a cassette tape of the 1978 concert taped from a radio re-broadcast. I probably taped it from WMMR in Philadelphia.

    The funniest thing about that tape was the intro by Mick when he was trying to explain that "Far Away Eyes" is a country song... he said something like "New Jersey is out in the country, right??"

    Yeah... five minutes from Manahattan... that's BFE - LOL
  5. davmar77

    davmar77 I'd rather be drummin'...

    clifton park,ny
    10.50 to see the stones in a small venue. how times have changed.

    780614A 14th June: Passaic, New Jersey, Capitol Theater
    (Let It Rock/All Down The Line/Honky Tonk Women/Star Star/When The Whip
    Comes Down/Miss You/Just My Imagination/Lies/Beast Of Burden/Respectable/
    Far Away Eyes/Love In Vain/Shattered/Sweet Little Sixteen/Tumbling Dice/
    Happy/Brown Sugar/Jumping Jack Flash/Street Fighting Man)
    Note: Soundboard recording was made.

    Attached Files:

  6. MikeT

    MikeT Forum Cretin

    New Jersey
    I was able to see the Who there. You had to actually send in postcards to try and "win" the ability to purchase tickets. I got a letter (or call.. can't remember) telling me I "won" the right to purchase two tickets. I actually had to go to the Capitol Theater at a specified time to purchase my tickets or I gave up my right to purchase.

    It was a good show from what I remember, I believe they were some of the first U.S. dates after Keith Moon died (but I might be wrong about that.. the tour dates that is). Here are scans of the cover and inside first page of the program (luckily I have a lot of the programs still from some of the shows I saw there):

    Attached Files:

  7. MikeT

    MikeT Forum Cretin

    New Jersey
    I saw the Dead there many times. I was also at the "Dead Heads" only show - tickets by invitation if you were on the Dead Heads mailing list on 11/24/78 (the show that was broadcast everywhere on the radio). Jerry was sick that night, but still put on a pretty good show.

    Here's a video from a Dead show I attended at the Capitol (I did not take the video, the Capitol had in-house video screens, etc - just found it on youtube):
  8. Alex D

    Alex D Member

    NJ USA
    Wow...never been back to Passaic since they shut their doors!

    My first show there was Rory Gallagher opening for (if memory serves) the Jefferson Starship. Rory was great- the Starship were SO loud I thought my poor brain would turn to mush.

    The next show was Santana in November of 1979- fantastic show during their "Marathon" tour. The Capitol was not exactly the purtiest place to visit, but it sure left me with some great memories-
  9. toptentwist

    toptentwist Well-Known Member

    Houston, TX
    I seem to remember some Who dates at Madison Square Garden in the summer or autumn of 1979. I'm guessing the Passaic NJ gigs were either just prior or just after those gigs.

    I know I tried to get tickets to see The Who at the Spectrum in Philadelphia in December 1979 and I had no luck. Tickets went on sale on a saturday morning. I was playing high school football and I had either a practice or a game that conflicted with the ticket sale. I actually enlisted my father to go over to Sears and buy me Who tickets because I (naively) assumed that it would be similar to buying tickets for Disney on Ice.


    My dad came back talking about "thousands of kids" in line and how it was impossible for him to deal with that situation.

    I know a classmate of mine got to go to the Who at the Spectrum because it was a week after the Cincinatti tragedy and some other kid's parents forbid him from going. I remember being home that evening extremely depressed that I wasn't at the concert.

    If my memory is correct, I think the Stones tickets for the Capitol were put on sale without warning - a few hours before the concert. I'm sure the word spread quickly - but those who got to go were apparently those who happened to drive by the place that afternoon.

    I know they played a big stadium gig in Philly that same month (6/78). Peter Tosh opened - and maybe Foreigner. Mick Jagger had a fever and the Stones set was very short at JFK stadium. I seem to remember the crowd almost rioted.

    Three years later, the tickets at JFK stadium to see the Stones were in the $17 range and the discussion was "Geez - these are REALLY expensive??? How high is this ticket price thing going to go???" I didn't think the price was too bad at $17... most of the discussion at the time was the fact that the ticket said "Jovan presents..." (Jovan was perfume company - I believe - and this was the first time a corporation sponsored a tour)

    The first time I remember an artist going for the jugular on a concert ticket price was the Jacksons' Victory tour in 1984. But amazingly - that wasn't a trend. The real high prices started with The Eagles first reunuion tour and prices for everyone else quickly followed.

    I seem to recall that a live version of one of the Some Girls songs showed up on a compilation album
    called SUCKING IN THE SEVENTIES. It was my understanding that the song came from the Capitol concert recording but Wikipedia says it came from Detroit.
  10. Arnold Grove

    Arnold Grove Forum Resident

    No, the building has been knocked down. It was demolished in April 1991. A shopping center known as Capitol Plaza occupies the site now.

    But it was a great and special place for concerts.


    Attached Files:

  11. Drawer L

    Drawer L New Member

    Long Island
    I meant the one in Port Chester....
  12. Drawer L

    Drawer L New Member

    Long Island
    Yeah.Multi-camera,but rough B&W.You can add Cheap Trick '77(with the audio from the WNEW-FM broadcast sync'd to it.),Elvis Costello '77 & Lynyrd Skynyrd '75.--And while were at,shows at The Palladium were also video taped in the same way.
  13. Norbert Becker

    Norbert Becker Active Member

    My first concert was there:

    11/13/76 Climax Blues Band

    I remember:
    a very young Tommy Shaw,
    a high-heeled James Young,
    Climax Blues' guitarist (Derek Sutton) and his gold-plated Telecaster, and
    the black and white blurry monitors on both sides of the stage.

    It was very similar to the Tower Theatre in Philadelphia.

    It wasn't in the best part of town, kids would ask you to be paid to watch your car.

    It was a very exciting time for music.
  14. MikeT

    MikeT Forum Cretin

    New Jersey
    I always seemed to be able to get a space in the same lot every time and just as you said, there were always some local "hoodlums" asking for money and they would say they would watch your car. Luckily for me, I never did give anybody any money, and nothing ever happened to my car. I friend of mine though had his tires all flattened once while parked around the corner from the theater while attending a show there.
  15. npc145

    npc145 Well-Known Member

    My favorite show there was:
    11/03/84 Guitar Greats, featuring; (MTV Rock Influences)
    Dickey Betts
    Steve Cropper
    Lita Ford
    David Gilmour
    Tommy Iommi
    Neal Schon
    Brian Setzer
    Johnny Winter
    Link Wray
    Dave Edmunds

    I was working at the time for a post-production facility that was editing those MTV Rock Influences programs. We got to go for free. All my friends backed out at the last minute. I sold the 3 extra tickets. I was basically paid to see one of the best shows of my life.
  16. pbuzby

    pbuzby Forum Resident

    Chicago, IL, US
    There is also a song from one of Frank Zappa's 1978 shows there used on his posthumous Halloween DVD.
  17. keep667

    keep667 Active Member

    Port Chester, NY
    It is still there. Last time I walked by on the way to Metro North they had some boxing stuff and some small theater stuff coming through but nothing of note.This was Christmas time and I have not been back since.
  18. Sully

    Sully Active Member

    Verona, NJ USA
    I remember there being a lottery for tickets where you had to send in a postcard. I used the six postcards from the Exile On Main Street LP thinking I gotta get picked....but....alas, no such luck. Your memory sounds about right regarding the Capital so I am thinking the lottery was for the Palladium which the Stones played the same year.
  19. Saint Johnny

    Saint Johnny Well-Known Member

    Asbury Park
    I was there. But I couldn't get in. The cheapest seats I was offered was, IIRC $300. And that was in 1978 $$. There was no pseudonym involved. They were billed as the Rolling Stones.

    However they did play somewhere in CT or MA., again IIRC, as the Roaches. Around the same time the Capital show went down which was in June of 1978.
  20. MikeT

    MikeT Forum Cretin

    New Jersey
    I assume you are talking about prices on the street outside the theater, since someone else posted a ticket stub showing a $10.50 face value price.
  21. Saint Johnny

    Saint Johnny Well-Known Member

    Asbury Park
    Uhmmmm, yeah! :righton: I think I said 'offered' right? :D

    As I remember it. They shut the center of Passaic down. We had to park like a mile or so away from the Capital, and walk into the center of town. It was like a street festival, without any attractions. LOL
  22. quicksrt

    quicksrt Forum Resident

    City of Angels
    I've never heard a recording from the Capitol that was not good. There must have been something right about the place. ZZ Top, The Dead, Stones, Clash...always really good.

    Warren Zevon did a home video release from a concert there, it is also great.
  23. Saint Johnny

    Saint Johnny Well-Known Member

    Asbury Park
    A contributing factor maybe was it's size. For a theatre, The Capitol was relatively small. I think it sat 2000, maybe 2500, at the absolute most.

    Wow! According to wikipedia it was 3200. But to me it always felt much smaller than that. I find the 3200 number surprising.
  24. RickA

    RickA Active Member

    Tampa, FL
    Seeing the line-up of groups I can't believe I didn't go more often.

    Here are afew though I can remember:

    05/19/73 Doobie Brothers

    02/21/75 Queen

    12/04/76 Strawbs

    03/29/80 Cheap Trick

    The Queen show was the best, 6th row center for "Sheer Heat Attack"; opening act was Kansas and their 2nd album "Song for America" was just released and Argent was touring with "Nexus", their last with Russ Ballard.

    Rick A.
  25. george nadara

    george nadara Well-Known Member


    This was broadcast on MTV? It was before I got the channel. Did this concert run the standard 8 to 11 p.m.? That’s a fair number of guitarists to wedge into three hours. I’m assuming several used the same rhythm sections and same equipment or made guest appearances.

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