A few minutes after 8 p.m. Tuesday, Bob Dylan took the stage and performed “Watching The River Flow,” officially re-opening the .
Port Chester’s hosted many massive rock acts in the 1960s and 70s, including the Rolling Stones, David Bowie, Janis Joplin and more, but closed in 1976. It was reopened in the 80s and hosted concerts sporadically into the 90s. For the last 15 years, it’s hosted weddings and bar/bat mitzvahs.
After two years of discussions, Marvin Ravikoff, owner of the building for the last 27 years, agreed to a lease with Peter Shapiro, who previously opened Brooklyn Bowl, a combo bowling alley/concert venue/restaurant in Williamsburg.
Tuesday’s sold-out Dylan concert was the first of announced for the Capitol going through April.
Dylan and his five-man backing band rocked the Capitol stage for about an hour and a half without a break, hitting such classics as “Highway 61 Revisited,” “All Along The Watch Tower” and “Shooting Star,” which drew a rather huge reception from the packed floor crowd after Dylan, 71, sang the opening line and once again later in the song when he performed a harmonica solo. The crowd went particularly nuts anytime Dylan stepped out from his piano during a song, especially when it lead to some harmonica.
After about 90 minutes, Dylan and His Band left the stage for about two minutes and then came back out for an encore. They finished the night with “Blowin’ In The Wind” to conclude the Capitol’s first night back at around 9:44 p.m.
The The show had a strict no photography or video policy, leading to a rather odd sight in 2012: no glowing cell phones taking pictures and videos sticking high up in the air from a packed crowd on the floor in front of a stage.
One familiar sight in the crowd was , drummer for the Roots, the legendary rap group who will play the Capitol Theater each of the next four Friday nights. In the past, the Roots have covered Dylan’s “Masters of War.”
Tuesday's show was Dylan's 50th in a series of 87 scheduled this year. Next week, his newest CD, “Tempest,” is scheduled to be released.
