Capitol Theatre
326 Monroe Street,
Passaic,
NJ
07055
326 Monroe Street,
Passaic,
NJ
07055
9 people
favorited this theater
Showing 126 - 150 of 156 comments
I unfortunately never made it to this theatre. No memories – only research!
I am interested in rock venues from the 70’s. I recently added a theatre that was a rock venue in Southern California, the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium. I also worked during the early 80’s at the Paramount Northwest (Now the Paramount Theatre) when it was a rock and roll hall. I lived in NY/NJ in the 70’s, and while I never went to the Capitol Theatre, the soundscape of my teens/early 20’s is radio commercials for shows at the Capitol. I also worked at a lighting shop in lower Manhattan that put out a lot of rigs for traveling shows during this era.
I’d love to talk/correspond with David Capo and TC and EastCoast Rocker about your memories.
If you type in “Capitol Theatre Passaic NJ” in Google Images, an absolute TREASURE TROVE comes up – photos of posters, albums recorded there (lots of famous acts recorded albums there) photos of tickets, programs – amazing.
I grew up in north Bergen County NJ and went to high school from ‘72-'75. I saw my first concert at the Capitol, The Eagles. Also saw New Riders of the Purple Sage. I found this site after buying a tshirt in SoHo for CBGB and wondering if there were any Capitol Theatre tshirts around. Anyone know of any? Anyone want to make one? Aaahh, the memories!
The Rolling Stones played at the Capitol on their tour of smaller venues around ‘76 – I think they announced the show that morning. I went there without a ticket along with a few thousand others with no tickets. The entire block was building to building people packed in the streets. I made my way to the loading dock at the rear of the building and listened through the garage door to the entire show, probably only 20 or 30 feet from the band. The majority of the crowd was compressed around the side stage door where the limos were parked and it started getting a bit ugly. As the show ended, with the audience still clapping, the door I was next to flew open and the Stones, in bathrobes, walked out and straight into the back doors of a plain white Chevy van and drove off without any notice. Just one of my fond memories of the Capitol Theater.
I grew up in Passaic and walked to many a show at the Capitol…good times as a kid! My first show was Mountain w/T Rex. MANY more to come…including Alice Cooper, whom I saw from the LAST row and touched outside the stage door…which I’ll never forget! The smell of cannibis was everywhere ~ always!
I have VERY FOND memories of the Heidleburg and my, then, good friend and bartender, Jimmy LaTrella!
Lord….I wish I could go back to those days!!!!
i think im little younger than most of theses posts but as real young boy in 70s saw pro wrestling and billy idol early 80s at the capitol
Can anyone tell me if it was SRV that opened up a show for Hot Tuna back in the day. I recall being at a Hot Tuna show (Capitol, Passaic) with my cousin who was raving that there was a new guitarist opening the show. Was this SRV that played the Capitol along with HT? Thanks for any replies.
Guitarist
Blue Oyster Cult played at the Capitol on these occasions:
21 Sept 1973: BOC supported Slade
27 April 1974: Ross & KISS supported BOC
16 Feb 1976: Slade & Dr Feelgood supported BOC
8 May 1976: with Slade [i have a ticket stub for this show but it seems an odd one coming so soon after the Feb show… maybe the Feb show was cancelled and this was a makeup gig?]
12 Feb 1980: Off Broadway supported BOC
26 Dec 1981: The Rings supported BOC
22 Feb 1984: Girlschool supported BOC
If anyone can confirm/deny (or even add to!!) any of the above, I’d love to hear from you (ralphATmacdigital-uk.com).
Ralph
http://www.hotrails.co.uk
I grew up in the Passaic area in the ‘70s and we would go to the Capitol almost every weekend – sometimes not even konowing who was playing until we arrived. At one time you could buy standing-room tickets for $3. The hallway between the lobby and theater was like a tunnel – so crowded during breaks it could take 10 minutes to walk through. The men’s room was horrendous, usually a few inches of water on the floor. The first show I saw there was Frank Zappa on Halloween. Mr. Jiggs, the chimp, performed at intermission. There were a few bars around the corner, Happy’s and the Heidelberg which would be packed before and after the shows. I can remember seeing: The Grateful Dead, New Riders of the Purple Sage, Jerry Garcia Band, Hot Tuna, Eagles, Ramones, Talking Heads, Blondie, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Frank Zappa, Cheech & Chong, Warren Zevon, Fleetwood Mac, Rolling Stones, I stood by and watched the day they demolished it.
Wow. Had I but known. I did not catch that April Fools show, but I did see the show a night or two before where John Belushi came out and did cartwheels and took some vocals on the show’s encore. Also caught Jerry Garcia here a few times in the ‘80’s and one or two other shows. It was a really big place, but I don’t remember it being particularly ornate. Perhaps much of the detail work was stripped or thickly painted over (I remember the walls and interior facades were all a sort of dull off-white color) by the early '80’s. I much preferred the Palladium (former Academy of Music) in Manhattan as a concert venue at the time. And Passaic was a pain in the ass to get to (I didn’t drive at the time and always had to bum rides).
Sales of Grateful Dead items highlight Island Heights auction
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Fans of the Grateful Dead were out in force Jan. 7 at a public auction in Island Heights that featured memorabilia from Passaic’s Capitol Theatre, a famed rock ‘n’ roll venue in the 1970s and ‘80s.
Twenty-one unused tickets to the Dead’s April Fool’s Day show in 1980 sparked the most interest, with a winning bid of $4,600, said Dover Township auctioneer Jerry Manganello.
“Two people went back and forth,” Manganello said. He ran the event,
which drew more than 300 people to the Island Heights Fire Company, with Lacey auctioneer Mark Csik.
Diane Martino, who worked in the theater’s box office in the early
1980s, said the April Fool’s show was unusual because when it started, the band members weren’t playing their usual instruments. She also said the tickets also carried a misprint, which explains why they weren’t used. She wasn’t certain, but she thought the day of the week was wrong.
“I forget the situation behind it because it’s been many years,” she said.
Other big-ticket items included two sets of three Grateful Dead
backstage passes, which sold for $575 and $500, and eight Grateful Dead programs, which went for $230.
The items were part of a treasure trove of memorabilia Martino and her late husband, Harry Newkirk, collected while they worked at the theater. Newkirk was head of security for promoter John Scher, who owned the Capitol Theatre. In total, Martino received more than $13,000 from the Jan. 7 auction, she said.
“I was happily surprised,” said Martino, a 47-year-old yoga instructor who lives in Passaic Park. She said the unexpected windfall would “help me pay the bills.”
Wow another place I had fun at in the 70’s that bit the dust. Does anyone remember Mo Morrison or Jim “Jimbo” Butterfield? One thing I can say about the old Capitol is that I always alomst got laid when I was there. During the non summer season I was on call for the stage crew if they needed me and I was not doing a show for Howard Stein or Ron Delsener. I also did shows for John Scher at the now gone Roosevelt Stadium in Jersey City and his other venues in Asbury Park with the exception of the Paramount that came later. Asbury Park used to be in Casino Arena and the old convention hall.
I was a roadie (sound) for Brighton Sound during the late 70’s. I did at least 5 shows at the Capital. Two with Patti Smith, Two with Jean-Luc Ponty and One with Carole King. There may have been more.
I can try to find the dates if anyone is interested. I also have backstage passes from one of the PSG dates. It actually made the cover of my book “ROADIE A True Story (at least the parts I remember)” You can see the pass if you look up my book on Amazon.
Stay LOUD
KK
Here are some more shows that took place at The Capitol:
Grateful Dead:
6/17/76 Capitol Theatre Passaic NJ
6/18/76 Capitol Theatre Passaic NJ
6/19/76 Capitol Theatre Passaic NJ
4/25/77 Capitol Theatre Passaic NJ
4/26/77 Capitol Theatre Passaic NJ
4/27/77 Capitol Theatre Passaic NJ
11/24/78 Capitol Theatre Passaic NJ
3/30/80 Capitol Theatre Passaic NJ
3/31/80 Capitol Theatre Passaic NJ
4/1/80 Capitol Theatre Passaic NJ
6/6/73 Old & In The Way Capitol Theater, Passaic, NJ
9/6/73 Jerry Garcia and Merl Saunders Capitol Theater, Passaic, NJ
11/9/74 Jerry Garcia and Merl Saunders Capitol Theater, Passaic, NJ
4/5/75 Legion of Mary Capitol Theater, Passaic, NJ
11/1/75 Jerry Garcia Band Capitol Theater, Passaic, NJ
4/2/76 Jerry Garcia Band Capitol Theater, Passaic, NJ
11/26/77 Jerry Garcia Band Capitol Theater, Passaic, NJ
3/17/78 Jerry Garcia Band Capitol Theater, Passaic, NJ
3/1/80 Jerry Garcia Band Capitol Theater, Passaic, NJ
2/13/81 Jerry Garcia Band Capitol Theater, Passaic, NJ
11/6/81 Jerry Garcia Band Capitol Theater, Passaic, NJ
4/10/82 Jerry Garcia Capitol Theater, Passaic, NJ
6/24/82 Jerry Garcia Band Capitol Theater, Passaic, NJ
6/3/83 Jerry Garcia Band Capitol Theater, Passaic, NJ
12/10/83 Jerry Garcia Band Capitol Theater, Passaic, NJ
11/24/84 Jerry Garcia and John Kahn Capitol Theater, Passaic, NJ
1/31/86 Jerry Garcia and John Kahn Capitol Theater, Passaic, NJ
A Kramer organ was installed in this theater in 1921.
Thanks, TC.
http://www.tunabase.com/tapelist.html
I just extracted the Capitol Theatre information.
PS If you do a web search for Capitol Theatre (or Theater) concert list Passaic NJ, you will come up with a lot of links from various fan groups. (Bruce Springsteen comes to mind as well as The Dead who played here multiple times)
The Stones on 7/14/78? Very close to the date of one of the shows I’m looking for…
I would hope that these get released as well. It would be a shame for someone to just sit on this goldmine.
TC, might I ask where you found this list?
Both Jerry Lewis and the 3 Stooges made appearances at the Capitol in the early sixties when they were promoting new films. My brother saw the Stooges for HAVE ROCKET, WILL TRAVEL and a friend saw Lewis for THE NUTTY PROFESSOR.
Here is a partial concert listing that I found:
Allmann Brothers Band – 4/20/79; 12/16/81
Bobby & The Midnights – 2/5/82
Dave Edmunds – 5/15/82
Grateful Dead – 6/19/76
Heart – 1/26/79
Hot Tuna – 5/11/74; 10/4/74; 11/20/76; 4/22/77; 11/18/77; 10/8/83; 12/28/83; 5/2/86; 10/31/86; 12/17/87
Jorma Kaukonen – 5/20/78; 11/18/78; 3/7/81; 3/27/82; 1/25/85
John Bluespeakers Mayall – 6/18/82
Mountain – 4/20/74
Old and In the Way – 6/6/73
Bonnie Raitt – 10/26/74
Rolling Stones – 7/14/78
Edgar Winter – 12/16/81 (theater’s 10th Anniversay party)
Johnny Winter – 11/14/86
Frank Zappa – 5/9/73; 10/13/78
ZZ Top – 5/3/80
Interesting. Thanks for the info, Todd.
Replying to Joe A’s question about the Capitol Theatre’s rock and roll video library…
Yes, the library survived, and is owned/controlled by John Scher/Metropolitan Entertainment. Not all artists signed releases enabling any future release of these — HOWEVER, there have been discussions about commercially releasing some of them.
As someone who probably saw a good 25-30 shows at the Capitol, I’d love to see it happen!
Listed in the Film Daily Yearbook,1943 as being operated by Warner Bros. Circuit Management as were also the Montauk and Playhouse theatres in Passaic.
Various seating capacities for the Capitol Theatre are given in editions of F.D.Y. in 1941;seats 3,449, in 1943;seats 3,249 and in 1950;seats 3,211
Sounds like it was a great venue.
I understand that they had in-house video facilities and they filmed every concert to play there. Does anyone know if the vault/library survived (was moved before the fire) and, if so, where the remaining collection is?
Thanks…