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 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.
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 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.