I just found this site and the interesting discussion about the Capitol Theater in Passaic. Here is the info about the Central Theater, which was located around the corner.
In Spring, 1971, my brother, Rick Green, and I attended an Alice Cooper show at the Central. Although the concert was sparsely attended, we could see that the theater was perfect for rock shows. It was an Art Deco palace that had been part of the Keith vaudeville circuit. Seating capacity was about 2,900.
The first show promoted by Rick was the Allman Brothers at 8 and 11pm on Friday, September 10, 1971. We hired production and staff alumni from the Fillmore East. See Factor did sound. Candace Brightman did lights. Arthur Berman, ‘Fat’ Joe Golden, and Kim Yarborough worked security. The Allmans were the hottest band in America at the time, and both shows sold out well in advance. I still have some handbills from the Allmans shows. Tickets were $4.50 and $5.50. (It cost me $85 for a ticket to see ABB this past summer.)
We quickly followed up with concerts starring the Beach Boys, Savoy Brown, and Pink Floyd. We still have the Pink Floyd contract in our archive. The band earned $1750 to headline, and that fee included a quad PA system they brought with them.
Shortly thereafter, John Scher purchased the Capitol Theater around the corner. The Capitol was about 10% larger than the Central, and Scher was a tough competitor. He was also tighter with Premier Artists, the #1 booking agency.
In the Spring of 1972, we promoted a run of Dave Mason dates. Our stage manager, Billy Stevenson (now deceased) was from Upper Darby, PA, and he suggested we look at the Tower Theater there. The Tower was even better than the Central, and with the great reception our Dave Mason/Buzzy Linhart opening night (6/14/72) there, we decided to move our whole operation to Philly.
This may sound immodest, but our shows at the Tower for the next 3 and a half years made it the #1 venue in America. We bought all our FE alumni with us, and we emphasized treating our paying customers as guests. At the end of 1975, the AM Ellis chain that owned the Tower informed us that our much larger competitor, Electric Factory, had bought the theater. We spent the next 5 years suing EFC for an anti-trust violation, and eventually settled the case in 1981 for a tidy sum.
Rick and I are still calling ourselves the Midnight Sun Company. These days we manage 6 bar bands here in the Philly suburbs. We’d love to hear from any and all the great folks that we worked with back in the Central and Tower days. My e-mail is
I just found this site and the interesting discussion about the Capitol Theater in Passaic. Here is the info about the Central Theater, which was located around the corner.
In Spring, 1971, my brother, Rick Green, and I attended an Alice Cooper show at the Central. Although the concert was sparsely attended, we could see that the theater was perfect for rock shows. It was an Art Deco palace that had been part of the Keith vaudeville circuit. Seating capacity was about 2,900.
The first show promoted by Rick was the Allman Brothers at 8 and 11pm on Friday, September 10, 1971. We hired production and staff alumni from the Fillmore East. See Factor did sound. Candace Brightman did lights. Arthur Berman, ‘Fat’ Joe Golden, and Kim Yarborough worked security. The Allmans were the hottest band in America at the time, and both shows sold out well in advance. I still have some handbills from the Allmans shows. Tickets were $4.50 and $5.50. (It cost me $85 for a ticket to see ABB this past summer.)
We quickly followed up with concerts starring the Beach Boys, Savoy Brown, and Pink Floyd. We still have the Pink Floyd contract in our archive. The band earned $1750 to headline, and that fee included a quad PA system they brought with them.
Shortly thereafter, John Scher purchased the Capitol Theater around the corner. The Capitol was about 10% larger than the Central, and Scher was a tough competitor. He was also tighter with Premier Artists, the #1 booking agency.
In the Spring of 1972, we promoted a run of Dave Mason dates. Our stage manager, Billy Stevenson (now deceased) was from Upper Darby, PA, and he suggested we look at the Tower Theater there. The Tower was even better than the Central, and with the great reception our Dave Mason/Buzzy Linhart opening night (6/14/72) there, we decided to move our whole operation to Philly.
This may sound immodest, but our shows at the Tower for the next 3 and a half years made it the #1 venue in America. We bought all our FE alumni with us, and we emphasized treating our paying customers as guests. At the end of 1975, the AM Ellis chain that owned the Tower informed us that our much larger competitor, Electric Factory, had bought the theater. We spent the next 5 years suing EFC for an anti-trust violation, and eventually settled the case in 1981 for a tidy sum.
Rick and I are still calling ourselves the Midnight Sun Company. These days we manage 6 bar bands here in the Philly suburbs. We’d love to hear from any and all the great folks that we worked with back in the Central and Tower days. My e-mail is