Rocking downtown Pittsfield
by Seth Rogovoy

(WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass., Oct. 1, 1999) -- If one local musician has his way, rock music will once again be on the menu in the cultural Berkshires.

After promoting a series of successful nostalgia-based shows at the Crowne Plaza, Vincent Brandi is bringing blues-based rock music to the heart of downtown Pittsfield for the first time since Mort Cooperman's Studio in the old England Brothers building was reduced to rubble by a wrecking ball.

Brandi's "Pittsfield Rocks!" series kicks off on Friday, Nov. 26, at the Crowne Plaza, with a show featuring Magic Dick and J. Geils Bluestime. Dick and Geils were founding members of the J. Geils Band, the chart-topping '70s and '80s pop-rock group ("Centerfold," "Freeze-Frame," "Must of Got Lost") fronted by singer Peter Wolf. Bluestime is Dick's and Geils's contemporary blues-oriented offshoot.

The concert will also be a homecoming of sorts for harmonica player Magic Dick, who was known as Richard Salwitz while growing up and attending school in Pittsfield.

Also on the bill will be Popa Chubby, a New York-based blues band fronted by singer-guitarist Ted Horowitz, a native of the Bronx.

"With the Studio out of the picture, there's a void in Pittsfield for national acts," said Brandi, 39, a drummer in area bands including Raizen Cain. "What I'm trying to do here is to fill that void somewhat and try to present Pittsfield with national popular music talent."

Brandi, who lives in Dalton, is hoping that a successful Bluestime show will be followed by at least six such shows next year. "This is it for '99," he said. "If everything works out, we'll attempt to put in probably somewhere around six shows, six rock-type shows for next year - one every other month, plus oldies shows.

"I'm thinking along the lines of NRBQ-type stuff, bluesy-type stuff. Maybe some Commander Cody or James Montgomery-type stuff. I've got a few things in the works. We're going one gig at a time right now to see how things will work out."

Brandi said he is also considering programming folk music in the winter.

Brandi's initial success with packaged oldies shows by groups touring as the Drifters, the Coasters and the Marvelettes have led him to expand toward more contemporary acts. "The Crowne Plaza ballroom is pretty versatile," he said. The room can be arranged with or without tables and chairs. For the Bluestime show, he said that table-seating would occupy about half of the room, with plenty of nightclub-style empty space left for milling around or dancing.

The show will be for ages 18 and over. Food will not be available in the ballroom itself, but will be accessible at other venues within the hotel. The ballroom will have a full bar setup. Brandi pieces together a living with a part-time day job, musical gigs three or four nights a week, and his nascent concert promotion business. He boasts two decades of experience in the music business as a musician, but only a few shows under his belt as a promoter. "I wanted to see what it was like on the other side," he said. "With this area at this point needing a venue for some well-known acts, I figured I'd give it a shot.

"Everyone looks to Northampton as the ideal. Pittsfield will never be Northampton. We don't have the five colleges right here. It's never going to be that progressive. But it has its niche, which why I've tried to stick with the acts that fit.

"With the nostalgia stuff we've done OK. If we stick with the classic and bluesy stuff in this area, hopefully people will support these kind of acts."

Advance tickets for the Bluestime show are $20; the price will be a little higher on the night of the show. Tickets are available at Wood Brothers, the Crowne Plaza sales office and the Berkshire Mall office. Call 445-8080 for more information.

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[This column originally appeared in the Berkshire Eagle on Nov. 5, 1999. Copyright Seth Rogovoy 1999. All rights reserved.]