WEBVTT

00:00:09.660 --> 00:00:12.480
a truly a friend of mine and someone who I've

00:00:12.480 --> 00:00:15.179
known a very long time, Mr. Doug Levine from

00:00:15.179 --> 00:00:17.579
the State Theater of Ithaca. Hi, Mike. Hi, buddy.

00:00:17.699 --> 00:00:20.379
How are you? It's so good to see you. Doug, it's

00:00:20.379 --> 00:00:23.339
great to see you. You brought me gifts. Yeah,

00:00:23.379 --> 00:00:27.019
we have some some merch, you know. Yeah pile

00:00:27.019 --> 00:00:28.679
on give you give you something nice to drink

00:00:28.679 --> 00:00:30.280
your coffee out of a little state theater mug

00:00:30.280 --> 00:00:31.579
Usually when people show up and they're like

00:00:31.579 --> 00:00:33.840
we have gifts, you know, it's maybe a maybe it's

00:00:33.840 --> 00:00:36.640
one mug Maybe it's a maybe it's a poet. He came

00:00:36.640 --> 00:00:40.060
with autographed posters mugs wine glasses This

00:00:40.060 --> 00:00:42.259
is why I love this man. There's a lot a lot of

00:00:42.259 --> 00:00:44.799
love at the state theater We like to share and

00:00:44.799 --> 00:00:50.079
as you all know, I am from Ithaca and One of

00:00:50.079 --> 00:00:53.560
my favorite things about Ithaca is its music

00:00:53.560 --> 00:00:57.520
scene culture, and the state theater has been

00:00:57.520 --> 00:01:00.439
a staple of not just the music scene, the entertainment

00:01:00.439 --> 00:01:04.000
scene, especially post pandemic. You guys have

00:01:04.000 --> 00:01:07.540
brought so many amazing shows to this area. So

00:01:07.540 --> 00:01:09.700
many times in my life I've heard people go, wait,

00:01:10.120 --> 00:01:12.219
you're going to see Nikki Glaser in Ithaca tonight?

00:01:12.359 --> 00:01:14.840
I'm like, yep. You know, Nate Bargazzi right

00:01:14.840 --> 00:01:18.340
before he went on SNL. The list goes on. But

00:01:18.340 --> 00:01:20.799
Doug, you are the executive director. You are

00:01:20.799 --> 00:01:24.629
the guy. And I've been in charge since actually

00:01:24.629 --> 00:01:27.109
the organization State Theater of Ithaca Inc

00:01:27.109 --> 00:01:29.890
is a 501c3 not -for -profit and it actually formed

00:01:29.890 --> 00:01:33.290
in the spring of 2009. That's when they branched

00:01:33.290 --> 00:01:35.489
away from another not -for -profit historic Ithaca

00:01:35.489 --> 00:01:38.430
that actually is very credited with saving that

00:01:38.430 --> 00:01:41.189
historic building. Yeah. But they formed a standalone

00:01:41.189 --> 00:01:44.030
not -for -profit in the spring of 2009. And I

00:01:44.030 --> 00:01:45.849
heard about it and I raised my hand and I was

00:01:45.849 --> 00:01:47.450
like, I would love to get involved, you know,

00:01:47.469 --> 00:01:49.510
be on your board. And they actually were like,

00:01:49.510 --> 00:01:52.129
we're thinking maybe Would you be our first executive

00:01:52.129 --> 00:01:54.670
director? And at the time I had a very stable

00:01:54.670 --> 00:01:56.629
job and I was like, it's kind of a leap of faith,

00:01:56.689 --> 00:01:59.390
but I love that building. And I took, my wife

00:01:59.390 --> 00:02:02.349
had a very stable job at Cornell. So I took the

00:02:02.349 --> 00:02:04.250
leap and I've been there, God, it's been, it'll

00:02:04.250 --> 00:02:07.049
be 16 years in August. That's crazy to me because

00:02:07.049 --> 00:02:09.330
first of all, I can't imagine anyone else doing

00:02:09.330 --> 00:02:12.860
it anyway. You really are, I mean, people. people,

00:02:13.099 --> 00:02:14.780
you are part of the show. You know, you come

00:02:14.780 --> 00:02:17.319
out in the beginning of each show. In fact, I

00:02:17.319 --> 00:02:19.340
was at a show once where the comedian made a

00:02:19.340 --> 00:02:22.219
joke after, you know, I think Doug said everything.

00:02:22.259 --> 00:02:23.719
I think he even ordered the McRib or something.

00:02:24.020 --> 00:02:25.979
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So, you know, you are a part

00:02:25.979 --> 00:02:27.900
of the show. You are the face of the state theater.

00:02:28.039 --> 00:02:29.759
I actually didn't know that you were the first

00:02:29.759 --> 00:02:32.280
executive director. Yeah. Yeah. Of this organization.

00:02:32.500 --> 00:02:36.680
Yeah. Yeah. Right. A lot of credit to DSP shows,

00:02:36.879 --> 00:02:39.520
Dan Smalls, John Sanders. We have a great partnership

00:02:39.520 --> 00:02:43.680
with them as our official promoter. So they bring

00:02:43.680 --> 00:02:46.719
in amazing talent. It's like world -class talent

00:02:46.719 --> 00:02:48.159
that we're bringing into Little Ithaca, New York.

00:02:48.500 --> 00:02:50.199
It's pretty remarkable. It's absolutely amazing.

00:02:50.360 --> 00:02:52.840
I mean, I know a lot of it is geography. It's

00:02:52.840 --> 00:02:56.680
easier when you live in Ithaca or upstate New

00:02:56.680 --> 00:02:59.439
York. You can catch big acts in between New York

00:02:59.439 --> 00:03:02.539
City and Buffalo and kind of get them on the

00:03:02.539 --> 00:03:05.280
routing side of things. But it still doesn't

00:03:05.280 --> 00:03:07.180
guarantee it. And it's really impressive how

00:03:07.180 --> 00:03:10.379
you guys in Dan Small's Presents are able to

00:03:10.379 --> 00:03:12.800
pull these acts. And I mean, I can imagine when

00:03:12.800 --> 00:03:14.860
you started off, it was probably much different,

00:03:15.020 --> 00:03:17.560
right? Smaller acts? Smaller acts, not as frequent,

00:03:17.759 --> 00:03:22.080
yep, yep. We've really put, I think, a back on

00:03:22.080 --> 00:03:24.919
the map. When I was in college in the mid -90s,

00:03:24.939 --> 00:03:26.620
I felt like there were some really great acts

00:03:26.620 --> 00:03:28.379
passing through, but a lot of them were like

00:03:28.379 --> 00:03:30.219
coming to Cornell, and they were very open to

00:03:30.219 --> 00:03:33.280
the public. Even the state theater in the 90s,

00:03:33.379 --> 00:03:35.280
I remember seeing like Jimmy Cliff there, and

00:03:35.280 --> 00:03:37.740
Ani DeFranco, and it was... At the same time,

00:03:37.819 --> 00:03:39.580
the theater was kind of falling apart then. But

00:03:39.580 --> 00:03:41.300
but there was like a big lull. The state theater

00:03:41.300 --> 00:03:43.280
closed in 1995. I don't know if you remember

00:03:43.280 --> 00:03:46.719
that or not. I wasn't in this. I was still living

00:03:46.719 --> 00:03:48.400
in the Mohawk Valley at the time. I moved to

00:03:48.400 --> 00:03:51.919
Ithaca 0506. OK, so. So I know the story. Yeah,

00:03:51.919 --> 00:03:53.479
it was I'd love for you to. It was closed for

00:03:53.479 --> 00:03:55.659
five, six years, and it really had a major impact

00:03:55.659 --> 00:03:58.599
on the whole downtown corridor where, I mean,

00:03:58.680 --> 00:04:00.620
the commons was like a ghost town for that time,

00:04:00.680 --> 00:04:03.400
too. So, like I said, historic, I think I actually

00:04:03.400 --> 00:04:05.460
raised the money to kind of salvage the building,

00:04:05.639 --> 00:04:08.000
brought it back, you know, they put, you know,

00:04:08.139 --> 00:04:10.060
three, $4 million into the building, replaced

00:04:10.060 --> 00:04:12.939
the roof. And and Historic Githiga, by the way,

00:04:12.939 --> 00:04:15.539
their their whole mission is to basically save

00:04:15.539 --> 00:04:18.160
old buildings. And they did. They the theater

00:04:18.160 --> 00:04:20.019
was like this close from the wrecking ball. They

00:04:20.019 --> 00:04:21.360
were going there were plans to turn it into a

00:04:21.360 --> 00:04:24.040
parking lot. And they they swooped they swooped

00:04:24.040 --> 00:04:26.160
in, raised the money and got it back. And the

00:04:26.160 --> 00:04:27.459
one thing about Historic Githiga is they had

00:04:27.459 --> 00:04:28.839
this beautiful theater and they're like, oh,

00:04:28.920 --> 00:04:31.079
now let's program it. And, you know, you working

00:04:31.079 --> 00:04:33.040
in the industry, it's not as easy as you think.

00:04:33.180 --> 00:04:35.620
And they quickly went from, you know, breaking

00:04:35.660 --> 00:04:38.240
even to losing a lot of money by booking the

00:04:38.240 --> 00:04:39.800
shows and not really knowing exactly what they

00:04:39.800 --> 00:04:43.329
were doing. So that's what spun out. It's a tough

00:04:43.329 --> 00:04:45.829
job. Yeah. No blame there at all. And actually,

00:04:46.149 --> 00:04:48.509
I really thank them for literally saving the

00:04:48.509 --> 00:04:51.509
building. But that's where Dan Smalls and DSP

00:04:51.509 --> 00:04:53.110
came in and were like, hey, we know how to program

00:04:53.110 --> 00:04:55.529
this. We just need someone to really operate

00:04:55.529 --> 00:04:57.449
and run the building and fundraise for the building.

00:04:57.649 --> 00:04:59.449
And that's where I come in, where I have this

00:04:59.449 --> 00:05:02.189
passion that I can't fake. I am truly passionate

00:05:02.189 --> 00:05:05.470
about the love of the building. It's just a beautiful

00:05:05.470 --> 00:05:07.629
history. I mean, people in Syracuse, it's very

00:05:07.629 --> 00:05:09.810
similar to the landmark. Yeah. A little smaller.

00:05:09.970 --> 00:05:11.790
Very similar. Very similar. Yeah, Big Marquis.

00:05:12.040 --> 00:05:15.040
Stanley and Utica? Exactly, same era. I think

00:05:15.040 --> 00:05:17.980
even the landmark is the same, like 1928. I think

00:05:17.980 --> 00:05:20.199
the Stanley is like 1926. So there was a huge

00:05:20.199 --> 00:05:23.139
theater building boom in that era. And a lot

00:05:23.139 --> 00:05:24.959
of them went by the wayside and turned into parking

00:05:24.959 --> 00:05:27.100
lots. But there are some that still survive.

00:05:28.180 --> 00:05:30.779
And I'm thrilled for it. But yeah, I wear my

00:05:30.779 --> 00:05:32.500
heart on my sleeve. And I'm really passionate

00:05:32.500 --> 00:05:34.959
about, you know, we have like five major projects

00:05:34.959 --> 00:05:36.300
that we're working on this summer to make it

00:05:36.300 --> 00:05:39.519
a better theater. I'll get to that later. And

00:05:39.519 --> 00:05:43.459
yeah, it's a dream job. And yeah, starting out,

00:05:43.579 --> 00:05:45.160
we didn't have as many shows. I think we started

00:05:45.160 --> 00:05:47.420
out, you know, first year was like 35, 40 shows.

00:05:47.620 --> 00:05:49.740
Now you're talking about 75 a year? Yeah, 75,

00:05:49.879 --> 00:05:52.300
80 shows a year, which is pretty, for a town

00:05:52.300 --> 00:05:54.199
our size, it's pretty remarkable. It's amazing.

00:05:54.220 --> 00:05:57.139
Yeah. And that's the thing too, is one of my

00:05:57.139 --> 00:05:58.839
favorite things about going to shows at the State

00:05:58.839 --> 00:06:03.259
Theater is, and at this point now, it seems like

00:06:03.259 --> 00:06:07.860
it's every show that I go to, the artist on stage.

00:06:08.079 --> 00:06:12.720
always makes a reference to Jesus Christ like

00:06:12.720 --> 00:06:15.699
what is this place it's so beautiful I walked

00:06:15.699 --> 00:06:18.160
around the Commons I remember specifically Brandy

00:06:18.160 --> 00:06:21.079
Carlisle was like I want to move here yeah and

00:06:21.079 --> 00:06:23.379
and she actually saw a kid playing busking yeah

00:06:23.379 --> 00:06:26.319
busking and had him come out on stage and play

00:06:26.319 --> 00:06:29.339
with her I was there I loved that so great she

00:06:29.339 --> 00:06:32.420
actually goes she goes uh I asked him if he would

00:06:32.420 --> 00:06:34.899
like to open up the show and he said, well, I

00:06:34.899 --> 00:06:39.199
gotta ask my mom. Which is so great. But, you

00:06:39.199 --> 00:06:40.819
know, and that's the thing that, you know, we're

00:06:40.819 --> 00:06:42.240
sitting here talking about the state theater

00:06:42.240 --> 00:06:46.259
and it's hard to explain how serious we are when

00:06:46.259 --> 00:06:49.420
we say, it's just not, the theater itself is

00:06:49.420 --> 00:06:52.220
beautiful, but the location, you feel like you're

00:06:52.220 --> 00:06:54.620
a part of something that's just very intimate.

00:06:55.359 --> 00:06:57.399
Absolutely, you're a stone's throw from the commons,

00:06:57.500 --> 00:06:58.899
but one thing that you haven't touched on, which

00:06:58.899 --> 00:07:02.079
is equally as important, is the fan base. Yeah,

00:07:02.319 --> 00:07:05.079
man. The Ithicans, or whatever, the New Yorkers.

00:07:05.180 --> 00:07:07.779
Sure, Ithicans, yeah. They are extremely respectful,

00:07:08.839 --> 00:07:12.220
and they are open to original music, of course.

00:07:13.079 --> 00:07:15.000
Artists come in and they often have to play their

00:07:15.000 --> 00:07:18.819
new album, and Ithaca eats it up. Yes. I mean,

00:07:18.819 --> 00:07:21.259
Jason Isbell just played there in February, his

00:07:21.259 --> 00:07:23.060
new album. I mean, granted, it's a fantastic

00:07:23.060 --> 00:07:25.100
album, but he played a lot of new songs, and

00:07:25.100 --> 00:07:27.120
we loved it, and the artists appreciate that.

00:07:27.500 --> 00:07:29.100
Absolutely. I mean, that was, you know, when

00:07:29.100 --> 00:07:31.699
I had first moved to Ithaca, I was doing music

00:07:31.699 --> 00:07:34.040
exclusively. And that was, I couldn't afford

00:07:34.040 --> 00:07:36.279
to live in New York or LA, and my buddy told

00:07:36.279 --> 00:07:38.000
me about Ithaca. I had been there a few times.

00:07:38.279 --> 00:07:41.600
And at that time, 05, 06, it was really, other

00:07:41.600 --> 00:07:44.139
than New York City, it was one of the only towns

00:07:44.139 --> 00:07:48.459
in New York that was like cover bands. And no

00:07:48.459 --> 00:07:50.839
disrespect to cover bands, but it was very rare

00:07:50.839 --> 00:07:52.319
that they were like, no, we want original music.

00:07:52.660 --> 00:07:55.220
And that still lives on today. It does. And I

00:07:55.220 --> 00:07:57.079
think the reason why there's such a loyalty,

00:07:57.139 --> 00:07:59.379
like you said, for Ithacans and Central New Yorkers

00:07:59.379 --> 00:08:01.920
that come is because you guys do an amazing job

00:08:01.920 --> 00:08:06.639
of not only promoting and getting people to help

00:08:06.639 --> 00:08:09.399
keep the doors open, you make us feel like we're

00:08:09.399 --> 00:08:10.740
part of the owners. It's almost like the Green

00:08:10.740 --> 00:08:12.819
Bay Packers. You know how the town are the owners?

00:08:13.399 --> 00:08:15.139
But yeah, even though we're not the owners, you

00:08:15.139 --> 00:08:16.839
make us feel that way. And I'm being sincere.

00:08:17.550 --> 00:08:20.569
Honestly, we are a 501 c3 not -for -profit and

00:08:20.569 --> 00:08:22.709
and really that what that means is we are owned

00:08:22.709 --> 00:08:24.569
by the community So you're not wrong, right?

00:08:24.689 --> 00:08:27.009
Like like and and frankly, you know, we have

00:08:27.009 --> 00:08:29.089
a project this summer that we're talking about

00:08:29.089 --> 00:08:31.970
Let's talk about that. So like as a 501 c3, it's

00:08:31.970 --> 00:08:34.789
not it's it's we have to rely on support Yeah,

00:08:34.929 --> 00:08:36.970
you know we have we have certain major donors

00:08:36.970 --> 00:08:38.889
We have certain major sponsors and then we have

00:08:38.889 --> 00:08:40.669
certain like projects where we actually go to

00:08:40.669 --> 00:08:43.539
the community and say hey It's time. The one

00:08:43.539 --> 00:08:44.700
thing that I'm talking about is we're raising

00:08:44.700 --> 00:08:46.519
the rails. We're putting handrails up in the

00:08:46.519 --> 00:08:48.879
balcony. Oh, excellent. So our downstairs 900

00:08:48.879 --> 00:08:51.120
seats. It's great. The upstairs, the balcony,

00:08:51.200 --> 00:08:53.200
which, frankly, I love the balcony. I love the

00:08:53.200 --> 00:08:55.480
balcony. I mean, it's but it's it's beautiful.

00:08:55.700 --> 00:08:57.740
You have great sight lines, great sound, but

00:08:57.740 --> 00:09:01.000
it's it's steep and it can be dark. Yeah. And

00:09:01.000 --> 00:09:03.100
so right now we want to put handrails. So it's

00:09:03.100 --> 00:09:05.159
just a safer experience for our patrons. That's

00:09:05.159 --> 00:09:06.539
amazing. So there will be handrails at the end

00:09:06.539 --> 00:09:08.860
of every aisle, basically. Excellent. So it's

00:09:08.860 --> 00:09:10.240
I think it's one hundred and thirty three that

00:09:10.240 --> 00:09:12.399
we need to create by Steve. made out of steel.

00:09:12.960 --> 00:09:15.000
It's not a cheap project, but we rolled this

00:09:15.000 --> 00:09:18.580
out last Friday. We sent 500 letters out to past

00:09:18.580 --> 00:09:20.399
donors saying, hey, we want to raise the rails.

00:09:20.740 --> 00:09:24.570
Can you support us? We're already 50 % to our

00:09:24.570 --> 00:09:25.649
fundraising goal in less than a week. I'm one

00:09:25.649 --> 00:09:27.330
of those. I'm one of the donors. And you are

00:09:27.330 --> 00:09:29.409
one of the donors. And actually, I reached out.

00:09:29.470 --> 00:09:30.809
And that's kind of how this interview came about,

00:09:31.009 --> 00:09:33.090
too. Well, listen, I've been wanting to have

00:09:33.090 --> 00:09:34.809
you on for a while. I knew it was going to happen

00:09:34.809 --> 00:09:37.549
at some point. That's another thing, too. Speaking

00:09:37.549 --> 00:09:41.370
of projects and donating and all that is there's

00:09:41.370 --> 00:09:44.159
a lot of organizations that you know you can

00:09:44.159 --> 00:09:46.759
donate money to and sometimes you you don't question

00:09:46.759 --> 00:09:48.759
it but you're like huh i wish i knew where where

00:09:48.759 --> 00:09:52.559
this money was going you guys i feel like every

00:09:52.559 --> 00:09:54.259
time i go to the state theater there's either

00:09:54.259 --> 00:09:57.139
you're in the in the process of of of upgrading

00:09:57.139 --> 00:10:00.169
or there's a major upgrade yes and Here's the

00:10:00.169 --> 00:10:02.970
other part that I find so awesome is that you

00:10:02.970 --> 00:10:06.169
guys send letters to the donors, but you always

00:10:06.169 --> 00:10:08.830
leave a handwritten note. Thank you for pointing

00:10:08.830 --> 00:10:11.970
that out. I know, dude. I what you're going to

00:10:11.970 --> 00:10:13.850
make me. You're going to make me cry. I'll cry.

00:10:14.070 --> 00:10:16.830
We're both very emotional guys. Yeah. I got goosebumps.

00:10:17.029 --> 00:10:20.769
I know. But that is a very conscious decision

00:10:20.769 --> 00:10:24.950
on our part. It's so conversation. And it's.

00:10:24.909 --> 00:10:27.350
You know, it's a little exhausting to write.

00:10:27.629 --> 00:10:30.649
Yeah. But it's also really important because

00:10:30.649 --> 00:10:32.870
you're not just getting, you know, I always try

00:10:32.870 --> 00:10:34.509
to separate the state theater where we're not

00:10:34.509 --> 00:10:36.190
this corporate conglomerate. We are very far

00:10:36.190 --> 00:10:38.330
from a corporate, you know, we are we are real

00:10:38.330 --> 00:10:41.490
people with with real families and we're very,

00:10:41.490 --> 00:10:44.350
very passionate about what we do. And just that

00:10:44.350 --> 00:10:47.279
like, hey, Mike. Miss you brother to think about

00:10:47.279 --> 00:10:48.799
putting some railings up here and it and you

00:10:48.799 --> 00:10:51.080
know, frankly it works like a little personal

00:10:51.080 --> 00:10:53.679
touch goes a long way It does and it really and

00:10:53.679 --> 00:10:55.519
I'm not just saying this man. I always say to

00:10:55.519 --> 00:10:57.460
my wife I'm like look and she's like you say

00:10:57.460 --> 00:10:59.159
that every time I'm like, I know I'm like, but

00:10:59.159 --> 00:11:01.100
I don't think you understand like in this world

00:11:01.100 --> 00:11:03.899
It's rare to find something so genuine and that's

00:11:03.899 --> 00:11:06.740
that you're sports guy like me to sport Philly.

00:11:07.000 --> 00:11:09.779
Yeah. Oh, yeah, you and I are That's I think

00:11:09.779 --> 00:11:11.379
why we always got along. We're at that intersection

00:11:11.379 --> 00:11:13.639
of sports and music, you know, yes in comedy

00:11:13.639 --> 00:11:16.330
we are but You know, Peyton Manning, one of the

00:11:16.330 --> 00:11:18.289
best things that's known about him is that, to

00:11:18.289 --> 00:11:21.210
this day, he handwrites his letters to coaches

00:11:21.210 --> 00:11:25.590
and players. Amazing. And you do that. And also,

00:11:26.090 --> 00:11:28.149
every single thank you letter, I have a handwritten

00:11:28.149 --> 00:11:30.909
note on. I mean, we type up kind of a generic

00:11:30.909 --> 00:11:33.230
thank you letter for tax purposes. When you're

00:11:33.230 --> 00:11:35.519
a not -for -profit, by the way, you can... deduct

00:11:35.519 --> 00:11:37.779
your gifts to the State Theater, which is a nice

00:11:37.779 --> 00:11:40.820
little thing. But I make sure that I do a handwritten

00:11:40.820 --> 00:11:42.519
note on every thank you letter, too. And it does

00:11:42.519 --> 00:11:44.480
go a long way. It really does. It's a personal

00:11:44.480 --> 00:11:47.820
touch. Absolutely. And we're seeing firsthand

00:11:47.820 --> 00:11:51.259
the upgrades. I know one of the major ones, and

00:11:51.259 --> 00:11:53.179
I don't know how long it's been now, but now

00:11:53.179 --> 00:11:56.899
you have the new area, the bar area, which is

00:11:56.899 --> 00:11:59.580
beautiful. That was over a half a million dollar

00:11:59.580 --> 00:12:02.360
project. The one thing about Project of the State

00:12:02.360 --> 00:12:04.600
Theater is they don't just happen overnight.

00:12:04.429 --> 00:12:07.509
night. And Frank, they actually are a bit slow.

00:12:07.549 --> 00:12:09.149
Like, it's a bit slow to get things done for

00:12:09.149 --> 00:12:11.350
a number of reasons. A, we want to do it right.

00:12:11.610 --> 00:12:13.909
B, we're on the national register of historic

00:12:13.909 --> 00:12:15.889
places, so we have to jump through some hoops

00:12:15.889 --> 00:12:18.289
every now and then. But when we do it, we do

00:12:18.289 --> 00:12:20.690
it right. You know, the bathrooms upstairs, that

00:12:20.690 --> 00:12:23.009
took like five years to do, but we completely

00:12:23.009 --> 00:12:25.470
renovated the bathrooms. That's right. And Frank,

00:12:25.610 --> 00:12:27.210
the guys are like, wait, you did the bathrooms?

00:12:28.090 --> 00:12:31.610
But the women really know that we have some beautiful

00:12:31.610 --> 00:12:35.059
new bathrooms. The bar space is great. So we

00:12:35.059 --> 00:12:37.460
basically took our old box office space and went

00:12:37.460 --> 00:12:39.919
through 30 inches of brick to connect the two

00:12:39.919 --> 00:12:42.779
buildings. And now we have three openings. But

00:12:42.779 --> 00:12:45.279
it's it's there's been so much benefit to that.

00:12:45.559 --> 00:12:47.279
Number one, there's no longer a bar at the back

00:12:47.279 --> 00:12:49.600
of the room, which is huge. So for like those

00:12:49.600 --> 00:12:52.399
comedy shows or quiet shows when people are like,

00:12:52.399 --> 00:12:54.139
I need an IPA. You don't hear it anymore. It

00:12:54.139 --> 00:12:57.480
was hard. The other thing is when you first walk

00:12:57.480 --> 00:12:59.440
into the lobby, the concessions used to be right

00:12:59.440 --> 00:13:00.860
there and there was just so much congestion.

00:13:01.120 --> 00:13:03.320
So we really we really let people like breathe

00:13:03.320 --> 00:13:05.679
a little more. We went from two points of sale

00:13:05.679 --> 00:13:08.220
to five points of sale, which is great. The lines

00:13:08.220 --> 00:13:10.639
are a lot faster. We're actually one of that's

00:13:10.639 --> 00:13:11.779
one of the projects we're doing this summer.

00:13:12.120 --> 00:13:13.720
We are going to do some more upgrades to the

00:13:13.720 --> 00:13:15.600
bar this summer. Really? One of them being well.

00:13:16.110 --> 00:13:18.490
This is the sexy part of it, is that we're gonna

00:13:18.490 --> 00:13:21.049
actually put in some monitors and speakers on

00:13:21.049 --> 00:13:22.750
the wall so you can actually, while you're in

00:13:22.750 --> 00:13:24.610
line for your drink, you're not missing the show.

00:13:24.789 --> 00:13:26.429
That's excellent. So that's pretty good. I got

00:13:26.429 --> 00:13:28.610
a donor actually this past Saturday that came

00:13:28.610 --> 00:13:31.309
forward and said, I wanna support that. Oh, that's

00:13:31.309 --> 00:13:33.309
great. So yeah, so that's pretty exciting. And

00:13:33.309 --> 00:13:36.590
then we're also gonna put in this new refrigeration,

00:13:36.789 --> 00:13:39.169
like better refrigeration, make it a little more

00:13:39.169 --> 00:13:42.509
professional. And so if people do wanna donate,

00:13:42.789 --> 00:13:44.110
let's, I mean, we'll hit it again at the end,

00:13:44.169 --> 00:13:46.659
but what's the best way to... Best way, easiest

00:13:46.659 --> 00:13:49.419
is just go to our website, stateofithika .org.

00:13:49.559 --> 00:13:52.279
There's a big yellow donate button on the page,

00:13:52.360 --> 00:13:54.639
and you can just do that. You can say, hey, I

00:13:54.639 --> 00:13:56.080
want to give right to the bar, or I want to give

00:13:56.080 --> 00:13:58.720
right to the railings, or you can say... Doug's

00:13:58.720 --> 00:14:01.539
discretion. No kidding. I don't know you. I've

00:14:01.539 --> 00:14:03.500
never I mean, I've I've I've donated every time,

00:14:03.500 --> 00:14:06.179
but I don't I don't know if I mean, basically,

00:14:06.179 --> 00:14:08.120
if we just get like a donation, we consider that

00:14:08.120 --> 00:14:09.980
what we call a general operating support. And

00:14:09.980 --> 00:14:12.340
then we do it. We put it where it needs the most

00:14:12.340 --> 00:14:14.159
where we need it the most. You just reminded

00:14:14.159 --> 00:14:16.019
me there was actually a really cool thing you

00:14:16.019 --> 00:14:18.679
guys did. I got I have my own seat. I still haven't

00:14:18.679 --> 00:14:20.480
found it. I haven't found it. Next time you're

00:14:20.480 --> 00:14:22.220
there. I got it. I got to do that. I keep forgetting.

00:14:22.379 --> 00:14:24.440
I will take you to your seat. Yeah. How did that

00:14:24.440 --> 00:14:26.919
work? I forget. OK, you donated. Yeah, you could

00:14:26.919 --> 00:14:30.720
you could. have your own personal title on. All

00:14:30.720 --> 00:14:32.240
right. So so during the pandemic, during the

00:14:32.240 --> 00:14:33.980
pandemic, that's right. State theater theaters

00:14:33.980 --> 00:14:37.179
like ours, we were shut down for 20 months. Absolutely

00:14:37.179 --> 00:14:39.320
no shows for 20 months. We were like the first

00:14:39.320 --> 00:14:41.340
to close and one of the last to reopen. I was

00:14:41.340 --> 00:14:43.500
worried and it was I was worried it was lights

00:14:43.500 --> 00:14:45.639
out, to be honest with you. So we came up. I

00:14:45.639 --> 00:14:47.899
have to credit Casey Martin, our marketing director,

00:14:47.980 --> 00:14:49.399
was like, you know, a lot of people on social

00:14:49.399 --> 00:14:51.120
media are like, hope you're keeping my seat warm.

00:14:51.360 --> 00:14:53.279
So we actually came up with a Save Your Seat

00:14:53.279 --> 00:14:56.259
campaign during the pandemic. It was November

00:14:56.259 --> 00:15:01.590
of 2020. November 1st of 2020 and we rolled it

00:15:01.590 --> 00:15:03.690
out and we said hey for only I want it also be

00:15:03.690 --> 00:15:05.350
very inclusive I didn't want just like the rich

00:15:05.350 --> 00:15:07.190
people to be able to get seats so we just we

00:15:07.190 --> 00:15:10.029
kept a price point at $100 for $100 you can sponsor

00:15:10.029 --> 00:15:12.950
one of our 1600 seats at the State Theatre and

00:15:12.950 --> 00:15:14.309
we didn't know what to expect we rolled it out

00:15:14.309 --> 00:15:17.350
November 1st before the end of the year so November

00:15:17.350 --> 00:15:21.710
1st before by by December 28th, we had sold all

00:15:21.710 --> 00:15:24.309
1600 seats. They were sold out in less than eight

00:15:24.309 --> 00:15:27.809
weeks. And not only that, but you know, we had

00:15:27.809 --> 00:15:30.340
some major sponsors, banks. for example, Tompkins

00:15:30.340 --> 00:15:32.039
Trust Company, for example, they wanted to sponsor

00:15:32.039 --> 00:15:34.279
the first two rows. So in the end, you know,

00:15:34.379 --> 00:15:36.480
you do the math, 1 ,600 seats times 100, that's

00:15:36.480 --> 00:15:39.200
$160 ,000. But we had other people jump on, so

00:15:39.200 --> 00:15:41.500
we ended up raising over a quarter million dollars

00:15:41.500 --> 00:15:43.960
for the Save Your Seat campaign. And we allowed

00:15:43.960 --> 00:15:45.860
people to put, kind of like Twitter, it was like

00:15:45.860 --> 00:15:48.299
up to like 65 characters on that seed plaque.

00:15:48.700 --> 00:15:50.759
So it could be like Mike Mendese. Yeah, I forget

00:15:50.759 --> 00:15:52.879
what I wrote. I think it was something like,

00:15:53.299 --> 00:15:55.340
I've loved playing on the stage, but there's

00:15:55.340 --> 00:15:57.620
nothing better than being in the seat. Something

00:15:57.620 --> 00:16:00.080
like that. I mean, that's that's amazing. It

00:16:00.080 --> 00:16:01.899
was great. And, you know, some of the what was

00:16:01.899 --> 00:16:03.879
really touching is that a lot of the plaques

00:16:03.879 --> 00:16:05.639
I walk through, I was just walking through a

00:16:05.639 --> 00:16:08.019
couple of hours ago, a lot of them are in memory

00:16:08.019 --> 00:16:10.000
of people that have passed on. And that's really

00:16:10.000 --> 00:16:12.019
touching. It's really touching. And then but

00:16:12.019 --> 00:16:15.419
there's also like, you know. I don't know, Mike

00:16:15.419 --> 00:16:17.639
and Laura, first day ever at State Theater. That's

00:16:17.639 --> 00:16:19.259
so great. They went on their first day at the

00:16:19.259 --> 00:16:21.860
State Theater and they're signifying it here

00:16:21.860 --> 00:16:25.620
on their seat. What a brilliant campaign. One

00:16:25.620 --> 00:16:27.100
of my friends who lived, and the other thing,

00:16:27.139 --> 00:16:29.980
some people gave from California and Alaska,

00:16:30.419 --> 00:16:32.200
and one of my friends who lives in Austin, Texas,

00:16:32.679 --> 00:16:34.799
who used to come to I think every summer, and

00:16:34.799 --> 00:16:37.659
I would take him for wine slushies, and on his

00:16:37.659 --> 00:16:40.269
seat, like he said, congratulations. go to the

00:16:40.269 --> 00:16:42.529
lobby and ask Dougie for a free wine slushie.

00:16:43.009 --> 00:16:44.950
Yeah, it was obviously a joke, but it's still

00:16:44.950 --> 00:16:47.190
like three times a year. They're like, um, I'm

00:16:47.190 --> 00:16:48.610
here for my wine slushie. They come to the lobby

00:16:48.610 --> 00:16:50.669
and I'm like, I'll give them a free popcorn.

00:16:50.750 --> 00:16:53.429
That's great. My buddy. Yeah. See, now this is

00:16:53.429 --> 00:16:55.610
that's another to circle back. That's another

00:16:55.610 --> 00:17:00.149
example of why people are so, uh, appreciative

00:17:00.149 --> 00:17:02.889
of the state and and so willing to donate is

00:17:02.889 --> 00:17:06.089
because of the way what you do for the community

00:17:06.089 --> 00:17:08.309
we know what we have and that's why when the

00:17:08.309 --> 00:17:10.430
pandemic happened we were terrified because you

00:17:10.430 --> 00:17:12.910
know uh a lot of the great music venues in our

00:17:12.910 --> 00:17:14.750
area have closed over the years unfortunately

00:17:14.750 --> 00:17:17.630
absolutely and you know that that is one of the

00:17:17.630 --> 00:17:19.309
things that we are known for in i think is our

00:17:19.309 --> 00:17:22.289
music scene and and i you know you guys are single

00:17:22.289 --> 00:17:24.890
-handedly uh keeping keeping it alive yeah well

00:17:24.890 --> 00:17:27.619
you know it's it's I know we talk all about good

00:17:27.619 --> 00:17:30.799
news, New York, but it is a concern of mine in

00:17:30.799 --> 00:17:33.339
Ithaca right now, where the clubs, there's nowhere

00:17:33.339 --> 00:17:35.460
for a New York rock to really play right now.

00:17:35.720 --> 00:17:38.059
Deep dive, but there's no more hawn, there's

00:17:38.059 --> 00:17:42.539
no more range, and I want to focus on the good

00:17:42.539 --> 00:17:44.500
news, but it's getting really, it's really expensive

00:17:44.500 --> 00:17:47.259
to run a venue like that. Let me ask, do you

00:17:47.259 --> 00:17:49.549
think that's... Do you think that's an Ithaca

00:17:49.549 --> 00:17:52.509
problem? I'm genuinely asking because I'm trying

00:17:52.509 --> 00:17:54.789
to gauge if this is kind of going on everywhere

00:17:54.789 --> 00:17:57.430
post -pandemic or is it? I can only speak from

00:17:57.430 --> 00:18:00.130
what I'm seeing in my hometown of Ithaca. That

00:18:00.130 --> 00:18:03.359
being said, We work very closely with DSP shows.

00:18:03.839 --> 00:18:05.579
They would like to have a smaller venue to book

00:18:05.579 --> 00:18:08.759
too. And we're thinking about ways to make the

00:18:08.759 --> 00:18:11.519
state theater both that 1600 grand theater, but

00:18:11.519 --> 00:18:13.920
also converting it to more of that four or 500

00:18:13.920 --> 00:18:15.779
seat place. So in other words, shutting down

00:18:15.779 --> 00:18:17.920
the balcony, boom, those 700 seats are gone.

00:18:18.339 --> 00:18:20.180
And then we really want to, this is a little

00:18:20.180 --> 00:18:22.039
down the road, but we want to do a project where

00:18:22.039 --> 00:18:25.240
we're able to remove like the first. 10 to 12

00:18:25.240 --> 00:18:27.619
rows of seats and have almost like a big open

00:18:27.619 --> 00:18:30.920
dance floor for more club -like settings. It's

00:18:30.920 --> 00:18:32.700
a great idea. It's a great idea. I just need

00:18:32.700 --> 00:18:35.400
another quarter million dollars to do it. Well,

00:18:35.859 --> 00:18:39.319
get out there and donate, folks. You know, I

00:18:39.319 --> 00:18:42.930
remember going to... the Bowery Ballroom, I think,

00:18:43.269 --> 00:18:45.950
years ago, and I didn't realize there's like

00:18:45.950 --> 00:18:47.509
a bigger room, there's a smaller room, so maybe

00:18:47.509 --> 00:18:49.369
it's kind of like along those lines. Yeah, we

00:18:49.369 --> 00:18:51.410
want to be able to have more flexibility. Absolutely.

00:18:52.329 --> 00:18:54.150
And we actually, yeah, we already have some plans

00:18:54.150 --> 00:18:56.329
in place to do it. We have, I mean, I don't,

00:18:56.490 --> 00:18:58.369
like you said, I love that you see that every

00:18:58.369 --> 00:18:59.990
time you come, we're working on something. I

00:18:59.990 --> 00:19:01.470
mean it. That is very true. I mean, this summer

00:19:01.470 --> 00:19:03.609
alone, we got like five different projects that

00:19:03.609 --> 00:19:06.849
we're working on, at least five. I remember the,

00:19:07.390 --> 00:19:08.970
another, if you haven't been to the State Theater,

00:19:09.349 --> 00:19:11.660
the first couple rows, you guys renovated and

00:19:11.660 --> 00:19:14.400
it's like sitting in a lounge like a recliner.

00:19:14.619 --> 00:19:16.420
They're actually the same exact seats that you

00:19:16.420 --> 00:19:18.880
see in like the front row of an NBA game. Really?

00:19:19.019 --> 00:19:20.319
Yeah, they're literally this and they're called

00:19:20.319 --> 00:19:22.859
they're made by spec seats. So yeah, you know,

00:19:23.059 --> 00:19:25.039
I mean, we keep professionalism high there, you

00:19:25.039 --> 00:19:26.940
know, when you're getting like these major acts

00:19:26.940 --> 00:19:29.500
and people are paying, you know. Decent chunk

00:19:29.500 --> 00:19:31.660
of change to buy a ticket there. Yeah, which

00:19:31.660 --> 00:19:33.500
by the way, I do have to say another concern

00:19:33.500 --> 00:19:35.920
is the secondary ticket market Please know I

00:19:35.920 --> 00:19:38.240
think it's just go right to state of Ithaca dot

00:19:38.240 --> 00:19:40.880
o RG Do not do not go to vivid seats or anything

00:19:40.880 --> 00:19:43.319
else do not buy your tickets at the State Theatre

00:19:43.319 --> 00:19:46.339
Do not buy them on any of those third party.

00:19:46.339 --> 00:19:48.619
It's state of Ithaca dot org, please that isn't

00:19:48.619 --> 00:19:50.940
I'm glad you said that well, you'll pay a lot

00:19:50.940 --> 00:19:52.920
a lot You'll pay the actual ticket price, right?

00:19:53.059 --> 00:19:56.539
Not I mean some sometimes it's it's absurd what's

00:19:56.539 --> 00:19:58.880
going on. Frankly. It's sadly it's legal It is.

00:19:59.220 --> 00:20:04.660
I know. I do want to mention, we're going to

00:20:04.660 --> 00:20:05.779
talk about upcoming shows and stuff like that,

00:20:06.039 --> 00:20:08.059
but for those of you who have not been to the

00:20:08.059 --> 00:20:11.359
State Theater, which would be very surprising,

00:20:12.539 --> 00:20:15.920
we're not talking about... you know, mid -range

00:20:15.920 --> 00:20:19.680
acts. I just wanna list off a few acts that I've

00:20:19.680 --> 00:20:23.839
seen recently, okay? The Wallflowers, Nikki Glaser,

00:20:24.039 --> 00:20:28.480
Nate Bargazzi, Mark Norman, Tom Segura. You were

00:20:28.480 --> 00:20:32.500
at live? Live, yep, I was there for live. I mean,

00:20:32.559 --> 00:20:36.140
the list goes on. Elvis Costello was there. Elvis

00:20:36.140 --> 00:20:39.160
Costello. Yep. I mean, you guys are getting some

00:20:39.160 --> 00:20:43.830
major, major acts, and do you think the... that

00:20:43.830 --> 00:20:46.710
maybe the upgrades are playing a part in that?

00:20:46.809 --> 00:20:50.569
Oh, definitely. Oh, yeah. They we are striving

00:20:50.569 --> 00:20:52.630
to just be as professional and welcoming theater

00:20:52.630 --> 00:20:53.970
as possible. We're also trying to be a theater

00:20:53.970 --> 00:20:56.509
for everyone, too. So we're trying to to book,

00:20:56.509 --> 00:20:58.890
you know, a wider spectrum as well. But yeah,

00:20:58.890 --> 00:21:01.190
when when artists, I mean, a little bit of my

00:21:01.190 --> 00:21:02.990
background, you know, you're in New York, you're

00:21:02.990 --> 00:21:04.950
a croc. I mean, I managed a rock band for 10

00:21:04.950 --> 00:21:06.910
years. Also, Hubcap, Hubcap. Yeah, I love Hubcap.

00:21:06.910 --> 00:21:09.710
First time I met you was on a radio show. Probably

00:21:09.710 --> 00:21:11.730
you were there with one of the guys. Yep. Yep.

00:21:12.509 --> 00:21:16.690
And just going from town to town, sometimes you

00:21:16.690 --> 00:21:18.450
come to a crappy venue and you don't have that

00:21:18.450 --> 00:21:20.150
creative experience. I want to make sure when

00:21:20.150 --> 00:21:22.250
artists come to Ithaca that they have a memorable,

00:21:22.529 --> 00:21:26.529
fantastic, warm, loving experience. And we try

00:21:26.529 --> 00:21:28.690
to roll the red carpet out for them and go a

00:21:28.690 --> 00:21:30.269
little above and beyond. The other thing that

00:21:30.269 --> 00:21:33.069
we've done over the last 10, 15 years, a lot

00:21:33.069 --> 00:21:35.549
of bands, when they kick off a tour, they want

00:21:35.549 --> 00:21:38.470
to rehearse for a few days. And we often give

00:21:38.470 --> 00:21:41.690
them five days in Ithaca. So you might see, yeah.

00:21:41.740 --> 00:21:43.519
So they might come in on a Sunday and not play

00:21:43.519 --> 00:21:45.460
their show until a Thursday. But they're actually

00:21:45.460 --> 00:21:47.660
there all day rehearsing. Not only are they working

00:21:47.660 --> 00:21:49.920
on their material, but they're really, it's more

00:21:49.920 --> 00:21:51.660
like tech. The guys are working out the lights

00:21:51.660 --> 00:21:53.839
and the sound. In fact, like one of my favorite,

00:21:54.039 --> 00:21:56.079
I assume the one question that I always get is,

00:21:56.099 --> 00:21:57.180
what's your favorite show that you ever had?

00:21:57.200 --> 00:21:59.279
That is on my list. And your least favorite,

00:21:59.539 --> 00:22:01.539
too. I'll come on that, too. We'll think about

00:22:01.539 --> 00:22:04.720
that. So I'll just cut to the chase. We had a

00:22:04.720 --> 00:22:07.680
band called The National who, amazing band, indie

00:22:07.680 --> 00:22:10.500
rock. And they can play Madison Square Garden

00:22:10.500 --> 00:22:11.880
if they wanted to. It was kind of a bit of an

00:22:11.880 --> 00:22:14.319
underplay, but they came here. They came to Ithaca

00:22:14.319 --> 00:22:17.680
on a Saturday or Sunday. And again, their show

00:22:17.680 --> 00:22:19.480
wasn't till Thursday and they were rehearsing

00:22:19.480 --> 00:22:20.900
and we kind of got to know them throughout the

00:22:20.900 --> 00:22:23.000
week. And they're actually like really nice guys.

00:22:23.960 --> 00:22:25.900
And the show, again, it wasn't till Thursday

00:22:25.900 --> 00:22:28.579
night, but Wednesday at noon, the tour manager

00:22:28.579 --> 00:22:30.619
comes into my office and he's like, so Doug,

00:22:31.160 --> 00:22:33.299
we've had a really good couple of days and we're

00:22:33.299 --> 00:22:35.920
like ready to rock. We want to do a full on show

00:22:35.920 --> 00:22:39.720
tonight, but we're only inviting 100 people.

00:22:40.380 --> 00:22:43.000
What? And I'm like, that's fine, no problem.

00:22:43.299 --> 00:22:45.559
I need to be one of those 100 people. That's

00:22:45.559 --> 00:22:47.960
my only rule. You mean 99. Yeah. And he was like,

00:22:47.980 --> 00:22:50.559
no problem. So The National, it was the day before

00:22:50.559 --> 00:22:52.420
their show. And I think it were coming up, it

00:22:52.420 --> 00:22:55.519
was like 10 years ago. But they did a full on

00:22:55.519 --> 00:22:57.799
complete and total rock show for 100 people at

00:22:57.799 --> 00:22:59.279
the State Theater the night before their tour

00:22:59.279 --> 00:23:01.039
kickoff. And I was lucky enough to be there.

00:23:01.059 --> 00:23:03.599
What was cool is. between songs, you know, at

00:23:03.599 --> 00:23:05.460
a big show, you know, everyone's applauding and

00:23:05.460 --> 00:23:06.920
they're, you know, it's a rock show. When there's

00:23:06.920 --> 00:23:08.119
only a hundred people, people could actually

00:23:08.119 --> 00:23:10.599
like yell out questions to them. Sure. Interview

00:23:10.599 --> 00:23:12.259
them like this. Yeah, yeah. And they would answer.

00:23:12.339 --> 00:23:13.920
But it was, that was my favorite show because

00:23:13.920 --> 00:23:16.319
they spared no expense. It was like full lights,

00:23:16.400 --> 00:23:18.440
full sound, but only a hundred people there.

00:23:18.660 --> 00:23:20.400
And it wasn't like a hundred people because ticket

00:23:20.400 --> 00:23:21.920
sales were bad. It was a hundred people because

00:23:21.920 --> 00:23:24.559
they're VIPs that got into the show and they're

00:23:24.559 --> 00:23:26.160
doing a special like one -off for you. Yeah.

00:23:26.160 --> 00:23:29.319
That was pretty, pretty phenomenal. That is amazing.

00:23:29.339 --> 00:23:31.119
Yeah. And it's great too, because you're almost

00:23:31.119 --> 00:23:33.759
like an imb... of the town, not only are you

00:23:33.759 --> 00:23:35.599
giving them a space to do whatever they need

00:23:35.599 --> 00:23:37.880
to do, now they get a chance to see Ithaca. And

00:23:37.880 --> 00:23:41.000
as I said before, every single artist that comes

00:23:41.000 --> 00:23:44.339
out on that stage always says, man, what's going

00:23:44.339 --> 00:23:46.680
on? I've never been here. This place is so amazing.

00:23:46.980 --> 00:23:48.839
Didn't you say Mark Norman said he wanted to

00:23:48.839 --> 00:23:50.680
possibly shoot a special? Is that true? That

00:23:50.680 --> 00:23:53.059
is true, yeah. I don't know if that should be

00:23:53.059 --> 00:23:56.880
publicized or not. And honestly, we don't have

00:23:56.880 --> 00:24:00.190
to edit it out or anything. I don't know if he

00:24:00.190 --> 00:24:02.109
says that after every show either, but but but

00:24:02.109 --> 00:24:04.549
he did say he just played there. What was it

00:24:04.549 --> 00:24:06.750
April? Yeah, he was like, yeah, he was just there

00:24:06.750 --> 00:24:09.450
like like a month ago. Great show. You were awesome.

00:24:09.509 --> 00:24:11.670
He was great. Yeah. And and he had a great time.

00:24:11.690 --> 00:24:13.210
And after the show, he was like, you know, this

00:24:13.210 --> 00:24:15.230
kind of room like this would be great for a Netflix

00:24:15.230 --> 00:24:17.589
for literally a Netflix special. That's me. And

00:24:17.589 --> 00:24:19.890
what a compliment. Yeah, it's great. It's wonderful.

00:24:20.369 --> 00:24:22.269
It's the other thing. Paula Poundstone. Like

00:24:22.269 --> 00:24:24.750
you say, they experienced the town. Paula. I

00:24:24.750 --> 00:24:27.130
mean, at this point, she like, she gives me a

00:24:27.130 --> 00:24:29.230
hug. Hey, Doug, how are the kids? Because she

00:24:29.230 --> 00:24:31.650
comes in there. She's like every year. She's

00:24:31.650 --> 00:24:33.769
like every two year cycle. She's also like built

00:24:33.769 --> 00:24:37.309
for Ithaca. She's like very, like very cerebral.

00:24:37.789 --> 00:24:40.569
But, you know, my favorite line of hers, the

00:24:40.569 --> 00:24:43.630
last time she was at the State Theater, she just

00:24:43.630 --> 00:24:45.029
comes out on stage and, you know, we're like

00:24:45.029 --> 00:24:47.549
a stone throw from the commons and, you know,

00:24:47.730 --> 00:24:50.109
cannabis is legal now. And she comes out and

00:24:50.109 --> 00:24:52.839
she's like, so. I don't know if you guys heard,

00:24:52.920 --> 00:24:55.319
but I was recently diagnosed with glaucoma and

00:24:55.319 --> 00:24:57.000
my doctor said, don't worry about it. Just walk

00:24:57.000 --> 00:24:59.859
up and down the comments. You'll be fine. It's

00:24:59.859 --> 00:25:02.700
true, dude. I've heard other artists go, you

00:25:02.700 --> 00:25:04.619
know, this place is nice, but you could use another

00:25:04.619 --> 00:25:07.700
head shop. You know, like we do. It's a college

00:25:07.700 --> 00:25:09.920
town. It's Ithaca, man. That's the beauty of

00:25:09.920 --> 00:25:12.579
it. Absolutely. Amazing part of all of this.

00:25:12.619 --> 00:25:15.079
And again, why we feel like we're all part owners.

00:25:16.039 --> 00:25:18.339
You have volunteers that work. We do. And I don't

00:25:18.339 --> 00:25:21.890
mean a few. They turn out full staff. Overall

00:25:21.890 --> 00:25:25.069
we have I think it's like 196 volunteers. They

00:25:25.069 --> 00:25:27.230
don't all come to every show. It's usually like

00:25:27.230 --> 00:25:30.170
15 to 25 volunteers per show. But they are the

00:25:30.170 --> 00:25:32.549
folks that volunteer their time. They get trained

00:25:32.549 --> 00:25:36.309
so they know how to deal with a security issue,

00:25:36.549 --> 00:25:39.390
an emergency, et cetera. But they scan your tickets.

00:25:39.490 --> 00:25:41.650
They show you to your seats. They answer where

00:25:41.650 --> 00:25:44.190
the bathroom is. And I mean, part of it also,

00:25:44.289 --> 00:25:46.170
like me and you, they're music lovers. It's a

00:25:46.170 --> 00:25:48.150
great way to go to a show. You give back to this

00:25:48.150 --> 00:25:51.150
community asset. And then you work a bit during,

00:25:51.150 --> 00:25:52.859
you know, beginning. part, but generally you

00:25:52.859 --> 00:25:55.000
can enjoy the show near the end as well. And

00:25:55.000 --> 00:25:57.700
everybody's so friendly, you know, and do you

00:25:57.700 --> 00:25:59.700
have any like repeat volunteers that have been

00:25:59.700 --> 00:26:05.400
there for years? We have one volunteer. Leslie

00:26:05.400 --> 00:26:07.019
Kinsland, I'm going to drop her name. Let's do

00:26:07.019 --> 00:26:10.299
it. Leslie Kinsland. What's up? She just retired

00:26:10.299 --> 00:26:11.980
from volunteering, but she's been there since

00:26:11.980 --> 00:26:15.480
the 90s. I'm not kidding you. Yeah. Before you?

00:26:15.680 --> 00:26:18.480
Yeah. Well before me. And not only that, but

00:26:18.480 --> 00:26:21.000
she also, for a number of years, lent us a beautiful

00:26:21.000 --> 00:26:23.279
Steinway & Sons piano that was on our stage for

00:26:23.279 --> 00:26:25.619
15 years as well. But yeah, some people are just

00:26:25.619 --> 00:26:28.339
so kind and giving and passionate about the art

00:26:28.339 --> 00:26:31.980
succeeding in Ithaca. So props to Leslie. I mean,

00:26:31.980 --> 00:26:34.819
she basically gave her time. And she's just like,

00:26:34.920 --> 00:26:36.380
I love you guys. I just don't go out at night

00:26:36.380 --> 00:26:38.180
anymore. So I can't really volunteer much anymore.

00:26:38.660 --> 00:26:40.240
So we really appreciate it all the time. But

00:26:40.240 --> 00:26:42.000
we have a number of volunteers that have been

00:26:42.000 --> 00:26:43.640
there since the 90s. I'm not kidding you. That's

00:26:43.640 --> 00:26:46.220
amazing. But what's beautiful is that this past

00:26:46.220 --> 00:26:48.960
year, Sarah Flenders, she's our audience services

00:26:48.960 --> 00:26:50.680
manager and trains the volunteers and recruits

00:26:50.680 --> 00:26:52.720
them. She's done a wonderful job bringing new

00:26:52.720 --> 00:26:54.859
people in as well. So this year, we had a lot

00:26:54.859 --> 00:26:57.519
of new faces too, which is great. So it's really

00:26:57.519 --> 00:27:00.140
great. You just reminded me of, I was walking

00:27:00.140 --> 00:27:03.119
in with my wife once to a show. And I look, and

00:27:03.119 --> 00:27:05.460
this woman scans my ticket, and I'm like, hey,

00:27:05.680 --> 00:27:08.559
doc, who's my doctor? Your doctor. And so we

00:27:08.559 --> 00:27:11.440
walk away, and my wife goes, are they not paying

00:27:11.440 --> 00:27:13.059
your doctor well? Like, why is she working here,

00:27:13.079 --> 00:27:15.619
too? I'm like, no, it's all volunteer. You have

00:27:15.619 --> 00:27:18.779
to, like, for you to get a doctor on her free

00:27:18.779 --> 00:27:20.779
time to volunteer, you must be doing it right.

00:27:20.880 --> 00:27:24.420
Oh, we have full on Cornell professors, bankers.

00:27:25.000 --> 00:27:27.650
Yeah, and it's not. Partially. Yes, you get you

00:27:27.650 --> 00:27:29.170
do get to see the show for free. But you're also

00:27:29.170 --> 00:27:31.490
giving back to a community asset and people get

00:27:31.490 --> 00:27:33.470
it. If people want to volunteer, just state of

00:27:33.470 --> 00:27:36.349
it. Yeah, that's fine. You can find us on Facebook

00:27:36.349 --> 00:27:40.130
or any social media, really. Yeah. Go to just

00:27:40.130 --> 00:27:42.369
go to our website and contact us there. Can I

00:27:42.369 --> 00:27:44.279
just talk about. the projects that we're working

00:27:44.279 --> 00:27:45.579
on this summer? Of course! Yeah, that was going

00:27:45.579 --> 00:27:48.079
to get there too. Yeah, okay. So I said we're

00:27:48.079 --> 00:27:50.839
doing the railings upstairs, making a safer balcony,

00:27:51.460 --> 00:27:53.839
and we are looking for, we're still looking for

00:27:53.839 --> 00:27:56.900
some support there, but we're over 50%. I mean,

00:27:56.900 --> 00:27:59.180
we basically need about another nine, $10 ,000,

00:27:59.240 --> 00:28:02.099
and then the project will get done. And that

00:28:02.099 --> 00:28:03.819
seems pretty attainable. Stateofethica .org,

00:28:03.859 --> 00:28:07.119
donate. Yep, thank you. We're also, you'll like

00:28:07.119 --> 00:28:09.960
this one, we are finally going to replace all

00:28:09.960 --> 00:28:12.079
of our incandescent, all of our stage lights

00:28:12.079 --> 00:28:15.380
are old. from like the late 70s, early 80s. With

00:28:15.380 --> 00:28:18.500
the gels? Gels. Oh, no shit! So we're finally

00:28:18.500 --> 00:28:22.200
going to go LED and be way more energy efficient

00:28:22.200 --> 00:28:24.640
and frankly just efficient as an organization.

00:28:25.039 --> 00:28:27.359
So right now we literally have to bring... those

00:28:27.359 --> 00:28:29.599
stage lights down and change the gels so that

00:28:29.599 --> 00:28:31.740
the right colors for the artist. Now, and that

00:28:31.740 --> 00:28:34.339
takes like hours. And with LED, you just type

00:28:34.339 --> 00:28:35.759
it up on a computer, you're done in five minutes.

00:28:36.119 --> 00:28:38.259
So that is a basically it's like a quarter million

00:28:38.259 --> 00:28:42.019
dollar project. We have about we have about $42

00:28:42.019 --> 00:28:44.539
,000 to go with that. And I'm meeting with some

00:28:44.539 --> 00:28:46.299
actually have a meeting with a sponsor tomorrow

00:28:46.299 --> 00:28:49.160
about it. So we're trying to and some some grant

00:28:49.160 --> 00:28:51.259
some foundations as well. State of Ithaca dot

00:28:51.259 --> 00:28:53.460
org. He had to keep saying we're finally going

00:28:53.460 --> 00:28:56.140
to replace the stage lights. We're doing some

00:28:56.079 --> 00:28:57.940
work to the bar that I mentioned so not only

00:28:57.940 --> 00:29:01.180
the monitors and the sound piping in but the

00:29:01.180 --> 00:29:03.720
bar to create that space it was half a million

00:29:03.720 --> 00:29:05.599
dollars and then we just basically took the old

00:29:05.599 --> 00:29:08.240
bar from inside the theater moved it in so we

00:29:08.240 --> 00:29:10.160
want to redo the bar so it all like matches and

00:29:10.160 --> 00:29:12.140
looks nice sure we're gonna do that and we're

00:29:12.140 --> 00:29:14.200
gonna I said some new refrigeration and maybe

00:29:14.629 --> 00:29:16.430
I want to decorate a little better in there,

00:29:16.509 --> 00:29:18.410
too, and make it known that you're in a special

00:29:18.410 --> 00:29:20.990
place. And then some of the smaller projects.

00:29:22.089 --> 00:29:24.470
Last summer, we put a brand new ramp in. There's

00:29:24.470 --> 00:29:27.049
a weird step, because the building's almost 100

00:29:27.049 --> 00:29:29.930
years old. And it also was formerly a car garage.

00:29:30.029 --> 00:29:31.569
I don't know if you knew that or not. No. Yeah,

00:29:31.569 --> 00:29:33.549
they sold Studebakers out of that building before

00:29:33.549 --> 00:29:36.130
it was a theater. Yeah. But there's this weird

00:29:36.130 --> 00:29:39.109
step that, frankly, people with accessibility

00:29:39.109 --> 00:29:42.779
issues have a challenge with. more critical is

00:29:42.779 --> 00:29:44.279
that at the end of the show when you're leaving

00:29:44.279 --> 00:29:46.119
the show and you're like what a great show and

00:29:46.119 --> 00:29:48.079
you had a couple beers there's like a sea of

00:29:48.079 --> 00:29:50.099
people walking out and everyone misses that step

00:29:50.099 --> 00:29:52.400
so we've had a lot of like twisted ankles or

00:29:52.400 --> 00:29:54.960
whatnot so we put a ramp in on one side last

00:29:54.960 --> 00:29:58.819
year and it solved everything with that so now

00:29:58.819 --> 00:30:00.380
we're just doing another ramp on the other side

00:30:00.380 --> 00:30:02.640
so Adam Zander is our production manager is a

00:30:02.640 --> 00:30:05.079
whiz and he came up with the design for the first

00:30:05.079 --> 00:30:06.619
one he's designing the second one and we're gonna

00:30:06.619 --> 00:30:09.359
build that another ramp so make it again safety

00:30:09.359 --> 00:30:11.920
which is great And then the other, this is again,

00:30:12.000 --> 00:30:13.579
a smaller project, but we're just redoing the

00:30:13.579 --> 00:30:15.900
stairs. There's two sets of stairs that go to

00:30:15.900 --> 00:30:18.640
the stage. And for whatever reason, their height

00:30:18.640 --> 00:30:20.740
is a little off. They're like too high. And some

00:30:20.740 --> 00:30:23.279
people ever go on like a weird stair, like kind

00:30:23.279 --> 00:30:27.119
of fall up it. Oh, yeah. Daily. Yeah. Yeah, exactly.

00:30:27.759 --> 00:30:29.819
Sober or not. Getting old. Yeah. We're going

00:30:29.819 --> 00:30:31.839
to redo the stairs also. So like these are all

00:30:31.839 --> 00:30:33.599
like exciting, fun projects. You know, the other

00:30:33.599 --> 00:30:37.539
thing we we often do. Like we used to rotate.

00:30:37.680 --> 00:30:39.700
We do a sexy project that like the public can

00:30:39.700 --> 00:30:41.680
really see. And then like next summer we might

00:30:41.680 --> 00:30:43.519
just be doing all like the sewer plumbing. Right.

00:30:43.599 --> 00:30:46.059
Right. The boring stuff. The boring. The boilers.

00:30:46.099 --> 00:30:48.180
Yeah. That keeps you warm. But like no one sees

00:30:48.180 --> 00:30:50.539
it. But this is a this is a sexy summer. We're

00:30:50.539 --> 00:30:52.240
getting a lot of sexy projects. Sexy summer.

00:30:52.660 --> 00:30:54.859
Twenty five is the sexy summer. Twenty five.

00:30:55.160 --> 00:30:58.720
Yes. So those are our projects. Yeah. We have

00:30:58.720 --> 00:31:00.759
a bunch. We are also, of course, working on more

00:31:00.759 --> 00:31:03.279
shows for the fall. We just announced a couple

00:31:03.279 --> 00:31:05.740
of weeks ago. I think a boys make good. We have.

00:31:05.710 --> 00:31:07.849
Ex Ambassadors coming for two nights. They're

00:31:07.849 --> 00:31:09.390
from Ithaca, by the way. They're from it. Yeah.

00:31:09.390 --> 00:31:10.970
You guys probably know the song like Renegade

00:31:10.970 --> 00:31:15.970
or Unsteady. Yep. They their album VHS came out

00:31:15.970 --> 00:31:18.470
10 years ago. So this is the celebration of 10

00:31:18.470 --> 00:31:21.829
years of VHS. Crazy. So two nights in September.

00:31:22.490 --> 00:31:24.670
And we have like already booked. We have Celtic

00:31:24.670 --> 00:31:28.029
Thunder, Steve Hackett from Genesis, Guitar Whiz.

00:31:28.769 --> 00:31:30.490
We just announced a couple of days ago, Modest

00:31:30.490 --> 00:31:33.269
Mouse with Built a Spill opening. That's going

00:31:33.269 --> 00:31:36.059
to be a killer show. And then we're bringing,

00:31:36.200 --> 00:31:37.779
you know, we have, we like having some of the

00:31:37.779 --> 00:31:39.680
cover bands like Almost Queen coming back. I

00:31:39.680 --> 00:31:41.259
went to that. Yeah, they're great. Very sad.

00:31:41.319 --> 00:31:42.579
It was awesome. They're great. They're great.

00:31:42.680 --> 00:31:44.799
The Beatles one. Beatles. Yep. That was fantastic.

00:31:44.920 --> 00:31:47.119
Some bands like Led Zeppelin, for example, we

00:31:47.119 --> 00:31:48.819
get the lead out every couple of years. Some

00:31:48.819 --> 00:31:51.539
bands like Pink Floyd and Zeppelin, no matter,

00:31:51.579 --> 00:31:53.880
it's just so good to hear it played live. Played

00:31:53.880 --> 00:31:56.839
live and played well. I tell people to this and

00:31:56.839 --> 00:31:59.019
I've been to many, I've seen them all, Metallica,

00:31:59.180 --> 00:32:01.880
Aerosmith. One of the best shows I ever saw was

00:32:01.880 --> 00:32:03.759
The Machine. I love them. At the state. Yeah.

00:32:03.940 --> 00:32:05.380
Right. Is that who they were? Yeah, yeah. The

00:32:05.380 --> 00:32:07.759
Machine. Pink Floyd. Because obviously, you know,

00:32:07.799 --> 00:32:10.259
I'm in my 40s now. Pink Floyd wasn't playing

00:32:10.259 --> 00:32:13.240
live when I was old enough to go to shows. This

00:32:13.240 --> 00:32:15.400
is as close as I'm going to get. And they I mean,

00:32:15.519 --> 00:32:17.059
it's like seeing Pink Floyd. I mean, they do

00:32:17.059 --> 00:32:20.140
the full thing. Yeah, it's and some bands, you

00:32:20.140 --> 00:32:22.809
know. Like, for example, we also had Dark Star

00:32:22.809 --> 00:32:24.869
Orchestra. We have them pretty much every year.

00:32:24.910 --> 00:32:26.210
They're like the premier Grateful Dead tribute

00:32:26.210 --> 00:32:29.490
show. And I would rather see Dark Star play at

00:32:29.490 --> 00:32:31.910
the State Theater than like what's left of the

00:32:31.910 --> 00:32:33.289
Grateful Dead these days. Yeah, it's not the

00:32:33.289 --> 00:32:34.890
same. And I know you're a big deadhead, right?

00:32:34.890 --> 00:32:37.470
I'm a deadhead, yeah, but it's just for the sound

00:32:37.470 --> 00:32:39.690
quality. It just sounds better to me. No, I get

00:32:39.690 --> 00:32:44.250
it. I got to ask you this before we go. Is there

00:32:44.250 --> 00:32:46.990
a dream artist that you were able to get or that

00:32:46.990 --> 00:32:49.609
you're still waiting on, like, if I can get this

00:32:49.609 --> 00:32:52.710
person? Yeah, OK. I know that's a great question.

00:32:53.230 --> 00:32:54.869
We've we've checked the box off with a few of

00:32:54.869 --> 00:32:58.589
them, one being like I'm a huge Wilco fan. So

00:32:58.589 --> 00:33:00.390
not only have we had Jeff Tweedy, but we also

00:33:00.390 --> 00:33:02.690
had the band Wilco. That was great. I have a

00:33:02.690 --> 00:33:05.309
funny story about that one. We also, you know,

00:33:05.410 --> 00:33:07.089
Fish played the state theater a lot in the early

00:33:07.089 --> 00:33:10.380
90s and then Trey and then we had Trey. probably

00:33:10.380 --> 00:33:12.339
the best week of my life. And I'm going to make

00:33:12.339 --> 00:33:15.460
you a little jealous here. But it was early February

00:33:15.460 --> 00:33:18.700
2017. That Sunday, my Philadelphia Eagles won

00:33:18.700 --> 00:33:21.079
their first Super Bowl ever. And then five days

00:33:21.079 --> 00:33:23.740
later, Trey Anastasio came and played at the

00:33:23.740 --> 00:33:26.079
State Theater. It was it was like and none of

00:33:26.079 --> 00:33:28.400
that. But my friends from Philly came up for

00:33:28.400 --> 00:33:30.440
the Trey show. And then I remember the next day

00:33:30.440 --> 00:33:32.359
they all came over and we literally just rewatched

00:33:32.359 --> 00:33:37.299
the Super Bowl. That's great. That was probably

00:33:37.299 --> 00:33:39.180
the best week of my life. I have the saddest

00:33:39.180 --> 00:33:41.720
version of that story where I went to a Bills

00:33:41.720 --> 00:33:43.859
game when I had season tickets. They had beat

00:33:43.859 --> 00:33:46.940
the Patriots for the first time in 14 years at

00:33:46.940 --> 00:33:48.839
home, which was like our Super Bowl at the time.

00:33:48.839 --> 00:33:52.460
And then that night, I changed at the hotel in

00:33:52.460 --> 00:33:54.960
Buffalo and went to see the Foo Fighters where

00:33:54.960 --> 00:33:57.380
the Sabres play at the Key Bank. And my head

00:33:57.380 --> 00:33:58.799
was going to explode by the end of the night.

00:33:59.059 --> 00:34:02.440
So when you can include your sports team and

00:34:02.440 --> 00:34:07.460
music, there's nothing better. So my list still,

00:34:07.519 --> 00:34:09.219
I mean. At this point it's getting tough because

00:34:09.219 --> 00:34:10.800
you've had so many. We've had so many great people.

00:34:11.460 --> 00:34:14.300
You know, at this point I would love to just

00:34:14.300 --> 00:34:17.360
get Neil Young solo acoustic would be, you know,

00:34:17.500 --> 00:34:20.099
come out and do. That would be. The solo set.

00:34:20.260 --> 00:34:22.559
I'd just kneel on a guitar and a harmonica would

00:34:22.559 --> 00:34:26.420
be my dream. My dream would be fantastic. You

00:34:26.420 --> 00:34:28.760
know, and when Trey came back, you know, that

00:34:28.760 --> 00:34:31.099
Super Bowl week for me, what I loved about that

00:34:31.099 --> 00:34:35.440
show, you know, he. He told a lot of really endearing

00:34:35.440 --> 00:34:37.820
stories, not only, yes, about the state theater,

00:34:37.860 --> 00:34:39.519
but about Ithaca, too, which was really, really

00:34:39.519 --> 00:34:41.039
great. He was like name dropping people that

00:34:41.039 --> 00:34:43.179
I'm friends with. He was like, hey, where's Sweet

00:34:43.179 --> 00:34:44.679
Pete? You know, Sweet Pete's in - He remembered.

00:34:44.739 --> 00:34:46.500
Sweet Pete is a guitar player in Stone Cold Miracle,

00:34:46.500 --> 00:34:48.500
like today. And he was like, where's Sweet Pete?

00:34:48.559 --> 00:34:50.440
Is Sweet Pete here? And Sweet Pete, I don't know

00:34:50.440 --> 00:34:52.519
where he was that night, but I know that guy,

00:34:52.719 --> 00:34:55.119
and so does Trey. He told a great story. I've

00:34:55.119 --> 00:34:59.349
always heard the story about Fish. They were

00:34:59.349 --> 00:35:02.269
touring around in this beat up mom and dad, like

00:35:02.269 --> 00:35:04.349
minivan kind of thing. And at the State Theater

00:35:04.349 --> 00:35:08.090
of Ithaca in the early, in like 91, their record

00:35:08.090 --> 00:35:11.130
company finally gave him a real bus and he presented

00:35:11.130 --> 00:35:14.309
it to them in Ithaca. So Trey told the story

00:35:14.309 --> 00:35:17.329
of from the stage, he got up and showed where

00:35:17.329 --> 00:35:20.250
he stood when he tossed out the keys to the old

00:35:20.250 --> 00:35:23.159
fish. minivan and whoever caught the keys won

00:35:23.159 --> 00:35:25.679
the fish minivan. Are you kidding? Yeah, and

00:35:25.679 --> 00:35:27.679
he and he'd like he told the story like like

00:35:27.679 --> 00:35:30.699
it was yesterday. It was it was so nice. It was

00:35:30.699 --> 00:35:33.539
amazing. Yes. You know, there's all those little

00:35:33.539 --> 00:35:36.360
stories about things like that in Ithaca. Like,

00:35:36.960 --> 00:35:39.019
I don't know if you know this one. Some of Kurt

00:35:39.019 --> 00:35:41.139
Cobain's ashes are I do know that the Buddhist

00:35:41.139 --> 00:35:44.039
monastery there. Courtney Courtney Love brought

00:35:44.039 --> 00:35:45.300
them here. Yeah, she was the one that brought

00:35:45.300 --> 00:35:48.769
them. And then another cool one is that Now,

00:35:48.789 --> 00:35:50.969
I'm not a deadhead. I appreciate the dead, but

00:35:50.969 --> 00:35:53.829
I can't say I'm a deadhead. But one thing I've

00:35:53.829 --> 00:35:56.070
learned, I thought it was just between the Grateful

00:35:56.070 --> 00:35:59.769
Dead, like the Ithaca deadheads, but I found

00:35:59.769 --> 00:36:02.849
out it's like known throughout. that the Barton

00:36:02.849 --> 00:36:05.250
Hall concert. That's concert of all time. Yeah.

00:36:05.250 --> 00:36:08.250
Is that true? It's like the most revered and

00:36:08.250 --> 00:36:09.710
loved. You know, there's a lot of reasons for

00:36:09.710 --> 00:36:11.449
it. And I absolutely love it. I celebrate it

00:36:11.449 --> 00:36:14.309
every year. It was on May 8th, 1977 at Barton

00:36:14.309 --> 00:36:18.010
Hall, Cornell, for those. And they it is part

00:36:18.010 --> 00:36:19.989
of it is that there's this woman that toured

00:36:19.989 --> 00:36:22.730
with them named Betty that that did a fantastic

00:36:22.730 --> 00:36:25.489
job of recording the shows. So there was this

00:36:25.489 --> 00:36:27.730
gem. It was like better than an album recording

00:36:27.730 --> 00:36:30.869
of it that circulated for decades. And I mean,

00:36:30.929 --> 00:36:32.769
dude, The first time I grew up in Philadelphia,

00:36:32.789 --> 00:36:34.789
Pennsylvania, the first time I ever even heard

00:36:34.789 --> 00:36:37.750
of Ithaca, New York ever was on the side of a

00:36:37.750 --> 00:36:39.800
Maxell cassette tape. Barton Hall, five eight

00:36:39.800 --> 00:36:41.579
seventy seven. Oh, shit. New York. First time

00:36:41.579 --> 00:36:43.219
I ever heard of this town. See, that's what I

00:36:43.219 --> 00:36:44.980
mean. So I thought it was an Ithaca thing. I'm

00:36:44.980 --> 00:36:46.679
like, well, of course, all the deadheads love

00:36:46.679 --> 00:36:48.179
that show because it was at Barton Hall. And

00:36:48.179 --> 00:36:49.500
then I found out they're like, no, dude, like

00:36:49.500 --> 00:36:52.460
if you go to San Francisco, you know, on the

00:36:52.460 --> 00:36:53.920
corner of Haight and Ashbury, like they'll tell

00:36:53.920 --> 00:36:56.940
you it's a very well. I mean, what was it about

00:36:56.940 --> 00:36:59.659
the show that was the set? The set list, the

00:36:59.659 --> 00:37:02.880
playing, the jams, all of the above. And they're

00:37:02.880 --> 00:37:06.039
also like 1970 spring of 77 is like the best

00:37:06.039 --> 00:37:08.139
dead tour. And like what very well known like

00:37:08.139 --> 00:37:10.380
people just love that whole spring tour. They

00:37:10.380 --> 00:37:12.099
were just like on fire then. Cherry was very

00:37:12.099 --> 00:37:14.039
healthy and they had some great material. They

00:37:14.039 --> 00:37:15.739
just came out with an album, Terrapin Station.

00:37:16.900 --> 00:37:21.840
Yeah, but the second set opens with a Scarlet

00:37:21.840 --> 00:37:24.059
fire, which is the best Scarlet going to fire

00:37:24.059 --> 00:37:26.860
on the mountain ever. And then it culminates

00:37:26.860 --> 00:37:29.539
into going, they also didn't stop. The whole

00:37:29.539 --> 00:37:31.119
set is just one, they never stopped playing.

00:37:31.260 --> 00:37:34.599
It's all just one song into another. And it culminates,

00:37:34.800 --> 00:37:37.480
there's a St. Stephen in there. There's also,

00:37:37.960 --> 00:37:40.440
They end with like the most epic walk me out

00:37:40.440 --> 00:37:42.659
in the morning do like of all time. So it's just

00:37:42.659 --> 00:37:44.659
it's a great show. Even if you if you don't like

00:37:44.659 --> 00:37:47.139
the dead. Like I like the dead. It's not. Next

00:37:47.139 --> 00:37:49.079
road trip. Put the second set five eight seventy

00:37:49.079 --> 00:37:51.039
seven on. You'll become a you'll understand what

00:37:51.039 --> 00:37:52.940
we're talking. Do you think do you think? I mean,

00:37:52.940 --> 00:37:54.480
I guess it's hard for you to answer this, but

00:37:54.480 --> 00:37:56.880
I feel like you know all your Doug Levine. Do

00:37:56.880 --> 00:37:58.960
you think it's revered as much within the band

00:37:58.960 --> 00:38:02.139
itself? Like they know they know they know that

00:38:02.139 --> 00:38:04.699
it's that it's well loved. And like Phil, Phil

00:38:04.699 --> 00:38:08.110
passed away recently. And like I saw Phil He

00:38:08.110 --> 00:38:11.789
played with Bob Dylan in November 15, 1999. And

00:38:11.789 --> 00:38:13.289
when he came out, he's like, it's so good to

00:38:13.289 --> 00:38:16.289
be in this hallowed hall. He knew that Barton

00:38:16.289 --> 00:38:19.150
Hall was special. But Bob Weir has been interviewed

00:38:19.150 --> 00:38:20.670
about the show. And he's like, dude, I can't

00:38:20.670 --> 00:38:22.829
remember one day from the other. When you're

00:38:22.829 --> 00:38:24.969
on tour, even a two -week tour, they all just

00:38:24.969 --> 00:38:25.929
kind of meld into each other. Yeah, you don't

00:38:25.929 --> 00:38:28.940
really, unless something. Yeah. you know, catastrophic

00:38:28.940 --> 00:38:30.900
happened. Like that's what I always wondered.

00:38:30.940 --> 00:38:32.400
Like if they knew when they got off the stage

00:38:32.400 --> 00:38:34.099
that night at Barton Hall, like, hey, man, we

00:38:34.099 --> 00:38:35.500
just did something special. Or if it was like,

00:38:35.699 --> 00:38:37.739
just another night on the tour. But for the fans.

00:38:37.880 --> 00:38:40.000
Yeah. And I'm sure, you know, probably a bunch

00:38:40.000 --> 00:38:41.880
of people that were at that show. I know a few.

00:38:42.460 --> 00:38:44.739
Yeah. Yeah. And I mean, that is that is so cool.

00:38:44.760 --> 00:38:46.239
I mean, there's all those little things about

00:38:46.239 --> 00:38:48.559
Ithaca that people don't realize. There's a lot

00:38:48.559 --> 00:38:51.139
of amazing history. Yeah. What didn't we talk

00:38:51.139 --> 00:38:53.440
about yet? We get it. All right. Let me kind

00:38:53.440 --> 00:38:56.340
of revere you from behind the scenes. Fun stories.

00:38:56.719 --> 00:39:00.980
Go. Okay, so let's see. I touched on... One of

00:39:00.980 --> 00:39:03.780
my dream bands was Jeff Tweedy, lead singer Wilco.

00:39:04.079 --> 00:39:06.340
So the first time he played at the State Theater,

00:39:06.840 --> 00:39:08.639
he actually came there first with a band called

00:39:08.639 --> 00:39:11.579
Tweedy, which was him and his son and a few other

00:39:11.579 --> 00:39:13.940
musicians. And I was so pumped that he was coming.

00:39:14.019 --> 00:39:15.659
So the night before, they played in Brooklyn

00:39:15.659 --> 00:39:18.639
and it was streamed for free. So, of course,

00:39:18.639 --> 00:39:21.119
I watched that show the night before and I got

00:39:21.119 --> 00:39:23.039
to the theater. Like normally I get there, whatever,

00:39:23.039 --> 00:39:25.239
I got there like 8 a .m. I was just pumped. I

00:39:25.239 --> 00:39:27.280
very rarely drank coffee, but I drank coffee

00:39:27.280 --> 00:39:30.539
that morning. And I'm in the lobby. 8 .30 in

00:39:30.539 --> 00:39:32.059
the morning, 8 .15, 8 .30 in the morning. I'm

00:39:32.059 --> 00:39:34.860
in the lobby just doing whatever Doug does, straightening

00:39:34.860 --> 00:39:37.079
up a little, just like, oh my God, Tweedy's coming

00:39:37.079 --> 00:39:39.980
today, I'm so psyched. And the front door opens

00:39:39.980 --> 00:39:42.260
and it's the one and only Jeff Tweedy. And we

00:39:42.260 --> 00:39:44.260
are standing there face to face and I'm just

00:39:44.260 --> 00:39:46.199
like, oh my God, welcome to the State Theater.

00:39:46.800 --> 00:39:49.820
And I go off, again, I don't drink coffee very

00:39:49.820 --> 00:39:51.780
often, but I'm basically giving him the history

00:39:51.780 --> 00:39:54.639
of the theater. Oh my God, we just redid the

00:39:54.639 --> 00:39:57.000
bathrooms, we have new toilets, da da da da da.

00:39:57.500 --> 00:40:00.920
And I'm just like talking a mile a minute. It

00:40:00.920 --> 00:40:02.739
must have been 15, 20 minutes. And he's like,

00:40:02.820 --> 00:40:05.679
finally, he goes, hey, where's your bathroom,

00:40:05.840 --> 00:40:09.940
man? That's all he wanted. You know, like very

00:40:09.940 --> 00:40:11.960
kindly, very kindly. I was like, dude, I'm sorry.

00:40:12.000 --> 00:40:13.900
I get it. He's just like drove up from Brooklyn.

00:40:14.019 --> 00:40:16.039
Dude, he's the take a whiz, like all Middle East

00:40:16.039 --> 00:40:18.539
men do. Like, man, I just need to piss. I didn't

00:40:18.539 --> 00:40:20.619
need to know about the history. The brand new

00:40:20.619 --> 00:40:23.340
seats. Yes. So that was my first meet with Tweety.

00:40:23.659 --> 00:40:27.760
And he's actually a very nice guy. The other,

00:40:28.199 --> 00:40:29.480
so the first time we had Gordon Lightfoot, I

00:40:29.480 --> 00:40:32.139
used to go backstage quite a bit. You know, I

00:40:32.139 --> 00:40:33.880
love what I do and I love meeting these guys.

00:40:34.500 --> 00:40:37.579
So Gordon Lightfoot had his sound check and then

00:40:37.579 --> 00:40:38.760
it was like, you know, there's kind of like a

00:40:38.760 --> 00:40:40.659
downtime before the show. So that's usually when

00:40:40.659 --> 00:40:42.539
I go down and I usually bring like those posters

00:40:42.539 --> 00:40:46.380
down to get signed and go downstairs to our dressing

00:40:46.380 --> 00:40:47.840
rooms. There's like, I don't know, like nine

00:40:47.840 --> 00:40:49.929
rooms down there. and one of the rooms has a

00:40:49.929 --> 00:40:52.489
couch on it. And I didn't realize, but Gordon

00:40:52.489 --> 00:40:56.269
Lightfoot, pretty heavy smoker, even up until

00:40:56.269 --> 00:41:00.269
his death, like two packs a day. And I go backstage

00:41:00.269 --> 00:41:02.429
and I go in the room where the couch is and he's

00:41:02.429 --> 00:41:06.769
laying on the couch, pretty ashen looking. Gordon's

00:41:06.769 --> 00:41:09.030
been around a while and I'm looking at him and

00:41:09.030 --> 00:41:14.750
it's very quiet and I'm like, holy shit, Gordon

00:41:14.750 --> 00:41:17.070
Lightfoot died at the state theater. I was like,

00:41:17.070 --> 00:41:19.719
in my head I'm like, Do I call 911? Like, I'm

00:41:19.719 --> 00:41:22.550
looking at a dead man. Like, holy shit. I'm like

00:41:22.550 --> 00:41:23.969
kind of like every thought is going through my

00:41:23.969 --> 00:41:26.369
head and panicking and then you know Suddenly

00:41:26.369 --> 00:41:28.230
like I see the chest move a little and he coughs

00:41:28.230 --> 00:41:30.230
a little I'm like, okay. Oh good life. What's

00:41:30.230 --> 00:41:33.550
alive? Okay, so that was that was first That's

00:41:33.550 --> 00:41:36.309
how you met a death scare. Yeah, but he was fine

00:41:36.309 --> 00:41:39.070
and he he was a not the healthy He was I think

00:41:39.070 --> 00:41:40.670
he had a cold that day too. He did not look that

00:41:40.670 --> 00:41:45.190
healthy another great story So benefit my state

00:41:45.190 --> 00:41:48.010
2015. We had a bunch of local bands one of them

00:41:48.010 --> 00:41:52.309
being the New York Rock that poster well there's

00:41:52.309 --> 00:41:55.070
in my good basement when you're coming down the

00:41:55.070 --> 00:41:57.110
stairs it's framed with all our autographs I'm

00:41:57.110 --> 00:41:59.590
hoping you remember this but midway through your

00:41:59.590 --> 00:42:02.469
set you you talked about how pumped you were

00:42:02.469 --> 00:42:03.809
to be playing at the State Theater and being

00:42:03.809 --> 00:42:06.130
on stage. And I believe your wife and very young

00:42:06.130 --> 00:42:08.269
daughter were there at the time. And I swear,

00:42:08.889 --> 00:42:11.510
first of all, you teased a Creed song. You did

00:42:11.510 --> 00:42:13.969
your Scott Stapp where you did the, well, I just

00:42:13.969 --> 00:42:16.670
heard. With arms wide open. He wrote that about

00:42:16.670 --> 00:42:19.449
his kid. Yeah, it was very, we all got the, oh,

00:42:19.630 --> 00:42:21.090
music lovers got the joke. Two people got the

00:42:21.090 --> 00:42:23.349
joke. I got the joke. But your wife held your

00:42:23.349 --> 00:42:25.130
daughter up like this. It was like fucking Simba

00:42:25.130 --> 00:42:31.250
from The Lion King. I had that made. Someone

00:42:31.250 --> 00:42:33.750
had that made for me into a canvas print that

00:42:33.750 --> 00:42:36.449
is also in my basement of me on stage at the

00:42:36.449 --> 00:42:40.429
state and my daughter with headphones on. Goosebumps,

00:42:40.610 --> 00:42:42.949
man. When you get home, send me a photo. I will.

00:42:43.170 --> 00:42:45.150
And I remember how loving you were about that,

00:42:45.150 --> 00:42:47.170
by the way. And thank you, because that was a

00:42:47.170 --> 00:42:49.110
really special moment for me. I've been performing

00:42:49.110 --> 00:42:51.170
my whole life. And to have my first child up

00:42:51.170 --> 00:42:55.429
there and she was seeing me dad perform, that's

00:42:55.429 --> 00:42:58.230
a moment. not even in music, in my life, I'll

00:42:58.230 --> 00:43:01.469
never forget. And you actually made a point to

00:43:01.469 --> 00:43:03.449
like write me about that after and say how moved

00:43:03.449 --> 00:43:05.030
you were. And that meant a lot to me, man. My

00:43:05.030 --> 00:43:08.250
pleasure. It was special. I mean, well, at the

00:43:08.250 --> 00:43:10.570
same time, you guys played that show for free.

00:43:10.670 --> 00:43:12.869
I mean, it was a benefit show. And so you gave

00:43:12.869 --> 00:43:15.449
your time. So, you know, you got to share the

00:43:15.449 --> 00:43:17.829
love, man. We love we love the state. I have

00:43:17.829 --> 00:43:19.929
to ask this since we're talking. I don't know

00:43:19.929 --> 00:43:22.130
why I'm going to the negative, but without saying

00:43:22.130 --> 00:43:25.409
a name, is there like just a really, like the

00:43:25.409 --> 00:43:27.289
shittiest thing an artist has said or done to

00:43:27.289 --> 00:43:29.170
you? Like just a negative experience where you're

00:43:29.170 --> 00:43:32.130
like, oh man, I'm so excited and they just completely,

00:43:32.630 --> 00:43:35.989
they let you down. Has that ever happened? If

00:43:35.989 --> 00:43:40.050
you don't, that's great. I have a few popping

00:43:40.050 --> 00:43:42.110
in my head. It's not like the most fun thing

00:43:42.110 --> 00:43:44.309
to talk about, but let me think for a second.

00:43:45.449 --> 00:43:49.190
It's a good question. mean I have some funny

00:43:49.190 --> 00:43:53.550
pieces of feedback like an artist played our

00:43:53.550 --> 00:43:55.409
show you know I went backstage I often go backstage

00:43:55.409 --> 00:43:57.010
after the show and I'm like great show thanks

00:43:57.010 --> 00:43:58.610
for being here you know so they remember us so

00:43:58.610 --> 00:44:00.570
I come back and he's like yeah everything's great

00:44:00.570 --> 00:44:03.130
except backstage he's like can you put a better

00:44:03.130 --> 00:44:04.989
lock on your bathroom door someone walked in

00:44:04.989 --> 00:44:09.619
on me while I was taking a dump All right. That's

00:44:09.619 --> 00:44:12.559
one of those unsexy renovations. Put a lock on

00:44:12.559 --> 00:44:14.719
the door. So for the most part, we get a lot

00:44:14.719 --> 00:44:16.880
of really positive feedback. And people generally

00:44:16.880 --> 00:44:19.199
understand it's a historic building. There's

00:44:19.199 --> 00:44:21.960
some quirks there. I mean, one thing that we

00:44:21.960 --> 00:44:25.699
need to correct on our stage is, if you're looking

00:44:25.699 --> 00:44:28.039
at the stage, it's stage left, audience right.

00:44:28.639 --> 00:44:30.579
There's an area that is on the stage that's like

00:44:30.579 --> 00:44:33.500
over. a lot of electrical work under the stage,

00:44:34.099 --> 00:44:36.519
like a lot of equipment and whatnot. And if you

00:44:36.519 --> 00:44:38.639
have a certain kind of guitar, you get that guitar

00:44:38.639 --> 00:44:41.559
buzz. So we know how to deal with it, but that

00:44:41.559 --> 00:44:43.960
is one piece of feedback that we know about.

00:44:44.239 --> 00:44:46.460
And some artists can be really crabby about that,

00:44:46.460 --> 00:44:50.300
the buzz. It happens. The show must go on. But

00:44:50.300 --> 00:44:52.699
but overall, it's been very, very positive. It

00:44:52.699 --> 00:44:54.860
really has. You know, and sometimes on a bright

00:44:54.860 --> 00:44:57.320
side, like sometimes we have artists that I am

00:44:57.320 --> 00:44:58.760
almost like, I don't want to be, you know, like,

00:44:58.840 --> 00:45:00.340
here's a good example, like Brian Adams, you

00:45:00.340 --> 00:45:02.880
know, summer of 69. Hell, yeah. He was coming

00:45:02.880 --> 00:45:05.460
to the state theater. I was like. Honestly, like

00:45:05.460 --> 00:45:06.820
I was like he's kind of a little cheesy. That

00:45:06.820 --> 00:45:08.500
was like what I was thinking, you know, and and

00:45:08.500 --> 00:45:11.960
that night Being an old building. We lost our

00:45:11.960 --> 00:45:13.780
heat like the heat in the theater was it was

00:45:13.780 --> 00:45:16.260
like February It was January January 30th course

00:45:16.260 --> 00:45:18.619
it was and it was it again It was pretty nippy

00:45:18.619 --> 00:45:21.460
and and like, you know, the artist contract the

00:45:21.460 --> 00:45:23.219
theater has to be a certain temperature I'm like

00:45:23.219 --> 00:45:24.800
sweating bullets. I'm like, oh my god is Brian

00:45:24.800 --> 00:45:28.119
gonna be an a -hole like yeah Oh god, and he

00:45:28.119 --> 00:45:29.900
walks in the theater and you know, he knows those

00:45:29.900 --> 00:45:31.980
guys like yeah, dude we had like eight guys working

00:45:31.980 --> 00:45:37.550
on it and And he looked around. He's like, dude,

00:45:37.610 --> 00:45:39.110
I don't know. I'm from Canada. I've played colder

00:45:39.110 --> 00:45:42.269
hockey recently. He's like, I'm ready to rock

00:45:42.269 --> 00:45:45.050
if you are. And it totally made my day. And he

00:45:45.050 --> 00:45:48.130
played a great show. And I am a Bryan Adams fan

00:45:48.130 --> 00:45:50.690
now. Dude, absolutely. I was actually going to

00:45:50.690 --> 00:45:52.909
say, ironically, I was going to say. Yeah, he

00:45:52.909 --> 00:45:54.409
probably didn't care. He's Canadian. They're

00:45:54.409 --> 00:45:56.050
the nicest people on the planet. He was Canadian

00:45:56.050 --> 00:45:58.230
and, you know, he dropped the hockey bomb on

00:45:58.230 --> 00:46:00.190
me. Like, yeah, I speak your language. You do

00:46:00.190 --> 00:46:01.650
love hockey. You got some kids playing hockey?

00:46:01.690 --> 00:46:03.869
I got hockey player kids. I was a player. Yeah.

00:46:04.030 --> 00:46:06.210
Yeah. That's awesome, man. So a couple other

00:46:06.210 --> 00:46:09.250
fun stories. So another actually another like

00:46:09.250 --> 00:46:11.449
on my bucket list was John Prine. We had John

00:46:11.449 --> 00:46:14.150
Prine play twice. Amazing songwriter. Yeah. He

00:46:14.150 --> 00:46:16.050
played twice at the State Theater before he sadly

00:46:16.050 --> 00:46:19.349
passed away from COVID, actually. But after his

00:46:19.349 --> 00:46:22.989
first show there, I was his ride from the theater

00:46:22.989 --> 00:46:25.949
to his hotel. That was Doug's job. That was one

00:46:25.949 --> 00:46:28.730
of my jobs that night. So, you know, we're on

00:46:28.730 --> 00:46:31.429
stage, the theater's empty, and someone hands

00:46:31.429 --> 00:46:33.070
me a phone, and they're like, this is John's

00:46:33.070 --> 00:46:35.530
manager, also having to be his wife, and she

00:46:35.530 --> 00:46:37.449
wants to talk to you. So I'm like, hi, you know,

00:46:37.550 --> 00:46:38.630
Doug Levine, executive director of the State

00:46:38.630 --> 00:46:40.769
Theater. And she's like, you know, sounds like

00:46:40.769 --> 00:46:43.059
it was a great show. John's on a very strict

00:46:43.059 --> 00:46:45.940
diet You know you have to get him right from

00:46:45.940 --> 00:46:47.360
just take him whatever he said just take him

00:46:47.360 --> 00:46:49.880
right from the hotel Take him from the theater

00:46:49.880 --> 00:46:52.219
to his hotel room and and and thank you. I'm

00:46:52.219 --> 00:46:53.780
like, no problem. Thanks, ma 'am Nice talking

00:46:53.780 --> 00:46:55.900
to you hung up. You know, I actually grabbed

00:46:55.900 --> 00:46:58.400
John Prine's guitar all walked out with him You

00:46:58.400 --> 00:47:00.539
had security, you know, we got to my car and

00:47:00.539 --> 00:47:02.440
he like it was like a date You know, I opened

00:47:02.440 --> 00:47:04.320
the door for him and he got in I put his guitar

00:47:04.320 --> 00:47:06.800
in and I get it I shut my door and I turned the

00:47:06.800 --> 00:47:10.400
car on and he goes I need some pizza, I need

00:47:10.400 --> 00:47:13.019
some wings, and I need some beer. And I just

00:47:13.019 --> 00:47:18.659
go, I got you covered, man. Let's go. So I'm

00:47:18.659 --> 00:47:20.199
sorry, but it's John Prine. I'm not going to

00:47:20.199 --> 00:47:21.579
be like, you know, your manager. I was like,

00:47:21.619 --> 00:47:24.820
let's do it. And he knows. He's like, my wife's

00:47:24.820 --> 00:47:27.460
always making me eat salad. Give me some pizza.

00:47:27.480 --> 00:47:30.840
So we stopped at a fine establishment and got

00:47:30.840 --> 00:47:32.539
him what he needed. You know, that's another

00:47:32.539 --> 00:47:34.019
thing. Every time I've been to a show at the

00:47:34.019 --> 00:47:37.230
State Theater of Ithaca, I don't know if maybe

00:47:37.230 --> 00:47:39.130
the theater brings it out in your artists. Like

00:47:39.130 --> 00:47:43.530
I went to David Cross and everybody there is

00:47:43.530 --> 00:47:46.190
very accessible. They'll come out and say hello

00:47:46.190 --> 00:47:48.690
after the show or like outside of the, like for

00:47:48.690 --> 00:47:51.150
most part, everyone there is just like, it's

00:47:51.150 --> 00:47:55.239
crazy. Not everyone, but a lot of people are

00:47:55.239 --> 00:47:59.239
really, some artists actually, like David Sedaris

00:47:59.239 --> 00:48:02.400
recently, comedian, author, and he literally

00:48:02.400 --> 00:48:05.579
after the show will sit down until everyone that

00:48:05.579 --> 00:48:08.840
wants to meet him, he has actually a line, and

00:48:08.840 --> 00:48:10.940
he'll sign anything, and part of it actually,

00:48:11.059 --> 00:48:13.760
this is educational for you, Mike, because he's

00:48:13.760 --> 00:48:15.719
a comedian, he actually talks to people, everyone

00:48:15.719 --> 00:48:18.099
in line, and he actually gets, he's mining for

00:48:18.099 --> 00:48:20.579
material. He's actually getting little stories,

00:48:21.519 --> 00:48:23.269
and yeah, he's mining for new materials. material.

00:48:23.690 --> 00:48:27.170
But he's also making fans for life too. I just

00:48:27.170 --> 00:48:29.230
met David Sedaris. He signed my book. I'm going

00:48:29.230 --> 00:48:31.849
to go to every show imaginable. I love him. 100%.

00:48:31.849 --> 00:48:34.289
Yeah, you break the fourth wall as they say.

00:48:36.849 --> 00:48:39.550
What else? My last story that I think you'll

00:48:39.550 --> 00:48:41.130
appreciate because I know you like comedy too.

00:48:41.789 --> 00:48:44.670
This was in, I'm sure you remember when Charlie

00:48:44.670 --> 00:48:48.030
Sheen went nuts. Oh yeah, 2011. It was 2011.

00:48:48.170 --> 00:48:51.820
Tiger blood. You are right. So that week, we

00:48:51.820 --> 00:48:53.659
actually had, it just so happened, we had the

00:48:53.659 --> 00:48:56.099
guys from Whose Line Is It Anyway, Whose Live

00:48:56.099 --> 00:48:57.699
Anyway, we had that show at the State Theater,

00:48:57.739 --> 00:49:00.260
and one of the main actors is Ryan Stiles. Yes,

00:49:00.400 --> 00:49:02.719
I love him. Everyone loves Ryan Stiles, and I

00:49:02.719 --> 00:49:05.400
got to talk to him, and, you know, he's on that,

00:49:05.400 --> 00:49:07.019
he was on Two and a Half Men, that's why I'm

00:49:07.019 --> 00:49:09.579
bringing that up. Yes, he was a guest. He was

00:49:09.579 --> 00:49:13.219
Alan's wife's new husband. Yes. I forget his

00:49:13.219 --> 00:49:14.860
name on the show. I do too. But he was on the

00:49:14.860 --> 00:49:18.179
show. And he was just like... Whatever he was

00:49:18.179 --> 00:49:19.760
super cool. He was kind of giving me some insider

00:49:19.760 --> 00:49:22.380
information about it, you know But whatever they

00:49:22.380 --> 00:49:23.980
played the show. It was absolutely hilarious.

00:49:23.980 --> 00:49:26.679
I mean it's all improv and then after the show

00:49:26.679 --> 00:49:28.960
You know Ryan's like hey, we want to go get a

00:49:28.960 --> 00:49:30.619
beer like what do you recommend? And I was like,

00:49:30.639 --> 00:49:32.019
oh, you know this place in the Commons I think

00:49:32.019 --> 00:49:34.760
it was it's called Silky Jones then we go there

00:49:34.760 --> 00:49:37.079
and he's like he's like, okay fine He's like

00:49:37.079 --> 00:49:40.059
but you have to come with us and I was like Okay

00:49:40.059 --> 00:49:42.780
Thursday night kids are in bed. Let's go BAM

00:49:42.780 --> 00:49:46.650
and I'll never forget we we walked down the commons

00:49:46.650 --> 00:49:48.489
and you know it's not just Ryan Stiles, this

00:49:48.489 --> 00:49:50.269
is the whole crew, Greg Probst, everyone, we're

00:49:50.269 --> 00:49:52.010
all you know and they're still kind of in their

00:49:52.010 --> 00:49:54.070
stage. And on every we walked into the bar and

00:49:54.070 --> 00:49:57.219
it was kind of like um you know, the scene in

00:49:57.219 --> 00:49:58.880
like Dazed and Confused when Hurricane is on.

00:49:58.920 --> 00:50:00.659
They walk in and like the needle drop. Like it

00:50:00.659 --> 00:50:03.320
felt like the needle drop. Like I was like, like

00:50:03.320 --> 00:50:05.179
these freaking amazing comedians are here. And

00:50:05.179 --> 00:50:06.940
Ryan walks right up to it wasn't very packed

00:50:06.940 --> 00:50:09.099
at all. Yeah. The bar. But he walked up right

00:50:09.099 --> 00:50:10.539
up to the bar and he goes and he put his credit

00:50:10.539 --> 00:50:12.380
card on. He goes, everyone in this bar around

00:50:12.380 --> 00:50:14.960
the drinks on me. No shit. Yeah. And that was

00:50:14.960 --> 00:50:16.579
pretty cool. That makes me happy because he's

00:50:16.579 --> 00:50:18.880
one of my favorites. And I actually remember

00:50:18.880 --> 00:50:21.500
that night because I was bartending at the at

00:50:21.500 --> 00:50:24.389
the time. It was the second floor. OK. And. I

00:50:24.389 --> 00:50:26.730
knew Ryan Stiles was in town and I couldn't get

00:50:26.730 --> 00:50:29.409
the time off and so my buddy had actually heard

00:50:29.409 --> 00:50:32.079
he was must have been at Silky Jones. And he

00:50:32.079 --> 00:50:34.780
went down to try to get him to come and see me.

00:50:34.980 --> 00:50:37.219
It never happened. But that that makes me so

00:50:37.219 --> 00:50:39.699
happy that that wouldn't experience. Look, you're

00:50:39.699 --> 00:50:42.880
driving John Prine. Yeah, Ryan style. Yeah, it

00:50:42.880 --> 00:50:45.000
was it was great. It was perks of the job. It

00:50:45.000 --> 00:50:48.539
is nice. I will say in my old age now, I'm definitely

00:50:48.539 --> 00:50:51.159
less involved, you know. Yeah, of course. Just,

00:50:51.219 --> 00:50:53.039
you know, when you do something for for 15, 16

00:50:53.039 --> 00:50:54.659
years, like I don't need to meet every artist

00:50:54.659 --> 00:50:57.599
anymore. You know, it's nice to say hi. And what

00:50:57.599 --> 00:51:00.000
is really cool, like as a when I was in junior

00:51:00.000 --> 00:51:02.820
high I was listening to like the integral girls

00:51:02.820 --> 00:51:05.079
religiously it yeah you know closer to find this

00:51:05.079 --> 00:51:07.219
amazing song right and and and that was like

00:51:07.219 --> 00:51:10.340
1988 1989 now the inner girls have played the

00:51:10.340 --> 00:51:12.000
state theater so much when I go backstage now

00:51:12.000 --> 00:51:14.639
Amy will like with Like, Doug, come here, give

00:51:14.639 --> 00:51:17.360
me a hug. Like, if I told myself that in 1988,

00:51:17.719 --> 00:51:19.860
like, someday one of the singers in Indio Girls

00:51:19.860 --> 00:51:21.579
is gonna know you by name and give you a hug,

00:51:21.699 --> 00:51:23.659
like, that's insane. The other night I went to

00:51:23.659 --> 00:51:26.000
see Dave Matthews' band at Lakeview Amphitheater

00:51:26.000 --> 00:51:28.219
here, and I got front row for the first time

00:51:28.219 --> 00:51:31.260
in my life. Wow. And I had that same reaction

00:51:31.260 --> 00:51:35.250
where I was like, my 15 -year -old self... the

00:51:35.250 --> 00:51:38.889
head is exploding, you know? And it's hard, man.

00:51:39.190 --> 00:51:41.170
You meet enough artists like yourself, you know,

00:51:41.230 --> 00:51:42.909
you meet enough artists and I don't want to say

00:51:42.909 --> 00:51:44.849
the shine wears off, but you just get used to

00:51:44.849 --> 00:51:47.000
it. And every now and then you gotta go. Do you

00:51:47.000 --> 00:51:49.199
know, you just carried John Prine's fucking guitar,

00:51:49.340 --> 00:51:53.260
man. That's crazy. State Theater of Ithaca. Anything

00:51:53.260 --> 00:51:56.239
else you want to plug or mention before we go?

00:51:56.260 --> 00:51:58.280
I think we covered it all, man. We did. Thanks

00:51:58.280 --> 00:52:00.199
for having me. This has been one of my favorite

00:52:00.199 --> 00:52:01.219
interviews, to be honest with you. I'd love to

00:52:01.219 --> 00:52:02.880
come back sometime. The other thing is that I

00:52:02.880 --> 00:52:05.539
would love to feed you some people to interview

00:52:05.539 --> 00:52:08.980
as well. Dude, we will take that any time. To

00:52:08.980 --> 00:52:11.280
date, I would say our most famous guest, we had

00:52:11.280 --> 00:52:13.860
the drummer from The Spin Dock. Cool. We had

00:52:13.860 --> 00:52:17.239
Ryan Neemiller, who's a comedian from AGT. I'm

00:52:17.239 --> 00:52:19.940
trying to think. We're getting there. We're working

00:52:19.940 --> 00:52:22.960
our way, but any time we can help promote any

00:52:22.960 --> 00:52:24.820
of your shows, and if you have anyone that wants

00:52:24.820 --> 00:52:27.539
to come on, and obviously we'll make them. This

00:52:27.539 --> 00:52:30.079
world could use more good news, so I appreciate

00:52:30.079 --> 00:52:33.260
what you guys are doing. Listen, you embody what

00:52:33.260 --> 00:52:36.420
this show is about. When I was asked to do this,

00:52:36.559 --> 00:52:39.099
it was, look, we're not Puppies and Rainbows.

00:52:40.179 --> 00:52:44.059
It's still a comedy show, and it's funny. It's

00:52:44.059 --> 00:52:46.800
upbeat, you can swear. But I mean, you know how

00:52:46.800 --> 00:52:49.179
it is, man. You open your phone, you turn on

00:52:49.179 --> 00:52:52.880
the TV. Everything is car crashes and political

00:52:52.880 --> 00:52:57.449
outrage and violence and shootings. We we. aim

00:52:57.449 --> 00:52:59.989
to just talk about what's awesome and not just

00:52:59.989 --> 00:53:03.210
here in Syracuse, Ithaca, the Adirondacks, New

00:53:03.210 --> 00:53:06.510
York City, Buffalo, you name it. You know, we

00:53:06.510 --> 00:53:08.230
don't discriminate. Yeah. Well, and you know,

00:53:08.250 --> 00:53:10.670
the theater experience is basically like an escape

00:53:10.670 --> 00:53:13.289
from reality for those two to three hours. I

00:53:13.289 --> 00:53:15.789
actually I get on stage a lot. I try to encourage

00:53:15.789 --> 00:53:17.849
people to shut off your phone. Turn it off. You

00:53:17.849 --> 00:53:19.969
don't you don't need to capture that crappy little

00:53:19.969 --> 00:53:21.250
video. You're never going to watch it. Nope.

00:53:21.349 --> 00:53:23.110
Just put your phone away and enjoy the moment.

00:53:23.110 --> 00:53:24.809
Yeah, because it's a beautiful escape. That's

00:53:24.809 --> 00:53:26.210
what I did at the Dave Matthews Band concert.

00:53:26.320 --> 00:53:29.320
I had it because I was front row. I did a really

00:53:29.320 --> 00:53:31.840
good job of just like every now and then taking

00:53:31.840 --> 00:53:34.239
a 15 second video or picture just for myself.

00:53:34.619 --> 00:53:36.900
And then I just remember I purposely was just

00:53:36.900 --> 00:53:39.380
staring like, soak this in, man. Soak this in.

00:53:39.679 --> 00:53:41.800
And you do that at the State Theater, man. And

00:53:41.800 --> 00:53:44.619
I got to tell you, the State Theater did something

00:53:44.619 --> 00:53:48.139
for me that was life -changing. Up until I went

00:53:48.139 --> 00:53:49.940
to shows at the State, I had never been to a

00:53:49.940 --> 00:53:51.800
concert alone. I don't know, maybe I'm getting

00:53:51.800 --> 00:53:54.579
older. I love it. Dude, the kids are in bed,

00:53:54.599 --> 00:53:56.599
my wife's like, have a good time. And I come

00:53:56.599 --> 00:53:58.500
down on a Tuesday fucking night, and I'm gonna

00:53:58.500 --> 00:54:01.699
go see Nate Bargazzi, or you know, you name it.

00:54:01.780 --> 00:54:04.139
And I go to the show alone, I see people I know,

00:54:04.400 --> 00:54:07.300
and I just have the best night. You have friends,

00:54:07.699 --> 00:54:09.900
so you're gonna make friends, or if not, you

00:54:09.900 --> 00:54:11.719
can just enjoy the musical. And I'm not a complete

00:54:11.719 --> 00:54:15.380
loser, I go to some shows with friends, but to

00:54:15.380 --> 00:54:19.159
have a place that I can go on a Tuesday night,

00:54:19.559 --> 00:54:22.800
and literally drive 10 minutes, and see an amazing

00:54:22.639 --> 00:54:25.219
act in that small of a market, in that intimate

00:54:25.219 --> 00:54:28.119
of a venue, I want to thank you. And I mean it,

00:54:28.199 --> 00:54:30.840
brother. Thanks for all your support too. It's

00:54:30.840 --> 00:54:34.190
easy. it's remarkable like year after year you

00:54:34.190 --> 00:54:36.869
you give every year and I do what I can and and

00:54:36.869 --> 00:54:39.469
you know hopefully it'll be more and more but

00:54:39.469 --> 00:54:42.130
but you know I I donate because first of all

00:54:42.130 --> 00:54:45.710
I care about you I care about the theater but

00:54:45.710 --> 00:54:48.429
you you're also providing you know we're we just

00:54:48.429 --> 00:54:50.489
talked about we're in a time you know people's

00:54:50.489 --> 00:54:52.349
mental health are in the trash right now there's

00:54:52.349 --> 00:54:55.190
there's a lot of negativity out there and so

00:54:55.190 --> 00:54:58.230
you give people in Ithaca and and around here

00:54:58.230 --> 00:55:00.650
that travel to Ithaca something to look forward

00:55:00.650 --> 00:55:03.219
to on a Tuesday something to help us forget about

00:55:03.219 --> 00:55:05.539
the bullshit. Yeah, you know, and and you're

00:55:05.539 --> 00:55:07.780
always upbeat and always treat everybody and

00:55:07.780 --> 00:55:10.199
when you talk about Doug hugs, you know, it's

00:55:10.199 --> 00:55:13.159
a real thing. I will hug you. You want a Doug

00:55:13.159 --> 00:55:15.320
hug. He's gonna give you a hug, man. Can we hug

00:55:15.320 --> 00:55:21.860
on a podcast? Man hug, man hug, the Doug hug.

00:55:22.039 --> 00:55:25.239
Um, but no, thank you, man. Steve. theater. Your

00:55:25.239 --> 00:55:28.699
producer is Danny. He left. Where'd he go? He

00:55:28.699 --> 00:55:31.199
left an hour ago. He's like bringing the Ithaca

00:55:31.199 --> 00:55:37.820
vibes. State of Ithaca dot org. Donate, please.

00:55:38.139 --> 00:55:40.940
As we talked about, every dollar goes to something,

00:55:41.000 --> 00:55:43.360
whether it's a non -sexy plumbing renovation.

00:55:43.599 --> 00:55:45.739
We will just keep improving the theater for you.

00:55:45.780 --> 00:55:47.800
And you'll see it. Every time you go to a show,

00:55:47.840 --> 00:55:49.900
you will see the improvement. You'll see where

00:55:49.900 --> 00:55:52.139
your money goes. It's a beautiful theater. It's

00:55:52.139 --> 00:55:54.920
in a beautiful city that I live in, Ithaca, stateofithaca

00:55:54.920 --> 00:55:58.500
.org. Donate and support, please. And volunteer.

00:55:58.760 --> 00:56:00.599
You get a free show, and you get to meet a lot

00:56:00.599 --> 00:56:02.780
of cool people and see amazing artists. Doug,

00:56:02.860 --> 00:56:04.300
thank you for your time. Thank you for having

00:56:04.300 --> 00:56:06.599
me. Anything else you want to plug any social

00:56:06.599 --> 00:56:09.599
handles, websites? I've said what I had to say.

00:56:09.719 --> 00:56:12.460
Thank you for having me. Thank you for being

00:56:12.460 --> 00:56:16.800
here. That is another interview on Good News

00:56:16.800 --> 00:56:19.619
York. We will see you next time and thanks for

00:56:19.619 --> 00:56:20.199
tuning in.