Port Chester, N.Y. (April 23, 2026)—The Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, NY, is marking its 100th anniversary, and the venue has had quite a century. First opened as a 2,000-seat cinema with “the only theater refrigerating system in Westchester County,” according to contemporary newspaper reports, the venue has charted a unique course over the decades, hosting legendary music acts, films, plays, TV broadcasts and more. Despite its age, however, the venue’s production system is up-to-date and recently added new gear to boot.
While it operated as a movie theater for decades, the Cap (as it’s known to locals) was a key “must-play” of the Classic Rock era. In the 1970s, it hosted the likes of Pink Floyd, Traffic, E.L.O., Jefferson Airplane, Hot Tuna, Frank Zappa, Bonnie Raitt and more. In fact, it became the Grateful Dead’s favorite East Coast venue to play, with Jerry Garcia once declaring, “There’s only two theaters, man…that are set up pretty groovy all around for music and for smooth stage changes, good lighting and all that—the Fillmore and The Capitol Theatre.”
Switching gears to host theatrical productions in the 1980s, the venue began sporadically hosting concerts again in the Nineties with acts like Phish and Blues Traveler and a pair of legendary MTV live broadcasts with David Bowie and The Rolling Stones. In the 2000s, the venue fell upon hard times and was only occasionally used, but was revitalized in 2012 under new owner/concert promoter Peter Shapiro (Brooklyn Bowl, Lockn’ Festival) and has since hosted everyone from Skrillex to Billy Strings to Snoop Dogg.
Looking after the sound for every artist who comes through the door is a well-versed production team featuring crew chief Eliot Bryon, A1/house engineer Mike Partridge and monitor engineer Byron Berrocal.
The latest addition to the Cap’s audio arsenal is a Yamaha Rivage PM3 desk used for FOH work. Partridge, who previously spent more than 20 years mixing acoustic jam band Railroad Earth, drew on his touring experience when determining what console the venue should purchase. “I really wanted to go with something that was flip and go, where I didn’t have to add a bunch of screens,” he explained “I was a career Midas guy, and the Yamaha’s workflow is a little bit different, but it’s very user-friendly and easy to get around, the desk sounds great, and it fills any rider.”
The desk’s relatively small footprint was also a key factor, said Bryon, noting, “We have to be a little space conscious when touring acts are coming through and we’re covering the opening acts, so we went with the smaller frame.”
• The Cap Comes Back
The decision was also influenced by the positive experience that the Cap’s team had when it updated its monitor mix position to a Yamaha CL5, Byron adds: “That system is able to handle 64 inputs with the two racks, so we decided to stick with the Yamaha and keep it all in the family. The split architecture here was only a 48-channel split, so when we did the upgrade at front of house, we upgraded to 64 channels, so now we’re 64 channels front and side.”
The desk was purchased through Tom George, director of installations at Eighth Day Sound, a Clair Global company. It was likewise through Eighth Day that some years ago the Cap acquired its d&b audiotechnik V Series loudspeaker rig—10 boxes a side with some flown V-Subs, plus some more subs on the ground. “When we got it, it was the first V install anywhere,” Byron recalled with a grin. “Eighth Day had bought 200 boxes, and I actually met the sea container in the Carolinas, threw our 20 boxes on a truck and brought our speakers here for the install.”
Partridge chimes in, “It’s been a minute since the P.A. has been in the air, but it’s still crushing it. Talk about all the music that’s come through them over the years!”
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Typically, the Capitol Theatre hosts upward of 115 shows a year, along with private and corporate events catering to the affluent surrounding region. In December, one of those private events made headlines when nearby hedge fund Eldridge Industries held its holiday party there with The Dirty Bats, a one-off supergroup featuring Bruno Mars, Eddie Vedder, Brandi Carlile, Anthony Kiedis, Yungblud, Chad Smith, Andrew Watt, Slash, Duff McKagan and Adam Wakeman, among others.
“Then the next night, we had Brandi Carlisle doing a stripped-down benefit show—a couple of singer-songwriters with acoustic guitars,” said Byron, “so we do it all, from that to Slayer!”