ALBANY – After a four-year hiatus, Palace Sessions has awoken from its slumber and will make its return to the Palace Theatre through the joint teamwork of Mirth Films and the music venue.
Saturday, January 13, 2024, Palace Sessions Live! Will return to Albany with music from R&B and soul Capital Region band, The E-Block. Doors open at 6 p.m. and the show begins at 7 p.m. Entry to the show is free.
Frankie Cavone, owner of Mirth Films and Sean Allen, director of marketing of Palace Theatre wanted to bring back the music series not only to document incredible local bands, but to now make it open to the public and free to attend.
About Palace Sessions
According to Cavone, Palace Sessions began during COVID-19 as a way to get live music out to the masses and help raise funds for the Palace Theatre and the concert series was also made possible with the assistance from the City of Albany.
Prior to the concert series, Allen knew Cavone and Mirth Films for a few years as a photographer and videographer who would come to the theatre to see shows. It wasn’t until the pandemic came when the idea for Palace Sessions came together.
The concert was a life raft for the theatre in 2020. Four years later, the concert series is not considered a “life raft” but is something that both the music venue and music fans can have fun at, Allen said.
“Bringing it back is really just a labor of love, wanting to be able to showcase some local bands that we love and give people an opportunity to come here for free and enjoy live music in a different setting than you would on a typical concert night.” Sean added.
Another reason for the businesses to bring the event back was to offer local bands an outlet to perform at the Palace for the public.
“With the size of our theatre, many times it is impossible for us to have local bands perform here in the traditional sense, so this allows us to be able to host a live performance and make it free to the public and hopefully help introduce the performers to some new fans.” he concluded.
As part of the 2020 Palace events, almost each Palace Sessions show was recorded in a different section of the venue with local acts, but also nationally known groups including Moe, performed two different sets to show their support for the venue.
Having The E-Block to open the 2024 series was a no-brainer for Cavone was due to the group being not only a talented funk/r&b act, the band is exciting to watch perform live, and the band has acquired the sound and groove to possibly expand their talents outside the Capital Region, Cavone said.
Recently, The E-Block performed at the theatre’s annual holiday party that was thrown for volunteers and event staff. Allen was excited to have The E-Block back and offer them an outlet to play at the Palace for the public, he said.
“What I am most excited about is being able to give the public a free opportunity to see what the Capital Region music scene has to offer. I am also really excited to be working with the incredible team at the Palace Theatre.” Cavone said. “It was truly an amazing experience working with them on the original Palace Sessions episodes and to get back in the room and record video is something I have wanted to do more often.”
Both Allen and Cavone are most excited to watch the bands they love while helping them, the bands, make some new fans.
How to Obtain the Free Ticket
Although Palace Sessions is free, tickets to attend both the performance and the live taping of the show will be available on a first come-first served basis online at https://bit.ly/PalSessEBlock24 and for any future Palace Sessions Live performances, those tickets will be available on the Palace website. Both Mirth Films and the Palace plan on having several additional shows in 2024 and will announce the performers one by one in advance of their performance dates much like the way the venue does with their regular events, Sean said.
Where to see the show
The E-Block and any future acts’ shows will take place for taping inside the Palace Lobby and be a standing room general admission event. In addition to the show, the Palace will have their concession stand and bar open for folks to consume during the performance.
For those who aren’t able to attend the show, the concert will be live streamed, and later in the following week, the performance will be shown to the public. The businesses choose that route to be able to produce the highest quality video possible so that way, if the band wants to use the video footage, they can obtain quality material to work with and share with their audience, Cavone said.
As with the past Palace Sessions events, the new shows will be available to stream on the Palace Theatre’s Facebook page and YouTube account, as well as on the Mirth Films YouTube page.
How to support everyone
Both Allen and Cavone agree on one thing; the best way to support any band, and in particular, a local band is to purchase their merchandise, attend a show, follow the band or musician(s) on their social media platforms, website, and tell their friends about them.
Follow both Mirth Films and the Palace Theatre online at their respective websites.
This story was featured on page 3 of the January 10th, 2024 print edition of the Spot518
