SARATOGA SPRINGS – TLC and Jamaican icon Shaggy have announced they will join forces to bring their most beloved hits to stage with TLC & Shaggy: Hot Summer Nights Tour 2023. 

The tour will also feature performances from special guests En Vogue and Sean Kingston.

Fans can expect the artists to perform their biggest hits including TLC’s “Waterfalls,” “No Scrubs,” “Unpretty,” and “Creep”; Shaggy’s “It Wasn’t Me,” “Boombastic,” and “Angel”; En Vogue’s “Hold On, My Loving (Never Gonna Get It)”, and “Free Your Mind”; and Sean Kingston’s “Beautiful Girls” and “Take You There.” 

The tour kicks off on June 1 in Pelham, AL., and includes a stop at Saratoga Performing Arts Center in Saratoga Springs, on Friday, June 16.

Tickets on sale March 17 at livenation.com. 

SARATOGA SPRINGS – Singer, songwriter and performer, Vance Gilbert, will stage a show Sunday, March 19 at Caffe Lena.  

Gilbert’s 14th studio album, The Mother of Trouble, is scheduled for release May 5. The songs on the LP include the stories of 4 bullies, 3 deaths (2 of them murders), 2 accidents, 2 moms, 2 black people, 1 dog, 1 ball, and 1 missed flight from a vital storyteller at the top of his game. 

Blurbage: The songs on The Mother of Trouble traverse sonic landscapes including country rock, folk, R&B, Jazz, and Americana. Gilbert is known for his wordplay, engaging and vibrant storytelling, sonic exploration, and bringing levity to the human experiences he writes about. Thirty years into his career, the songwriter’s influence can be felt all over the contemporary Folk and Americana realm as he has helped pave the way for many of the BIPOC artists who have followed.

Tickets, more information, go to: caffelena.org.

SARATOGA SPRINGS – After performing to sold-out crowds worldwide on the Butter Miracle Tour over the last two years, Counting Crows this week announced their return to the US in 2023 with the Banshee Season Tour. 

After years of collaboration, cult-favorite rock band and long-time friend of the band, Dashboard Confessional, will be joining as support on the upcoming run, with English singer/songwriter Frank Turner joining the tour for select dates. 

The 56-date mega tour will kick off on June 13 in Omaha, NE, with a stop at Saratoga Performing Arts Center in Saratoga Springs, on July 5.

Tickets on sale March 17 at livenation.com

SARATOGA SPRINGS — For two weekends, starting on Friday, March 24, Home Made Theater will present ‘night, Mother, written by Marsha Norman.

The scene: the living room/kitchen of a small house on an isolated country road, shared by Jessie and her mother. Jessie’s father is dead; her loveless marriage ended in divorce; her absent son is a petty thief and ne’er-do-well; her last job didn’t work out, she suffers from a chronic neurological condition; and, in general, her life is stale and unprofitable. As the play begins Jessie asks for her father’s service revolver and calmly announces that she intends to kill herself. At first her mother refuses to take her seriously, but as Jessie sets about tidying the house and making lists of things to be looked after, her sense of desperate helplessness begins to build.

Note, the play deals with serious and sensitive issues that may be triggering for some individuals.

The Director of ‘night, Mother is Jonathan Hefter, whose previous Home Made Theater directing credits include Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and Inspecting Carol. The artistic team also includes Scenic Designer William E. Fritz, Lighting Designer Matt Kopans, Sound Designer Barry Streifert, Costume Designer Dianne O’Neill, Properties Designer Maura Pickett, and Stage Manager Caitlin Wickes.

The cast includes Home Made Theater veteran Terri Storti as Mama, and Home Made Theater newcomer Antoinette Fasino as Jessie.

Performances are Fridays and Saturdays, March 24, 25, 31, and April 1 at 7:30 p.m., and Saturdays and Sundays, March 25-26, and April 1-2, at 2 p.m. All performances are at the Dee Sarno Theater, inside Saratoga Arts, 320 Broadway in Saratoga Springs. Tickets are available at Home Made Theater’s website, www.HomeMadeTheater.org, or by calling 518-587-4427 during business hours.

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Eight individuals will be inducted into the fifth class of the Capital Region Music Hall of Fame Monday, March 27 at Universal Preservation Hall. 

The group includes two members of a pioneering late 1960s and early 70s alt-country band; a nun who helped launch the careers of hundreds of music industry professionals around the globe; one of the region’s most active and best-known bluegrass musicians over the past eight decades; a woman who has promoted bluegrass music through the local airwaves for over 40 years; a legendary rock music photographer; and two guitarist virtuosos who forged careers that have generated international recognition. 

The Capital Region / Eddies Music Hall of Fame Class of 2023: Renowned photographer Martin Benjamin; former Trans-Siberian Orchestra guitarist Mike Campese; Felicia Collins – best known for her role as guitarist and vocalist in Paul Schaffer’s celebrated “Late Night with David Letterman” band (1993-2015); WAMC-FM/Northeast Public Radio’s weekly “The Hudson River Sampler” host Wanda Fischer; Smokey Greene – multi-instrumentalist in the country and bluegrass music scene for nearly eight decades; Sister Mary Anne Nelson, CSJ, who founded and led The College of St. Rose’s Music Industry program for 49 years; Guitarist and vocalist John Tichy – an original member of Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen, who joined the faculty of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, where he became head of the Department of Mechanical, Aerospace and Nuclear Engineering, and Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen frontman George Frayne. Frayne relocated to Saratoga Springs in the 1990s, where he was active as a musician and visual artist and lived until his death in 2021. 

The class will be inducted with musical performances, short videos about their careers, speeches and more in a public celebration at UPH. The evening kicks off 6 p.m. with a social gathering; the induction ceremony begins 7 p.m. All inductees are represented with plaques at Universal Preservation Hall in Saratoga Springs, as well as brief videos highlighting their careers. Tickets are on sale at universalpreservationhall.org 

The Capital Region Thomas Edison Music Hall of Fame and the Eddies Music Awards are part of Proctors Collaborative, as is Universal Preservation Hall.

GLENS FALLS — The Wood Theater will be transformed into a one-day-only music and art gallery on Saturday, March 11 featuring a multi-band concert, live artist gallery and artisan fair.

The festival will begin at noon and open to the public free of charge until 5 p.m., though donations will be accepted at the door for those wishing to support the project and the Wood. The afternoon portion of the event will feature a live painter’s Gallery in Anthony Richichi, Shelley Fairbanks, Sarah Calzada and Hannah Williams showcasing their talents. The Theater’s Cabaret Space will host additional artists and artisans for attendees to shop and support.

The house will then open at 6:30 p.m. for ticketed attendees and feature the acoustic stylings of Reese Fulmer. A Main Stage concert will kick off on the main stage at 7:30 p.m. with Seize Atlantis, followed by Lock 9 and closing out with Headliner Capital Zen.

Proceeds from the event will support the Wood Theater and future events like Rock Gallery in 2024 and beyond. 

Tickets are $20 and may be purchased online at www.woodtheater.org/rock or at the Box Office/By phone at 518-480-4878. The afternoon Artists’ gallery is free of cost.

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Jay Collins, saxophone player of choice for artists such as Gregg Allman, Little Feat, Levon Helm and Donald Fagen, among others, will perform Saturday, March 26 at Caffe Lena. 

With his own band, the Northern Resistance, Collins also performs duties as  singer, arranger, writer, and dynamic band-leader. 

For more information, go to: caffelena.org