BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//wp-events-plugin.com//7.2.3.1//EN TZID:America/New_York X-WR-TIMEZONE:America/New_York BEGIN:VEVENT UID:152560@kingstonhappenings.org DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20251107T190000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20251107T190000 DTSTAMP:20251103T160735Z URL:https://kingstonhappenings.org/events/the-dictators-w-steve-conte/ SUMMARY:The Dictators w/ Steve Conte DESCRIPTION:Call them what you will... proto-punk\, punk\, what-have-you... The Dictators are\, and always will be\, the living\, fire-breathing defi nition of Rock and Roll. Back with The Dictators\, their first new studio album in 23 years\, the current iteration of the band – 50 years into th e game — is faster\, louder and better than ever before. And it almost d idn’t happen.\n\n\n“I’d always stayed in touch with Scott (Kempner)\ ,” recalls Andy Shernoff\, “but I hadn’t been in touch with Ross (Th e Boss) for some time. Once we started talking again\, this is late 2019\, Ross goes\, ‘hey\, let’s form the old band.’ That was the last thin g I wanted to do\, but Scott really wanted to do it. He was going through a lot at the time and he really needed something to do. So\, I did it for Scott. We decided to get together after the holidays and start working on it. We needed a drummer\, and I said let’s get Albert (Bouchard). I said ‘Albert\, I’ve got a question for you and the answer is yes!’ I jus t wanted him to play on some recordings. So\, we started to play with Albe rt. Scott’s health was already beginning to fail (Kempner passed away du e to complications from Frontal Lobe Dementia in late 2023)\, but we kept at it. Then the pandemic hit. Thankfully we had stuff to work on. We worke d on a bunch of songs and recorded four of them in June 2020. Scott was on ly able to contribute to two songs. To our dismay\, he wasn’t well enoug h to continue.”\n\n\n“It’s a whole new ballgame\,” Ross adds. “A lbert is such a tremendous musician and composer. Andy and I have known hi m since we started — maybe before! And Keith brings a new energy to the band\n(at Albert’s suggestion\, singer/guitarist Keith Roth was brought in as the newest member of the tribe after the band parted ways with longt ime front man Handsome Dick Manitoba in 2009). Keith came in after we reco rded those first four songs\, and the songs kept coming. At a certain poin t we realized things were starting to take shape as an album\, not just a series of singles.”\n\n\n“When I first joined we talked about writing songs\, and Andy wanted me to contribute\,” notes Bouchard. “I couldn ’t quite figure out songs that would fit in with what Andy did. The magi c happened when Keith joined\, then we stirred the soup and made it into a gumbo. As soon as he joined\, the songs started coming one after the othe r. He was the missing ingredient. We’d been trying to get a guitar playe r who could replace Scott. There were a bunch of people we thought about. Ross really wanted to play live. He lives to play live shows\; and if we ’re gonna play live\, I can’t be the front man. I’m behind the drums . So\, we needed a front man. And I thought about Keith. I’d already wor ked with him on my solo project. He’s a great guy to hang out with and w ork with\, he’ll do anything. He’s so pliable\; can’t does not exist in his vocabulary. He auditioned\, sang ‘Weekend\,’ and everyone love d it. It worked. He aced it. We did more talking than playing\, and it bec ame a lot more fun immediately. The band is serious\, but we’ve gotta ha ve fun.”\n\n\n“I’ve known Albert for years\,” Roth explains. “We ’ve played together and done some shows together. He told me what was go ing on with Scott’s health\, which I had sort of known about. Albert ask ed me if I would be interested\, if I wanted to come down and audition. We got together and started playing some songs from Go Girl Crazy\, and that was kind of it. Replacing Manitoba never really phased me. I thought ‘H ey\, we’re a new band with a long history.’ We’ve got a lot of great songs we can go out and play\, plus covers. It’s an honor for me on a w hole other level because I’ve known this band since I was a kid. Their f irst album was the first album I ever bought. I’m a songwriter\, Albert ’s a songwriter. Andy encouraged everybody to bring stuff in\, to go for it. We started bringing things in and he and Ross embraced it. The band i s a little more serious now. There’s always going to be those great humo rous lines\, but we take songwriting seriously. People know the history of the band. They want to come out and have a good time just as much as we w ant to go out and have a good time.”\n\n\n“In the end\, it’s all abo ut the songs\,” Ross emphasizes. “It’s rock and roll\, but it’s al l about the songs. We’re taking this record very seriously\, that’s ho w it has to be. Ten songs that are all great. It’s an exciting record\, I’m so proud of it”\n\n\nEven though the riffs and melodies are brand new\, they’re unmistakably Dictators down to the bone. The Dictators is the newest\, brightest jewel in the crown of the quintessential American R ock and Roll band. DFFD indeed.\n\n\nhttps://www.thedictators.com/\n\n\nSt eve ConteSteve Conte is one busy musician\; guitarist\, singer\, songwrite r\, producer &\; music educator – both on tour and in studios around the world.\nHis most recent album\, The Concrete Jangle is an “Electrify ing Power-Pop Gem”\, with 1/2 of the songs co-written by Steve’s songw riting hero\, Andy Partridge of XTC. The 10 song album\, released on Littl e Steven Van Zandt‘s Wicked Cool Records label was recorded at Van Zandt ’s studio in NYC with Conte on vocals\, guitars\, keyboards\, percussion (+ arrangement/production)\, drummers Prairie Prince (XTC\, The Tubes)\, Thommy Price (Billy Idol\, Joan Jett)\, backing vocalists Ian Hunter\, Mar shall Crenshaw\, Michael Imperioli\, Glen Matlock and many others who help ed to shape Conte’s vision\; a Brit Pop/Motown/‘60s/Post-Punk ‘80s s ounding record – with trashy NYC guitars\, into a reality.\nSays Steve: “I wanted to combine my favorite aspects of The Beatles\, Kinks &\; W ho with those of The Replacements\, Pretenders &\; XTC. But I’m more like a soul-singer/guitar-slinger in tight pants\, scarves &\; eyeliner .” Music has always been most important to Conte\; the singing\, the pla ying\, the writing/arranging &\; the producing. He just happens to look pretty rock ’n’ roll while doing it all.\nFour singles from the album have resonated with listeners across the globe\, getting heavy airplay on the syndicated Underground Garage Radio Program &\; Coolest Songs In T he World channel on Sirius/XM Radio. Conte quite literally has fans all ov er the world.\nSince the album’s release Steve has found himself a genui ne rock ’n’ roll band in NYC\; drummer Rob Youngberg (Lotion)\, bassis t Ben Toro (The Everyothers) &\; John Deley (Darlene Love) on keys\, wh o push Conte’s music to that high energy live-level. The band recently s old out The Bowery Electric in NYC – hot on the heels of winning the Bes t Music Video award at the Golden Door International Film Festival for Con te’s song\, “We Like It” (see the Video page on this website).\nHis previous album\, Bronx Cheer was also released on Wicked Cool in the fall of 2021 to great critical acclaim. The album spawned 5 singles\, 3 of whic h were featured as “Coolest Songs In The World” on the Underground Gar age Radio Program. Conte produced videos for 4 of the album’s songs\, wh ich can be seen on YouTube. (see video links here on the “Media” page of this site.) Prior to Bronx Cheer\, Steve released a single\, “Gimme G imme Rockaway” on the Wicked Cool label in 2017\, and albums\; Internati onal Cover-Up in 2016 and The Steve Conte NYC Album in 2014 (both on his o wn label\, Thunderdog Recordings) and Steve Conte &\; the Crazy Truth i n 2009 on Varese Sarabande/Universal Music.\nBesides a rich solo-career\, Conte has recently been instrumental in helping some legendary artists lik e the New York Dolls get their groove back. After 6 years\, 4 albums and a never-ending World Tour with the Dolls\, he joined up with former Hanoi R ocks front man Michael Monroe as guitarist\, songwriter and backing vocali st to release 5 albums of new original material\; Sensory Overdrive\, Horn s and Halos\, Blackout States\, One Man Gang and I Live Too Fast To Die Yo ung. On the Horns And Halos album (2013 Spinefarm) Conte wrote the lion’ s share of the songs and it was nominated for “Album Of The Year” by t he Finnish “Grammys” as well as The Nordic Music Prize.\nSince the sta rt of his solo career\, Steve has toured extensively in the USA\, UK\, Net herlands\, Belgium\, France\, Italy\, Finland\, Sweden &\; Spain and is looking forward to hitting the road hard with his new band in support of The Concrete Jangle.\n ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://kingstonhappenings.org/wp-content/upload s/2025/11/568286679_1464578682134356_8805576908101517096_n.jpg CATEGORIES:@Featured,@Newsletter,Music,Nightlife and entertainment LOCATION:Colony Woodstock NY\, 22 Rock City Rd\, Woodstock\, New York\, Uni ted States GEO:42.0424924;-74.11799489999999 X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=22 Rock City Rd\, Woodstock \, New York\, United States;X-APPLE-RADIUS=100;X-TITLE=Colony Woodstock NY :geo:42.0424924,-74.11799489999999 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:America/New_York X-LIC-LOCATION:America/New_York BEGIN:STANDARD DTSTART:20251102T010000 TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:EST END:STANDARD END:VTIMEZONE END:VCALENDAR