In its second year, the CBGB Festival will celebrate the 40th anniversary of the famous club. It runs for five nights from October 9th to the 13th offering music performances from 700 artists at over 175 participating venues, and premiers an estimated 40 new movie titles and 100 screenings, including the premier of CBGB: The Movie.
Pat DiNizio is perhaps most well-known as the lead singer for The Smithereens who had chart-topping hits appearing on the radio like "Behind the Wall of Sleep," "Only a Memory," "A Girl Like You," and "Blood and Roses." They racked up gold and platinum records, performed on top-rated television programs such as The Tonight Show, MTV Unplugged and Saturday Night Live, as well as on stages all over the world. After 32 years together as a band, The Smithereens continue to tour and record. When not touring with The Smithereens, DiNizio performs their hits and solo material during solo performances such as the Brighton Bar Records night for the CBGB Festival.
Brighton Bar Records kicked off this past spring at a packed release party at its home, the legendary Brighton Bar - sometimes referred to as "the CBGB's of NJ." The label's first releases include an EP by The X-Men, a full-length album by Jon Caspi & The First Gun, and a 7" vinyl split featuring both bands. Both bands have a long and esteemed history in the New Jersey music scene. Jon Caspi & The First Gun's track "Raise Em High!" has become a local cult hit, and The X-Men's live shows are legendary. Upcoming for the label is a compilation featuring national old-school punk rock acts. Captain Sensible of The Damned, the Angry Samoans, and Anti-Nowhere League are among the well-known acts that have already signed on.
The label as curators added three other acts to the night including Creeptones, a NJ-based alternative rock power-pop band that finished 9th out of 12,000 bands in this year's Hard Rock Cafe's worldwide competition; Bronze Fondue, an eclectic and costumed indie outfit from NYC that don't perform often, but when they do they always pack the venue; and Pittsburgh's Nic Lawless & His Young Criminales, a punk/indie band making their name via old school basement punk shows.
