On a Tuesday evening — November 24th to be exact — a launch party was held at The Adorama Live Theatre near Manhattan’s Hudson Square. This was all due to a recently announced collaboration between Adorama and CBS RADIO New York and many (and I mean many) people attended while eagerly anticipating a live performance by the recording artists Train. As they are Grammy Award winners with albums having reached double platinum in the United States, you would have to have been living under a rock if you cannot recognize tunes as catchy as “Calling All Angels,” “Drops of Jupiter (Tell Me)” and “Hey, Soul Sister.” Surely, you’ve heard the use of Train’s songs on commercials and various movie soundtracks. Yet here they were this evening, performing in what must have been an uncustomary, intimate space for a band used to appearing at stadiums in front of thousands of people.
CBS RADIO New York is also home to the enduring Fresh 102.7 and 1010 WINS News channel.
The space itself is located within CBS RADIO’s office building and is equipped with the latest audio recording gear and lighting equipment. It’s actually quite impressive and aided in no doubt by Adorama’s involvement as a retailer of high-end audio production technology. The Adorama Live Theatre is also equipped with three HD cameras strategically placed throughout the room thus allowing the live streaming of video as well as broadcasting performances and celebrity interviews via CBS’s radio networks.
The stage inside The Adorama Live Theatre. Just before the evening’s live performance.
Barstools proudly displayed the CBS RADIO New York logo. Although there was no two-drink minimum.
The studio is also large enough to hold an audience of approximately 100 (or more… they seemed to have packed in a lot of people that night) with a stage that can easily fit a band of six including their respective instruments. It more or less reminded me of some of the venue spaces one encounters in a New York City bar or club. But cleaner, obviously. And sans the cover charge and two-drink minimum.
The calm before the storm: attendees begin to congregate within the party space while a sign marking the
head of thequeue stood guard nearby.
The Adorama logo was prominently displayed on monitors within the studio space and outside of it as well.
The party was thrown in a communal space adjacent to the studio. Many attendees enjoyed the spread provided by CBS before they took their positions on a queue set up alongside the theatre’s entrance. I was fortunate enough not to have to wait in that line as I spent most of my time photographing Train while they ran through their sound check. Eventually, the doors opened for the studio audience, literally flooding the space with excited people.
Pre-sound check:audio technicians preppingthe recording equipment, sound boards and mixers.
Rythm guitarist/keyboard player Jerry Becker and Lead guitarist Jimmy Stafford run through their sound
check.
Train front man Pat Monahan answered audiencequestions while the band’s musical instrumentspatiently
awaitednearby,
Train performs a track from their Holiday themed album “Christmas in Tahoe.”
Train’s band members made themselves available for a Q&A session/interview prior to their performance. And then things got underway as front man Pat Monahan sang a track from a new holiday themed album titled “Christmas in Tahoe.” All-in-all the evening was a success, as is the new studio bearing Adorama’s name. If this was any indication, the “Live Theatre” will be home to many exciting events and programs to come.
