The Allman Brothers are returning to New York's Beacon Theater for their annual residency next March, one year after being forced 100 blocks uptown for an ill-fated run of shows at the United Palace Theater. At a press conference at the Beacon Monday, James Dolan, the chairman of Madison Square Garden, admitted the move was a mistake. "Our apologies for last year," he told the band. "That won't happen again."
Until this year The Allman Brothers had played the Beacon nearly every March for the last two decades, but this past year the theater was booked for the Cirque de Soleil show Banana Shpeel. The Allman's run at the United Palace didn't sell out and some shows were yanked due to a supposed "unforeseen family matter." Things fared even worse down at the Beacon, where the costly Banana Shpeel closed less than six weeks after opening.
"Last March was a glamorous place and all that, but the location of it was — well, we won't go into that," Gregg Allman said at the press conference. "Somebody told me the cab ride cost more than the ticket."
So far only eight Beacon shows are on the books, but they tend to add more as the concerts sell out. "We're back at home now," Allman told Rolling Stone last month. "I don't think they'll ever put us out again. I think we got some kind of paper that says they won't do it."