The Dictators w/ Steve Conte | Colony • Woodstock, NY

Name: The Dictators w/ Steve Conte | Colony • Woodstock, NY
Start: 2025-02-28T19:00:00-05:00
Location: 22 Rock City Rd, Woodstock, NY, United States, New York 12498

Schedule

Fri, 28 Feb, 2025 at 07:00 pm

UTC-05:00

Location

22 Rock City Rd, Woodstock, NY, United States, New York 12498 | Woodstock, NY

The Dictators w/ Steve Conte
FRI Feb 28th, 2025
Doors 6pm | Show 7pm

The Dictators
Call them what you will... proto-punk, punk, what-have-you... The Dictators are, and always will be, the living, fire-breathing definition 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 the game — is faster, louder and better than ever before. And it almost didn’t happen.
“I’d always stayed in touch with Scott (Kempner),” recalls Andy Shernoff, “but I hadn’t been in touch with Ross (The 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 thing 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 just wanted him to play on some recordings. So, we started to play with Albert. Scott’s health was already beginning to fail (Kempner passed away due 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 worked on a bunch of songs and recorded four of them in June 2020. Scott was only able to contribute to two songs. To our dismay, he wasn’t well enough to continue.”
“It’s a whole new ballgame,” Ross adds. “Albert is such a tremendous musician and composer. Andy and I have known him since we started — maybe before! And Keith brings a new energy to the band
(at Albert’s suggestion, singer/guitarist Keith Roth was brought in as the newest member of the tribe after the band parted ways with longtime front man Handsome Dick Manitoba in 2009). Keith came in after we recorded those first four songs, and the songs kept coming. At a certain point we realized things were starting to take shape as an album, not just a series of singles.”

“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 magic 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 other. He was the missing ingredient. We’d been trying to get a guitar player 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 worked with him on my solo project. He’s a great guy to hang out with and work with, he’ll do anything. He’s so pliable; can’t does not exist in his vocabulary. He auditioned, sang ‘Weekend,’ and everyone loved it. It worked. He aced it. We did more talking than playing, and it became a lot more fun immediately. The band is serious, but we’ve gotta have fun.”

“I’ve known Albert for years,” Roth explains. “We’ve played together and done some shows together. He told me what was going on with Scott’s health, which I had sort of known about. Albert asked 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 ‘Hey, 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 whole other level because I’ve known this band since I was a kid. Their first 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 is a little more serious now. There’s always going to be those great humorous 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 want to go out and have a good time.”
“In the end, it’s all about the songs,” Ross emphasizes. “It’s rock and roll, but it’s all about the songs. We’re taking this record very seriously, that’s how it has to be. Ten songs that are all great. It’s an exciting record, I’m so proud of it”
Even 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 Rock and Roll band. DFFD indeed.

Steve Conte
Steve Conte is one busy musician; guitarist, singer, songwriter, producer & music educator – both on tour and in studios around the world.
His most recent album, The Concrete Jangle is an “Electrifying Power-Pop Gem”, with 1/2 of the songs co-written by Steve’s songwriting hero, Andy Partridge of XTC. The 10 song album, released on Little 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, Marshall Crenshaw, Michael Imperioli, Glen Matlock and many others who helped to shape Conte’s vision; a Brit Pop/Motown/‘60s/Post-Punk ‘80s sounding record – with trashy NYC guitars, into a reality.
Says Steve: “I wanted to combine my favorite aspects of The Beatles, Kinks & Who 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 playing, the writing/arranging & the producing. He just happens to look pretty rock ’n’ roll while doing it all.
Four singles from the album have resonated with listeners across the globe, getting heavy airplay on the syndicated Underground Garage Radio Program & Coolest Songs In The World channel on Sirius/XM Radio. Conte quite literally has fans all over the world.
Since the album’s release Steve has found himself a genuine rock ’n’ roll band in NYC; drummer Rob Youngberg (Lotion), bassist Ben Toro (The Everyothers) & John Deley (Darlene Love) on keys, who push Conte’s music to that high energy live-level. The band recently sold out The Bowery Electric in NYC – hot on the heels of winning the Best Music Video award at the Golden Door International Film Festival for Conte’s song, “We Like It” (see the Video page on this website).
His 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 which were featured as “Coolest Songs In The World” on the Underground Garage Radio Program. Conte produced videos for 4 of the album’s songs, which 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 Gimme Rockaway” on the Wicked Cool label in 2017, and albums; International Cover-Up in 2016 and The Steve Conte NYC Album in 2014 (both on his own label, Thunderdog Recordings) and Steve Conte & the Crazy Truth in 2009 on Varese Sarabande/Universal Music.
Besides a rich solo-career, Conte has recently been instrumental in helping some legendary artists like 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 Rocks front man Michael Monroe as guitarist, songwriter and backing vocalist to release 5 albums of new original material; Sensory Overdrive, Horns and Halos, Blackout States, One Man Gang and I Live Too Fast To Die Young. 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 the Finnish “Grammys” as well as The Nordic Music Prize.
Since the start of his solo career, Steve has toured extensively in the USA, UK, Netherlands, 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.