Iconic rock band the Spin Doctors are headlining the Friday Night Concert presented by Webster Private Bank at VersoFest 2024, the Library's annual music and media festival. Local singer-songwriter Nick Depuy opens at 7 pm, with Spin Doctors taking the stage at 8 pm.
Tickets purchased in advance of the show are $50 and available at the link above. If there are any tickets remaining the evening of the show, they will be sold for $60 at the door. Refunds not available within 48 hours of the show.
VersoFest is The Westport Library’s annual music and media festival and conference, spanning five days for this year’s edition, April 3 through April 7. Among the luminaries scheduled for this year's event are legendary musician, author, and activist Chuck D, renowned David Bowie, T. Rex, and Thin Lizzy music producer Tony Visconti, and electric power pop rockers The Lemon Twigs, with more to come.
Converging local with global, previous VersoFests have presented concerts with The Smithereens and Sunflower Bean, as well as events with renowned producer Steve Lillywhite, Norton Records/Kicks Books/Kicksville Radio co-founder and original Cramps drummer Miriam Linna, Alice Cooper Group Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Dennis Dunaway, Psychedelic Furs frontman and painter Richard Butler, author and journalist Rachel Felder, and hip hop pioneer DJ Grand Wizzard Theodore.
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With more than 12 million albums sold and nearly 2,000 live shows to their name, the GRAMMY-nominated Spin Doctors are rounding 30-plus years in rock 'n' roll.
The band formed at New York’s New School University in 1988, eventually setting into a quartet of singer Chris Barron, drummer Aaron Comess, guitarist Eric Schenkman, and bassist Mark White. Flexing their musicianship and announcing their elastic approach to live performance, in 1991 the band released its debut live release, Up For Grabs. That earned them a deal with Epic Records, and their follow-up, Pocket Full Of Kryptonite, hit big, selling nearly 10 million albums. “Two Princes,” the hit single off the album, rose to #4 on the Top 100 singles chart as one of the top rock 'n' roll radio singles of 1993, and “Little Miss Can’t Be Wrong” reached #17 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and #2 on the Billboard Album Rock Tracks chart. Behind those successes, the band cinched a Rolling Stone cover and a Sesame Street appearance.
The numbers were staggering, but it was the Spin Doctors’ capacity to reinvent themselves throughout the unfolding decade that confirmed their status as a great American band. In 1994, they struck back with Turn It Upside Down, a bittersweet album of superb songs including “Cleopatra’s Cat” to “You Let Your Heart Go Too Fast.”
Follow-ups included 1996's You’ve Got To Believe In Something and 1999’s Here Comes The Bride, both of which featured lineup changes within the band.
In 2001, the Spin Doctors’ classic lineup reconvened to play the closing of Manhattan's legendary Wetlands club, where the band cut their teeth in their formative days. That original chemistry proved too strong to put back in the box, and scattershot live shows ultimately spilled into 2005’s Nice Talking To Me, recorded in the legendary Sound City (Nirvana’s Nevermind, Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours) with esteemed producer Matt Wallace (Faith No More, The Replacements, O.A.R., Maroon 5). That was backed by If The River Was Whiskey (2013), which featured gritty blues songs harkening back to the band’s origin.
The band has continued to go strong ever since, which brings us to now, with plans afoot for a seventh studio album and another swashbuckling world tour.
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Opening the VersoFest April 5 concert is Connecticut singer-songwriter Nick Depuy, who boasts a unique sound rooted in old time folk, country rock, jazz, and blues. At 16, Depuy was mentored by Bruce Lundvall of Blue Note, Elektra, and Columbia Records, who called Depuy “the next James Taylor.”
Depuy has shared the stage with legendary singer-songwriter Jimmy Webb, Neil Finn of Crowded House, and art-rock legends Procol Harum. Depuy's music has been featured on WPLR 99.1, ABC Channel 8, CBS WTIC 1080, and in performance at tri-state area venues including: Fairfield Stage One, the Bijou Theater, Ridgefield Playhouse, the Gathering of the Vibes Music Festival, The Rockwood Music Hall, The Living Room, Arlene’s Grocery, Joe’s Pub in NYC, and the Connecticut Folk Festival, where he was both a “new artist” and “new songwriter” finalist. Depuy’s debut LP, Don't Be Sorry, is available on streaming services.
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All VersoFest 2024 concerts are co-produced with the Westport Weston Chamber of Commerce.
