Bio : Peter Shapiro

SHORT BIO:

Independent music entrepreneur Peter Shapiro continues to explore a range of passion projects. He has owned and operated renowned venues Brooklyn Bowl, Brooklyn Bowl Las Vegas, Brooklyn Bowl Nashville, Brooklyn Bowl Philadelphia, The Capitol Theatre, Garcia’s and Wetlands Preserve.  In 2015, he produced Fare Thee Well: Celebrating 50 Years of the Grateful Dead, at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, CA and Chicago’s Soldier Field.  Shapiro founded Lockn’, a four-day music and camping festival held in Nelson County, Virginia as well as Jazz & Colors, an experiential music event held in Central Park and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. He is the creator of FANS, the immersive livestreaming platform with its innovative “Be in the Stream” feature that allows audiences to tune in and appear alongside the artists. He also originated the Rock and Roll Playhouse, developing the family concert series into a weekly national concert series that takes place in over 25 markets across America. His other endeavors include the IMAX concert films U2 3D and All Access, the Jammys awards show, the Green Apple Earth Day Featival, and Easy Rider Live.  Shapiro serves as publisher of Relix magazine and sits on the board of a number of civic and charitable organizations, including: The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Museum, New York Public Radio, and City Parks Foundation.  In 2019, Peter was named Chairman of HeadCount, one of the leading youth voter engagement and participation organizations in America.

LONG BIO:

Peter Shapiro’s eclectic career path has led to acclaimed and groundbreaking projects, beginning with two documentary films on The Grateful Dead, produced while a student at Northwestern University. Upon graduating, Shapiro drove through the 48 continental United States, directing American Road, which premiered at Sundance in 1997 and featured a score by Phish. In 1999, Shapiro produced the IMAX concert film All Access (Sting, Santana, Kid Rock, Sheryl Crow, BB King, Dave Matthews) and in 2008, U23D, the widely lauded concert film that was the first live-action film released in Digital 3D.

Along with such celebrated venues as Brooklyn Bowl (Ranked #1 Music Venue in NYC by ZAGAT), Brooklyn Bowl Las Vegas (named Best Live Music Venue by Las Vegas weekly), Wetlands Preserve and The Slipper Room. In September 2012, Peter re-opened The Capitol Theatre in Port Chester New York, one of America’s most famous rock palaces, which hosted The Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, Janis Joplin, David Bowie, in its heyday in 1970s, and Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, Robert Plant, Steely Dan, The Strokes, The Roots, Snoop Dogg, Wilco, and many others have performed during Shapiro’s ownership.

He is the founder of Lockn’, a 4 day camping and music festival in Arrington, VA which drew 30,000 attendees annually, as well as Central Park Jazz & Colors Festival an experiential music event encompassing the 843 acres of Central Park and featuring 50 musicians, and Jazz & Colors at The Met, 15 ensembles throughout the largest art museum in the United States, and later Chicago’s Field Museum. Peter served as Executive Producer of seven Jammy Awards shows, America’s Largest Earth Day event, Green Apple Festival (large-scale festival events in eight cities across America) and The Climate Rally (attended by 100,000 people on The National Mall). In 2017, Shapiro oversaw the live steam broadcast of the Women’s March, and served as executive producer of the March for Science on Washington’s National Mall.  In addition, he originated the Rock and Roll Playhouse, developing the family concert series into a thriving national venture that now plays in 25 markets from coast to coast with more on the way.

His acclaimed endeavors include the IMAX concert films U23D and All Access, the annual Jammys awards show, America’s Largest Earth Day event, Green Apple Festival, the leading 3D technology company and 3ality Digital. He serves as publisher of Relix Magazine, which also owns the popular website, Jambands.com along with digital ad agency Hear & There. He also co-founded the retail / online brand, Stone Fox Bride.

Peter entered into a unique exclusive performance deal with Phil Lesh, ensuring that the Grateful Dead co-founder would focus on Shapiro’s venues and events in 2014. He also partnered with the family of Jerry Garcia to open Garcia’s at The Capitol Theatre, a bar and music venue in the late performer’s honor. In July 2015, Shapiro created Fare Thee Well, Celebrating 50 Years of the Grateful Dead. The heralded event took place over five nights at Levi’s Stadium in the San Francisco Bay Area and Soldier Field in Chicago, earning acclaim as “the biggest concert by one band in America. (Rolling Stone)”

In 2015 and 2016, Shapiro was listed on Billboard’s Power 100 List for “Most Influential People in the Music Business.” Shapiro is a member of the Arts Committee of the City Parks Foundation’s Board of Directors, a co-founder of the environmental consulting firm, GreenOrder, and a board member of Central Park SummerStage, The Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame, The LowLine and New York Public Radio. In 2019, Peter was named Chairman of the HeadCount Board of Directors.

“Peter Shapiro is in the best image of the legendary rock impresario Bill Graham” -NYTimes

ABOUT DEAN BUDNICK:

Dean Budnick has written seven books, including Ticket Masters: The Rise of the Concert Industry and How the Public Got Scalped. He is the co-author of Blues Traveler frontman John Popper's recent memoir, Suck & Blow: And Other Stories I'm Not Supposed to Tell. Budnick is the editor-in-chief of Relix and has reported on the live entertainment industry for Billboard, Variety and The Hollywood Reporter. He directed the documentary Wetlands Preserved: The Story of An Activist Rock Club, which opened nationally before airing on the Sundance Channel. He also is the creator and host of the Long May They Run podcast, which reached #1 on the Apple Music Podcast charts.