ABOUT US

Founded in the spring of 1992 by alto saxophonist Roger Gamache, the legendary Stage Door Canteen is no ordinary big band. For two decades, they have brought unbridled energy and unparalleled elegance to special gatherings and memorable events across New England… and beyond.

Long considered one of the top function bands in the region, Stage Door Canteen prides itself on versatility as both a pulse-pounding dance band and a top-notch concert ensemble. They have performed many hundreds of weddings and private parties spanning the entire human spectrum, and they are fully capable entertaining a crowd of music lovers from any stage.

At the heart of Stage Door Canteen stands a massive horn section. There is simply something different about the big band sound. Drawing energy not from a synthesizer or turntable, but from the wind and spirit of twelve real musicians, there is no other experience like a great American big band; it will awaken something primitive in your DNA, the restless spirit that drifted up the mighty Mississippi and took hold in the servicemen who won The War.

A musical tour de force, Stage Door Canteen hits an audience with everything: from the unmistakable jump-swing of the early big band era, to the blistering arrangements of the latter day big bands, to horn-band standards by Chicago EW&F and Tower of Power, to the Latin sounds of Tito Puente and the Mambo Kings, to the fiery Celtic strains of pipes and whistles, to hip-shaking Motown, to unbelievable reinventions of radio hits by Van Morrison and the B52s.

Stage Door Canteen is a seasoned outfit comprised of some of the most polished professional musicians in southern New England. Members include professors from the prestigious Berklee College of Music, veterans of the Army and Navy bands, directors of some of the finest school band programs in Massachusetts, and award-winning freelance musicians. Entering their third decade together, they have entertained from high atop the Green Mountains of Vermont to the whirling carnivals of the Jersey Shore, from the rocky coastline of Maine to the smooth sands of the Narragansett, from the cobble-lined riverbanks of Dublin, Ireland to the windswept sky-scape of Chicago, Illinois.

GUARANTEED to satisfy audiences from every generation, there is simply no other band like Stage Door Canteen. Bring the big band sound to your special event, concert, festival, or venue and nothing will ever be the same.