THE KNICKERBOCKER MUSIC CENTER
35 Railroad Avenue, Westerly, RI 02891 (Misquamicut) | (401) 315-5070
Closed Today
The club thrived as one of the leading entertainment centers in southern New England, hosting regional and national bands with an emphasis on the blues. Some of the greats that played on the Knickerbocker stage included, Big Joe Turner, Albert Collins, Johnny Copeland, Johnny Nicholas, Leon Russell, Eric Burdon and Stevie Ray Vaughan. In 1967, Roomful of Blues was born in Westerly, when guitarist Duke Robillard and pianist Al Copley started a band that played tough, no-holds barred Chicago blues. Making the Knickerbocker Café their home club, it did not take long before they started exploring swinging, jumping blues and added a horn section. Roomful would pack the house every Sunday and still plays their great brand of blues today.
Fast forward and the Café has become the Knickerbocker Music Center, a non-profit organization formed in partnership with the Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra & Music School. The mission of the Knickerbocker Music Center is to preserve, cultivate and grow the “Knick’s” unique brand of blues, as well as expanding access to music of all genres, by transforming the Knick into both an exciting performance venue and an exceptional center for music education.
Westerly Murder Mystery Walking Tour
7:30pm – 10:30pm
Sunday, July 21, 2019 at 7:30pm to 10:30pm
The Knickerbocker Music Center. 35 Railroad Avenue, Westerly, RI 02891
Live Music
Westerly Murder Mystery Walking Tour – To Benefit The United
The night will culminate at The Knickerbocker Music Center, where the mystery will be solved, and everyone can enjoy a night of swinging jazz from THE CARTELLS (from 8:30 to 10:30).
The year is 1930. It’s a busy summer evening in the coastal downtown of Westerly, Rhode Island. Alfred Hitchcock’s new film “Murder” just opened at The United Theatre, the downtown cinema. Travelers wait for the night train back into the city at the Westerly train station. Librarians are closing the quiet Westerly Library for the evening. Author Dashiell Hammett, summering in nearby Watch Hill, is giving a reading of his new hard-boiled detective story “The Maltese Falcon” at the Savoy Bookshop. Everyone is abuzz for the big jazz dance party scheduled at The Knickerbocker dance hall. But the night is interrupted when a body is found in the picturesque Wilcox Park at the center of town. A mystery is afoot! Everyone’s a suspect!
Step back in time on Sunday, July 21st and join us on a walking murder mystery tour through downtown Westerly to benefit The United Theatre. Participants will be separated into five groups and led across the downtown, stopping at the Savoy Bookshop and Cafe, the front of The United Theatre, the Artists’ Cooperative Gallery of Westerly at the Westerly Train Station, the Westerly Library, and of course Wilcox Park. Actors from the Newport Murder Mystery Company will lead the groups along on an interactive mystery (7 to 8:30 pm) full of colorful characters, clues, riddles, and fun! The night will culminate at The Knickerbocker Music Center, where the mystery will be solved, and everyone can enjoy a night of swinging jazz from THE CARTELLS (from 8:30 to 10:30).
Tickets for this unique event are $75 per person and benefit The United Theatre renovation project. Complimentary appetizers and hors d’oeuvres, as well as complimentary beer and wine will be served at each stop along the tour. Drinks at The Knick are not included, though the full bar will be open. Ticket-holders can request to be in groups with other specific ticket-holders, but this must be done at the time of purchasing tickets. Everyone who purchases tickets will receive a notice (via email) one week prior to the event on where to go to meet their tour guide the night of the mystery.
