Yacht rock has been rehabilitated so thoroughly over the past decade that calling it a guilty pleasure now signals you missed the memo. AM Gold Yacht Rock, a New York City-based tribute ensemble built around drummer Dan Wintersteen and saxophonist Jonny Hirsch, plays it straight, treating the Hall & Oates and Steely Dan catalogs as the legitimate repertoire they always were.
About the Show
The band’s list covers a specific stretch of late-1970s and mid-1980s American music that gets called Yacht Rock as both description and compliment: Hall & Oates, Steely Dan, Michael McDonald, Christopher Cross, Kenny Loggins, Toto, Lionel Richie, Phil Collins, Huey Lewis, and Jackson Browne — a genre that, by the band’s own account, has recently experienced a cultural revival and holds up rather well when played by people who take it seriously. The origin story is appropriately maritime: Wintersteen, who grew up sailing with his father and spent high school working at a local yacht club, organized a Yacht Rock-themed 30th birthday party with fellow musicians, recognized what he had, and later partnered with Hirsch, who brings vocals and saxophone and comes from a sailing family of his own, to formalize the project. AM Gold developed its following on the Greenwich Village circuit before expanding outward. The band has been active throughout 2026, including a sold-out night at the Emelin Theater in Mamaroneck, New York, and dates in New Jersey, Minnesota, and Connecticut. That touring range reflects the genre’s reach well beyond any single regional market. For a tribute act, the measure is always how seriously the players take the source material; Wintersteen and Hirsch seem to have started with that answer and built the rest around it.
Venue & Logistics
The August 27 show is part of Saranac Thursdays, the outdoor summer concert series at SPACE Old Forge in the north country, presented in partnership with Saranac Brewery and McCraith Beverages. OUTER SPACE is an open-air food and beverage courtyard in the Adirondacks — family-oriented, with both sunny and shady seating; outside lawn chairs are welcome on a first-come basis, and covered shelter is available if the weather turns. Shows run rain or shine. Doors open at 5:00 p.m.; the performance runs 6:00 to 9:00 p.m.
Tickets
Tickets are available from $11.55. The show is all ages; anyone under 18 must be accompanied by an adult. Outside food and beverages are not permitted on site. Buy tickets