Super Trans AM’s premise is smarter than most decade tributes allow themselves to be. Rather than compress the sonic range of 1970s rock — a span that runs from Journey’s stadium balladry to Grand Funk Railroad’s Detroit muscle, with Elton John and Tom Petty somewhere in between — the band fields five vocalists and assigns each to the artists their voice can actually carry. It’s a structural decision, not a production trick, and it makes the difference between a tribute show that holds up and one that doesn’t.
About the Show
The Super 70s Rock Show covers The Eagles, Queen, Journey, Kiss, Boston, Foreigner, Hall & Oates, Tom Petty, the Doobie Brothers, Elton John, Billy Joel, Grand Funk Railroad, and the Steve Miller Band, with yacht-rock material filling the softer stretches of the setlist. Disco, by design, is off the board. The vocal breakdown is specific: Bobby August handles Boston and Journey; Paul Riario takes Kansas; James McGill covers Tom Petty and the Doobie Brothers; Jay Soltys channels Elton John and Billy Joel; Lance Hyland Stark handles Grand Funk Railroad and the Steve Miller Band. August described the approach to Atlantic City Weekly: “All of us sing … the right material for the right voice. It’s also good because if there is a night that one of us is sick, some of us can cover each other.”
The five members carry individual touring credits with Jon Bon Jovi, Bruce Springsteen, Eddie Money, and Loverboy, which explains why the technical ask of covering this much of a decade’s catalog doesn’t appear to cost them much. Shore Beat Review’s Davey Duffle assessed the band directly: “Perfectly recreating the arena anthems of the seventies, with great vocals and harmonies while adding a touch of nostalgia, this band is a lot of fun.”
The production runs deeper than the music: period-specific costumes, vintage props on stage, synchronized video montages, and professional lighting. At select shows, a replica 1978 Trans Am — the Smokey and the Bandit vehicle — appears at the venue for photographs.
Venue & Logistics
Cohoes Music Hall at 58 Remsen St. is a historic theater in Cohoes, at the northern end of the Capital Region circuit. The band has played the Stone Pony in New Jersey, the Paramount Hudson Valley in Peekskill, and the Count Basie Center’s Vogel in Red Bank; Cohoes Music Hall fits the same profile of mid-size regional venues they’ve built this show around. The evening runs 7:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.
Tickets
Tickets are $19.50–$44.50, available online through the venue or by phone at 518-434-0776, Tuesday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., with reduced fees by phone. Buy tickets