Dan's Papers - July 11, 2008 - The Glory of the Dory

The Dory, a well known bar and restaurant on Shelter Island, has brought a regular, weekly music series to the island this summer.

Though musicians have performed at The Dory before, they were usually one-off shows. This summer marks the first schedule of weekly performances. Thursday evenings you can hear jazz on the deck during dinner, while Saturday nights are reserved for rock and roll bands. "This has been my dream," said Milen Planas, general manager of The Dory. "We all love music and want people to come out enjoy it and support the musicians."

Planas and The Dory's owner, Jack Kiffer, contacted their friend, and Shelter Island resident, Joe Lauro, a music historian and bassist for local bands, to book the summer music schedule. "The community swells here," Lauro said. "It goes from 2,000 in the winter to 12,000 in the summer. They're looking for things like this to do so they don't have to drive to the Hamptons."

Some local artists are featured in the series. Rebecca Dorsey has performed on several Thursday nights and The Lone Sharks and Matty Liot & The Big Up are on the upcoming calendar as well. But The Dory is also bringing in some heavy hitters.

Freddy Cole, Nat King Cole's brother, will perform July 27 and 28, and Vince Giordano and the Nighthawks Orchestra, specializing in jazz of the 1920s and early 1930s, will come to the island on July 17. And tickets for these shows range from $5 to $15.

Lauro says a series like this is something Shelter Island needs in order to bring awareness to live music, which, he says, has seen a decline in interest in all areas of the East End. The reasons for this are three-fold, but all come back to one thing: stricter regulations. Cops are cracking down on DWI laws, making people nervous about going out and having even one drink, he says. And the fact that people can no longer smoke in bars while watching bands keeps some away as well, he added. Shelter Island also has a strict noise ordinance, capping the permissible noise level at 50 decibels, which, Lauro says, is the level of a normal speaking voice. "50 db is simply too low," he said. And the sound carries at The Dory, since it's located on the creek, which can bring in complaints from those who live next door and those as far as a mile away. Though he says the cops on Shelter Island are fair and sympathetic, if several complaints come in, they still have a job to do.

"Live music is not something people are embracing so much anymore. We're trying to give it a go," he said. The number of people coming out for the shows increases each week - especially for the bigger name acts - mostly by word of mouth. "It's been rough. Some shows have been a little thin."

But the crew at The Dory is hoping this will change as people discover the music series exists. "It's been great," Planas said. "The only problem is that people don't know about it. Those who do, they love it. They think it's wonderful to sit out on the deck, listen to good music with good food."

Going to The Dory to hear live music could easily become a great day trip for Hamptonites. "Those from the North and South Forks don't really come out here, but they would if they knew this was coming on," Lauro said. "It's a great trip. We just want people to come out and support the music because we love it."