Peter Shapiro (concert promoter)

[15] Kirkus described The Music Never Stops, written with Dean Budnick, as “an entertaining insider's tour of the concert business from a likable guide.”[16] Peter Shapiro, who grew up in New York City, is the grandson of Ezra Shapiro, a former world chairman of the Keren Hayesod (the world's largest fundraising organizations for Israel), and the great-grandnephew of Joel Elias Spingarn, one of the first Jewish leaders of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

"[20] In 1996, while touring college campuses with Tie-Died, Shapiro learned that Larry Bloch, the founder of New York City nightclub Wetlands Preserve, was seeking to sell the venue.

[22] Shapiro and Bloch later appeared in the feature-length documentary Wetlands Preserved: The Story of An Activist Rock Club (2008) directed by Dean Budnick, which utilizes archival footage, soundboard recordings and the efforts of a dozen digital animators to present the story of the venue and later aired on the Sundance Channel[23] In the years following the closure of Wetlands Preserve, Shapiro expressed his interest in owning another music venue that would develop its own unique identity.

We just said, ‘This is it.’ You don't often find barns like that, even in the outer boroughs.” A two year renovation then followed, yielding a 600-capacity club with a 16-lane bowling alley and food provided by Blue Ribbon.

[31] Performers have included Kanye West, Jack White, John Legend, Jane's Addiction, Phil Lesh & Friends, Robert Plant, Trey Anastasio, Skrillex, Guns N' Roses, The Avett Brothers, Erykah Badu, Steve Winwood, Wyclef Jean, The String Cheese Incident, Tedeschi Trucks Band, Spoon, Pretty Lights, My Morning Jacket, Robert Randolph & The Family Band, Grace Potter & The Nocturnals, Gogol Bordello and Chromeo.

Following a heyday of a few years, the facility experienced a brief resurgence in the 1990s with shows from Phish, Blues Traveler, Spin Doctors, Strangefolk and performances by The Rolling Stones and David Bowie as part of MTV's Live From The 10 Spot series.

In late 2011 Shapiro entered into an agreement with owner Marvin Ravikoff (who had been using the building as a special events facility for weddings and bar mitzvahs) to re-open it as a music venue.

The goal, he said, was to create ‘a psychedelic rock palace’ dedicated to live music, rather than theater.” Opening night was originally slated for September 7, 2012, Shapiro's 40th birthday but the opportunity to put on a show with Dylan, who had previously used the theater as a tour rehearsal space, scuttled those plans by a few days.

Jerry Garcia's daughter Trixie was on-hand and explained, "We chose to launch this idea at the Capitol because of its long and illustrious history with the Grateful Dead and the jam scene.

[50] Lockn' 2015 featured Robert Plant & The Sensational Space Shifters, Phil Lesh & Friends with Carlos Santana, Mad Dogs & Englishmen: A Tribute to Joe Cocker feat.

Tedeschi Trucks Band with Special Guests Leon Russell, Dave Mason, Rita Coolidge, Chris Robinson, Doyle Bramhall II & Friends, Billy & The Kids feat.

[51] In 2016, performers included: Phish, My Morning Jacket, Phil Lesh & Friends, Ween, Gary Clark Jr., Tedeschi Trucks Band, Peter Wolf, Joe Russo's Almost Dead, Umphrey's McGee, White Denim and Vulfpeck.

[52] The November 3, 2013, issue of The New York Times reported that Phil Lesh, longtime bass player of The Grateful Dead, would play 45 shows at Peter Shapiro's venues.

[54] These shows paired the surviving members of the Grateful Dead: Bob Weir, Phil Lesh, Bill Kreutzmann and Mickey Hart, with Phish guitarist Trey Anastasio, Bruce Hornsby and Jeff Chimenti.

Ben Sisario reported in the New York Times, that Shapiro, "one of the most successful and least button-down independent music promoters in the country, is introducing his latest venture this week, an online platform called Fans.com that lets users build profiles based on concerts they have attended and communicate with like-minded people via news feeds.

The goal is to build a single destination for concert lovers, who Shapiro says are often spread far across the web—either lingering on artist-specific sites like Little Monsters or Dead.net, or sharing everything via a decentralized stream of social media updates.

MTV reported of the first installment: “A virtual who's who of jam bands, related artists, presenters, producers, journalists, and fans came together Thursday at New York City's Irving Plaza for the genre's first awards show, the Jammys.

Notable collaborations over the years included Del McCoury Band with Robert Randolph and DJ Logic (2001), A dual-stage jam with Bob Weir's RatDog, Trey Anastasio, Warren Haynes, John Popper, Al Schnier, Matt Abts, DJ Logic, Mike Gordon, Robert Randolph, Jessica Lurie, Hope Clayburn and Skerik (2002) Perry Farrell and The String Cheese Incident (2004), The Disco Biscuits and Travis Tritt (2005) Grace Potter, Joe Satriani, Steve Kimock, Stephen Perkins, Willy Waldman and Reed Mathis (2007), Page McConnell, Roy Haynes, James Carter, Nicholas Payton and Christian McBride (2008).

[72] In 2009, the event announced that “in keeping with President Obama's Call to Service, Green Apple Festival will shift its main focus from Festivals to large‐scale Volunteer Action Projects on Earth Day weekend across the US.” Beyond local thank-you concerts for participants, the main musical focus took place at the National Mall where emcee Chevy Chase welcomed The Flaming Lips, moe., Los Lobos, DJ Spooky and Los Lobos along with Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, Representative Edward Markey and many others.

Well over 100,000 were in attendance at the National Mall for music from Sting, John Legend, The Roots, Joss Stone, Jimmy Cliff and Mavis Staples along with speeches by James Cameron, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Rev.

[76] The second year of the festival found Grateful Dead bassist Phil Lesh playing 30 minutes of unannounced music in the park, with Joe Russo and Soulive's Eric Krasno.

[80] Peter served as musical director for the film, which brought some of the Jammys sensibility to the big screen, as many of the performances are collaborative, including Al Green and the Dave Matthews Band (Take Me to the River'),' B.

King, Trey Anastasio and The Roots (Rock Me Baby), Carlos Santana and Rob Thomas (Smooth”), Sting and Cheb Mami (Desert Rose”) and George Clinton and Parliament-Funkadelic with Mary J. Blige (Flashlight, One Nation Under a Groove, Atomic Dog').”[81] In December 2001, Peter and Jon recorded Chick Corea's performances over three weeks at New York City's Blue Note, in which Corea celebrated his 60th birthday with nine separate combos, spanning his career.

A live two-CD set earned Corea a Grammy, while the resulting film, Rendezvous in New York (2004), narrated by Jeff Goldblum included appearance from such jazz figures as: Bobby McFerrin, Joshua Redman, Terence Blanchard, Michael Brecker, Steve Gadd and Christian McBride.

[83] Peter initially pitched the idea to the group's director for visual content, Catherine Owens who would go on to direct along with Mark Pellington (Arlington Road, The Mothman Chronicles).

On December 4, 2008, they broadcast the first-ever live 3D football game to theaters in Los Angeles, New York and Boston, pitting the Oakland Raiders against the San Diego Chargers.

[90] A year later, on March 30, 2010, the Black Eyed Peas became the first music group to simulcast a live concert in 3D, as their sold-out performance at the Staples Center in Los Angeles reached audiences across the nation via Regal Cinema theatres.

[91] Shapiro also served as a producer for Sheryl Crow: C’mon America (2003), And You Don't Stop: 30 Years of Hip-Hop (2004), Dion: Live (2004) and Toots and The Maytals – True Love (2004).

[100] On April 22, 2017, he served as producer for the March for Science event in Washington, D.C.[68] Hachette released Shapiro's book, The Music Never Stops: What Putting on 10,000 Shows Has Taught Me About Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Magic, co-authored by Dean Budnick, on August 2, 2022.

Variety reported that “based on 50 pivotal shows which helped define Shapiro's life and guide his businesses, the book chronicles a career lived at maximum volume.”[101] Spin added, “Shapiro talks eloquently and honestly about what he's learned along the way, peppering the text with one amazing anecdote after another.” [102] The Music Never Stops “covers a good amount of ground; through industry consolidation and disruptive changes that occurred in advances, venue operations, ticketing and touring.