Another Capshaw production - not!

He has his finger in so many pies in town that some folks might think C'ville stands for Capshawville.

Coran Capshaw is the manager of the local-boys-make-good Dave Matthews Band. He has his own entertainment empire (Red Light Management, MusicToday, and ATO Records). Most recently, he has created the Pavilion, Charlottesville's newest venue. And if you dine out, odds are good it will be at a Capshaw restaurant.

But the biggest gig to come to town is not a Capshaw production.

Credit for that belongs to a previously low-profile local whose job is handling high-profile clients like the Rolling Stones, Madonna, and U-2. Tres Thomas works for The Next Adventure, the boutique subsidiary of Clear Channel. He's toured with the Stones three times, and as tour director of this year's Bigger Bang tour, when the chance to bring the band to Charlottesville arose, Thomas was poised to push for it.

The concert was pretty much a done deal with UVA and SMG, the company in charge of booking special events into the new John Paul Jones Arena, when Capshaw was brought in, because even the Stones don't come into the backyard of an impresario like Capshaw without having him involved.

Capshaw's Starr Hill Presents is a co-promoter of the event, along with Clear Channel's Cellar Door Productions.

"We wanted to make sure to involve him," says Thomas. "When you get into marketing, the local organization has the expertise. Red Light has the experience, and he was happy to do it."

Despite living in the same town, "This is the first time we've worked together," says Thomas– although MusicToday, Capshaw's Crozet-based ticket-and-merchandise fulfillment business does sell Rolling Stones goods online.

With the ice broken, can other collaborations between Red Light Management and The Next Adventure be far behind? Is there a U-2 or Madonna concert in Charlottesville's future?

Capshaw's spokesperson did not return phone calls.

For once, Coran Capshaw, left, is not the one who pulled the strings to get a major act here. (Another Charlottesvillian, Clear Channel's Tres Thomas, worked behind the scenes to bring the Stones to Scott Stadium.)
FILE PHOTO BY JEN FARIELLO