Music hall to bring life to beach town

“I looked at it from an investment perspective,’’ says Hayward. “I kind of had a vision, and I went with it. I never planned to do this full time, to be honest.’’

Five years after he began booking blues, jazz, and veteran rock and new wave acts into the quirky room, Hayward is bringing his muse to the beach. With a state-of-the-art sound system and panoramic views of the Atlantic, the opening of the new Tupelo Music Hall in Salisbury this week marks the next step in the long-awaited revitalization of the town’s frowsy commercial beachfront.

Longtime visitors and residents remember the Frolics, the once-swanky venue on the beach that hosted Frank Sinatra and Johnny Mathis, and later Aerosmith and the Fools, in its heyday. With the financial backing of the Capolupo family, which recently opened two upscale restaurants alongside the old arcades and dollar stores of Salisbury’s economic district, Hayward hopes to restore a bit more luster to the town’s scuffed reputation.

Like the original venue in Londonderry, Tupelo Salisbury will be a casual experience, says Hayward: “We’re not a knock-down, drag-out rock club.’’ Early bookings in the comfortable 450-capacity space include a sold-out grand opening on Saturday with the Little River Band and dates with singers Paula Cole and Shawn Colvin. When Hayward brings in rockers - he’s working on Ace Frehley of Kiss, for instance - they’ll be presented in an intimate setting.

“Marky Ramone - that’s not a mosh-pit show anymore,’’ he says of the 53-year-old survivor of punk legend the Ramones, whose band will play both Tupelo venues in February.

The concept meshes well with the Capolupo family’s upscale vision for Salisbury, where the five siblings have been coming since their childhood in East Boston. All five live with their families in the immediate area, and they operate SPS New England, a lucrative heavy construction firm specializing in bridge and roadwork, out of offices on Elm Street in Salisbury.

The family opened its second Salisbury restaurant, Seaglass, to positive reviews in July. Seaglass takes up the southern end of the big Pavilion building just off Broadway, onetime site of a roller rink and a 25,000-square-foot arcade.

Tupelo Music Hall will take the northern half, with a large function room slated to go in upstairs.

Years ahead of the massive Salisbury redevelopment proposed by the Cambridge-based Thompson Group, the planners behind Faneuil Hall, San Francisco’s Ghirardelli Square, and other noted reclamation efforts, the Capolupos are charging ahead with their commitment to the town.

“It is a labor of love as much as it is an investment,’’ says Wayne Capolupo, president of SPS. “Some of us have lived in the town our entire adult lives, and much of our childhood was spent in Salisbury enjoying the amusement parks, the rides, and so on. We are passionate about it.’’

The success of Hayward’s Londonderry location brings “instant credibility’’ to the new venue on the beach, says Capolupo. “We have licensed his brand. He has a management contract - he’ll be overseeing the day-to-day operations. He’s a key player.’’

Salisbury Town Manager Neil Harrington says the Capolupo family is “putting their money where their mouth is.’’ So far, he says, Seaglass has been “a terrific success. It’s remarkable in the sense that most businesspeople are retrenching in order to get through the recession, yet the Capolupos are investing heavily in Salisbury.’’

The Music Hall, he hopes, will add to the perception that Salisbury can be a year-round beach community.

“Traditionally, Salisbury Beach has focused on the summer months only,’’ he says. “This type of venture will give hope to the future redevelopment, if it’s successful.’’

Hayward, in addition to his partnership in Salisbury, has just entered an agreement with Harry Boras, former owner of the Channel nightclub in Boston, to book a new club in Scituate. Having stumbled into the nightclub business, the father of two young boys (the older of the two, Adam, is taking guitar lessons) now hopes to expand to six or eight performance spaces around New England, which would greatly enhance his ability to attract big-name acts.

For now, he’s concentrating on making the new Salisbury space as performer-friendly as possible. While a construction crew busily paints, plasters, and bangs nails a few weeks before opening, Hayward proudly walks a visitor through the backstage area, which will feature showers, wall-mounted plasma TVs, meals catered from Seaglass, and a spectacular ocean view.

“This is going to be an oasis for the bands,’’ says Hayward. “They’re gonna call their agent and say, ‘When can I come back?’ ’’

The new Tupelo Music Hall in Salisbury opens with a celebration featuring the Evan Goodrow Band with special guest Charlie Farren tonight (limited seats available), followed by a sold-out show headlined by the Little River Band on Saturday. Tickets are still available for the Squirrel Nut Zippers on Sunday. For more information, go to www.tupelohallsalisbury.com or call 603-437-5100.