Cover Story
Life beyond the campus
While the daily life of a college student can be consumed by time spent in the lecture halls, libraries, and dormitories, there is plenty to learn and experience off-campus as well. The decisions you make about what to eat, where to study, how to spend your time, and how to spend your money while in…
Whole Foods project gets another green light
From the start of the Whole Foods Plaza project in 2015, traffic has been a concern of neighbors, businesses in the surrounding Monroe Avenue corridor, and state officials. But the state Department of Transportation has signaled that it’s satisfied with the developer’s plans to offset some of the project’s traffic impacts. The DOT has completed…
Local governments prepare for 5G
Crushingly fast 5G mobile phone networks are available only in limited locations in an even more limited number of cities. Rochester won’t be one of them for a while. But Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, and others are already starting to market the technology here. And they’ve been making the case that this next-generation technology isn’t just…
Across the Rochester coffeescape
Whether you’re seeking refuge from the academic grind, or a cozy enclave to study when the library is jam-packed, coffee shops are simply part of the college experience. Luckily for you, Rochester has a ton of them. And in some ways, picking a favorite coffee shop is like buying clothes: It says something about who…
PolySci 101: civic engagement for students
The upcoming school year will welcome not only a new class of students, but also a new set of voters. While national politics tend to get more attention than other political activities, students can be active participants in a wide range of governmental issues as well. But why should you? The simple answer: College is…
Do you need to get out more?
It was Eddie Hock’s first year at the University of Rochester, Hanukkah was approaching, and he needed to buy gifts. He wound up at NeedleDrop Records in the South Wedge, on the edge of downtown Rochester. “I went in and I hung out with the owner of this record store,” he says. “I had a…
International food round-up
Rochester colleges and universities are home to an array of talented, passionate, and dedicated students – many of whom are international. And so this list of restaurants and markets, from the Caribbean to Middle Eastern, is especially for friends who said goodbye to their countries to study here. It’s not a comprehensive list, but whether…
Dealing with debt
There’s a lot being blamed on student debt these days. Millennials are taking longer to buy houses or start families because of it. The economy is staggering under the $1.5 trillion burden. It’s no wonder that not one but two Democrats in the presidential race are promising to wipe it all away. Still, it’s too…
ROCK-POP | The Able Bodies
When you think of pop music in its purest form, look no further than the sugar-smack high you get from listening to The Able Bodies. Those who like to dance or have affection for 80’s-style confection will enjoy this Rochester duo. The band’s sound is quirky and seriously more fun than a barrel of monkeys.…
JAZZ-DANCE MUSIC | Moon Hooch
The New School in Manhattan has the reputation for being a progressive institution. Case in point, the innovative trio Moon Hooch was born of the school’s Jazz and Contemporary Music program. The musical trinity of saxophonists Mike Wilbur and Wenzl McGowen and drummer James Muschler first garnered attention performing on NYC subway platforms, and was…
METALCORE | Sirens and Sailors
Local metalcore band Sirens and Sailors originally formed in 2005 as a trio and has evolved over time into a quintet. Featuring lead vocalist Kyle Bihrle, guitarist-vocalist Todd Golder, rhythm guitarist Jimm Lindsley, bassist-backing vocalist Steve Goupil, and drummer Doug Court, Sirens and Sailors unleashes heavy metal anthems with galvanizing energy. Brace yourself for mathematically…
ROCK | Roky Erickson Tribute Show
Garage rock legend and early psychedelic rock progenitor Roky Erickson passed away in May 2019. A founding member of the 13th Floor Elevators, Erickson lived a life plagued with mental illness and ill-advised treatment like electroconvulsive therapy. These challenges were triumphantly trumped by a pile of comebacks in later years, here in the states as…
JAZZ | Mel Henderson & Joe Chiappone Jazz Duo
You may have caught guitarist Mel Henderson laying down a Wes Montgomery-like solo in the Grammy-nominated band Paradigm Shift. Or you may have seen him play a burning solo with an out-of-town visitor like Dr. Lonnie Smith. And you’ve probably heard guitarist Joe Chiappone’s fluid riffs when he’s on stage with Rochester’s great horn band…
ART | ‘Take Back the Walls’
Few artists make a living solely from their own artwork, but many teach or work in art-supporting fields that are adjacent to creation. They curate or work as exhibition preparators. Yet they continue to create their own work, after hours, on weekends, or whenever possible. Bearing this in mind, Rochester Contemporary Art Center has initiated…
POST-HARDCORE | DRUSE
Melodically enticing, rhythmically jolting, and raw like a gravel burn from a skateboard spill, DRUSE is a post-hardcore band supreme. Self-described as “screamo-ish,” the quartet released its first EP, “Target Weight” in autumn of 2014, and has been a prominent player in Rochester’s hardcore scene ever since. There’s a lamenting quality to the band’s bold…
EXHIBIT | ‘Everyday People’
A new exhibit at Central Library sheds light on Rochester’s history — touching on segregation, the Civil Rights era, and visits by Malcolm X — through one family’s collection of photographs, documents, and ephemera that spans 150 years. “Everyday People: the Dinkle Family and Rochester’s African American Past,” tells the story of an African American…
Feedback 8/28
Send comments to feedback@rochester-citynews.com with your name, your daytime telephone number, and your city, town or village. We edit selections for publication, and we don’t publish comments sent to other media. School choice The title of the August 20 Urban Journal declares neighborhood schools to be “popular” (“Neighborhood Schools: Popular but Impossible?”). The conditions that…
FILM | ‘National Parks Adventure’
If you can’t get to one of the breathtaking and important national parks in person, the second best thing is to catch the new film screening on the dome at Rochester Museum & Science Center’s Strasenburg Planetarium. For more than 100 years the parks have protected wild zones, preserving relatively untouched sweeps of America’s diverse…
Urban Action 8/28
This week’s call to action includes the following events and activities. (All are free and open to the public unless otherwise noted.) Examining the Native American experience The Moving Beyond Racism Book Group will discuss Tommy Orange’s debut novel, “There There,” on Monday, September 9. Critics have described the novel as ambitious and poetic. “There…
SPECIAL EVENT | Seneca Heritage Day
Middlesex Heritage Group will celebrate its 28th annual Seneca Heritage Day this weekend with the theme “Sisters in Spirit,” named after a book by historian and author Sally Roesch Wagner, who will speak at the event. Wagner is the founder of the Matilda Joslyn Gage Foundation, and a national authority on the influence that the…
Pittsford project still stuck in court
Mark IV Enterprises’ hyper-controversial proposal for a 167-unit apartment complex along the Erie Canal in the Village of Pittsford is still alive, but so is the layered saga surrounding it. The project at 75 Monroe Avenue, called Westport Crossing, is still caught up in a tangle of lawsuits and at the end of July, the…
Album review: ‘Keep talkin’ ‘
Yoko Miwa Trio ‘Keep Talkin’ ‘ Ocean Blue Tear Music yokomiwa.com Over the past two decades, pianist Yoko Miwa has established herself as a top side-musician with Esperanza Spalding, Kevin Mahogany, Arturo Sandoval, and others. Miwa is also the leader with her own trio. The group’s latest album, “Keep Talkin’,” reinforces Miwa’s prowess as a…
Andreatta, CITY, and me: a letter to CITY readers
Last week, CITY and WXXI announced that David Andreatta, currently a reporter and columnist at the Democrat and Chronicle, will succeed me as CITY’s editor. David will join us on September 16, and we’ll start a six-week transition period, ending with my retirement on October 31. The selection process included interviews by representatives of both…
Film preview: ‘Luce’
Confronting the issues of tokenism and race, it’s a riveting and thought-provoking movie that resides entirely in gray areas, swirling in ideas of youth, class, and opportunity.
Swan family opens modern Italian restaurant Vern’s
Co-owned by siblings Jon, Ashley, and Paulina Swan and barman Casey O’Mara, the recently-opened restaurant and bar is named after the siblings’ grandfather, Vern Swan, and inspired by childhood visits to their grandparents’ home.
Rochester Black Pride 2019 and allyship
Rochester Black Pride 2019 will be held from Wednesday September 4 to Sunday, September 8, and includes the annual festival and cookout, a fashion show, programming for youth, the Summer Nights concert featuring NYC native Cakes Da Killa, a fashion show, dance party, and more.
Album review: ‘Samba Jazz Alley’
Antonio Adolfo ‘Samba Jazz Alley’ AAM Music antonioadolfomusic.com In the liner notes of his new album, pianist-composer Antonio Adolfo introduces us to an alley in Rio de Janeiro’s Copacabana district that enchanted him in his teenage years. This “cauldron of jazz” led him to his life’s work — playing with singers like Flora Purim and…
Interview: Phantasmagoria
Phantasmagoria plays music that shrieks mysteriously with Gothic pathos, but without the genre’s typically morbid predilections. It’s not quite The Cramps, nor is it Alien Sex Fiend or Bauhaus, but Phantasmagoria draws from the same well as those icons, and drinks from the same bloody cup.
Film review: ‘Ready or Not’
With their fleet, funny, and gleefully bloodthirsty horror-comedy, directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett deliver a satisfying skewering of the one-percenters with a deadly game of hide-and-seek.
