If it takes two laptops and a smartphone to secure Taylor Swift concert tickets — and these days, it does — the ticketing system might be broken. Indeed, behemoths Live Nation and Ticketmaster recently settled an antitrust case with the Justice Department, though 33 states and the District of Columbia are still moving forward with […]
Patrick Hosken
Patrick is CITY's arts and culture reporter. He was formerly the music editor at MTV News and a producer at Buffalo Toronto Public Media.
Posted inLilac Festival
Rochester Lilac Festival has a musical act for every ear
For Mikaela Davis, the 2026 Rochester Lilac Festival is a homecoming. Though the harp-playing, twangy, jam-adjacent singer-songwriter is now based in Catskill, New York, she still considers Rochester home enough to make her May 13 headlining set in Highland Park the release party for her new album, “Graceland Way.” Fellow local cornerstone group Giant Panda […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Muck Duck Studio spreads its wings with a new event space in NOTA
Take a walk with Casey Arthur. Descend the stairs at 100 College Ave. and meet the artist and founder of Muck Duck Studio, who is standing in a feathered hat. Then step into a 7,000 square-foot space where soon, Arthur said, couches will host first dates in which paintbrushes and chamomile tea break the ice. […]
Posted inMusic
REVIEW | ‘Devil’s Gonna Get You’ by Annie Wells
People mean well. They offer thoughts and prayers, best wishes and Bible verses, but they don’t understand. Sometimes their good intentions end up as judgments. This social consternation is at the heart of local singer-songwriter Annie Wells’ newest single, “Devil’s Gonna Get You,” released in March. The bluesy number was inspired, Wells writes in the […]
Posted inLiterature
A new posthumous collection adds dimensions to poet Lucille Clifton’s profound catalog
Though she died in 2010, Lucille Clifton remains one of the most consequential poets in American literature. It requires only a few lines to understand her power. Clifton, a Buffalo native who spent years in Baltimore, chose clear, distilled language to articulate her meanings. “(T)hey ask me to remember,” she wrote in a 1987 poem, […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Using a hot sauce IV and a broken table to process grief
Sports fans often feel like their team’s stakes are life or death. Even the vocabulary of “die-hards” reinforces this, and as any Buffalo Bills fan can affirm, elimination from the playoffs initiates a period of actual grief. It is in this way that sports fandom and personal experiences of loss — through illness and even […]
Posted inMusic
Two musical family duos reflect on the creative ties that bind
The core of any musically solid band is the rhythm section: drums and bass. The musicians work to build a foundation supporting the melodies that dance on top. They must lock into the same groove and communicate, often just with their eyes or a nod, when to pick up or slow down the tempo. Matt […]
Posted inMusic Reviews
REVIEW | ‘The Somnambulist’ by Sastrugi
With its detached vocals and cold, precise rhythms, post-punk music is often confrontational. Not a lot of warm fuzzies to be found. But Sastrugi, the local band fronted by Matt Treadwell, confronts with a little boogie in its boots. The group’s new EP, “The Somnambulist,” may frighten away casual listeners with its spelling bee-caliber title. […]
Posted inMusic
RPO’s 2026-27 season includes Chuck Mangione tribute, Fringe collab, Piano Festival and more
Before they ever actually met, Chuck Mangione brought Jeff Tyzik to Rochester. All it took was hearing his music. “Somebody sent me a Chuck Mangione recording, and when I listened to that, I was inspired by his music enough to want to come to Rochester and study at the Eastman School [of Music] where he […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Children’s lit magazine ‘Magic Dragon’ looks to its future in an uncertain financial landscape
There’s a dragon in Joanne Andrews’ basement. He’s a few feet tall, brilliant green and clad in a wizard’s hat and a wand. He’s also made onto a foam board. Andrews created him as the mascot for Magic Dragon, the children’s literary magazine she assembles in her Pittsford home with editor Patricia Roesch. Andrews is […]
Posted inMovies
The Oscars love disability stories, but it’s complicated
The trailer for “Song Sung Blue,” director Craig Brewer’s Oscar-nominated biographical drama about a Neil Diamond tribute act, sets up a familiar arc. While looking for glory, musicians Mike and Claire — played by Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson — find each other. And when the glory arrives, so do the struggles: alcoholism, addiction and, […]
Posted inMusic
Gladys Knight and Mikaela Davis among summer festival performer announcements
Despite a fresh snowfall, festival season is just a few months away. This week, two of the city’s cornerstone summer celebrations have revealed some 2026 headliners. The Rochester Lilac Festival will fill Highland Park with homegrown and touring acts beginning May 8 and running through May 17. Each night has free live music, with local acts […]
