Cover Story
The super-commuters
Chris McGoldrick often leaves work on Friday afternoons, but it’s not until the early hours of Saturday morning that he pulls his white Subaru Outback into his driveway. Aside from the flickering glow of a neighbor’s television, there are few signs of life. It takes about six-and-a-half hours for McGoldrick to drive the nearly 400…
Genesee Valley Park plan seeks balance
A near-final version of the city’s master plan for the west half of Genesee Valley Park will get a public airing this week.
Week Ahead: Events for the week of Monday, May 4, 2015
At 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, May 7, the US Army Corps of Engineers will hold a public meeting on its final designs for a wetland restoration project in Braddock Bay. The meeting will be held at Greece Town Hall, 1 Vince Tofany Boulevard. Corps representatives will explain the proposed plan and members of the public…
Rochester marches for Baltimore
Members of several Rochester activist groups are marching through the city this afternoon to show support for people in Baltimore protesting the death of Freddie Gray while in police custody. Marches and other events are taking place nationwide in what is being called the Black Spring movement. Gray’s death has been ruled a homicide. Six…
First Friday: May 1
Mayday, mayday! It’s First Friday! This weather is perfect, eliciting looks of longing toward the window and fantasies about an early, outdoor dinner and a fun evening of art openings. The following highlights are just a few of the events offered tonight; check out more options listed at firstfridayrochester.org and in our calendar. All events…
Black Lives Matter march to be held later today
A march will be held later today in solidarity with protests in Baltimore over the death of Freddie Gray. The Black Lives Matter march begins at 3 p.m. today (Friday, May 1) in front of Wilson Foundation Academy, 200 Genesee Street. Gray was mortally injured while in the custody of Baltimore police last month. His…
Concert Review: RPO with Christopher Seaman and Jon Nakamatsu
The RPO’s Conductor Laureate continues to earn his laurels. Christopher Seaman’s annual visits to the podium have already become highlights of each season. He has set an agreeable habit of programming the kinds of pieces he likes best, from Mozart to Brahms and a bit beyond. This week’s program was a generous serving in his…
Agenda grows for Finger Lakes council
Over the next few months, the Finger Lakes Regional Economic Development Council will analyze area industries and select an industry cluster to prioritize. The work will be part of the yearly economic development plan that the council prepares to try to get state money for key projects and initiatives across the nine-county area. The council…
Conservative questions trickle-down economics
Either it was a slip of the tongue, or some conservatives finally get what progressives and many urban community leaders have said for years: Reaganomics or trickle-down economics doesn’t work. Despite the rhetoric, it doesn’t “lift all boats.” (Don’t ask what happens if you can’t afford a boat.) Michael Steele, Maryland’s former Republican lieutenant governor…
The United Nations of electropop
No band deserves the title “electropop ambassadors” quite like Hank & Cupcakes. The married musical couple — Ariel “Hank” Scherbacovsky (bass) and Sagit “Cupcakes” Shir (vocals and drums) — used to shake it on the Israeli music scene prior to moving to Cuba and eventually Brooklyn. The duo’s exuberant music scored it a publishing deal…
Feedback 4/29
We welcome your comments. Send them to themail@rochester-citynews.com, or post them on our website, rochestercitynewspaper.com, our Facebook page, or our Twitter feed, @roccitynews. Comments of fewer than 350 words have a greater chance of being published, and we do edit selections for publication in print. We don’t publish comments sent to other media. The real…
JAZZ | Spontaneous Duos
It’s a little bit like whispering down the lane but with instruments and excellent players. A group of Rochester musicians will celebrate International Jazz Day with Spontaneous Duos. “Musician one” will play solo for five minutes. Then “musician two” will join in, improvising all the way. After five more minutes, “musician one” will leave and…
Tired out
Guess how many illegally dumped tires the City of Rochester collects each year? Go on. Nope, higher. Higher. The city picks up between 80,000 and 120,000 individual tires annually. That’s a minimum of 20,000 sets. “This is nothing new,” says Norman Jones, commissioner of the city’s Department of Environmental Services. “I’ve been dealing with waste…
ROCK | Dead Flowers
Where the f**k have these guys been all my life? I’ve been wading in second-rate blues and rancid roots rock searching for the perfect blend of beer joint rock ‘n’ roll and bravado. Don’t get me wrong, it doesn’t all suck. I came close in my quest when I first heard Dan Baird’s post Satellite’s…
Giuliani pick splits Fisher alumni
Some alumni of St. John Fisher College have reacted not-so-favorably to the college’s selection of former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani as 2015 commencement speaker. And dozens took to Facebook to either show their support, or to vent. One alumnus calls Giuliani an “ego-driven politician who is out for his own desires.” An alumna…
FOLK/BLUES | Danny Kroha
There’s a video floating around of ex-Gories, ex-Demolition Doll Rods member Danny Kroha beautifully and sloppily covering Link Wray’s “Black Widow,” and well, that’s good enough for me. But obviously there’s more, like when Kroha takes a seat with a guitar, or a banjo, or a lap steel or a diddley bow — and resurrects…
Toy safety bill meets Albany meat grinder
A bill that bans heavy metals and toxic chemicals from children’s products seems like an easy political win. And last week, a group of advocates was prepared to announce that Senator Rich Funke was on board as co-sponsor of the Child Safe Products Act. But Funke pulled out the day before the scheduled press conference.…
CLASSICAL | Jon Nakamatsu
After he dashes off Saint-Saëns’s G Minor Concerto with the RPO on Thursday and Saturday, pianist Jon Nakamatsu will travel up East Avenue to Third Presbyterian Church, where he’ll join the Society for Chamber Music in Rochester in its final concert of the season. His repertoire on Sunday will change from a quintessentially French composer…
Urban Action 4/29
This week’s calls to action include the following events and activities. (All are free and open to the public, unless otherwise noted.) Talk by former priest, Roy Bourgeois The Rochester Committee on Latin America will present “Peace, Justice, Equality, and Conscience in Latin America,” a talk by Roy Bourgeois, at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, May…
BLUES | Guy Davis
Guy Davis proves that the blues is something you need to feel deep in your soul. Though he was raised in a middle-class New York suburb, Davis is a pure bluesman. His guitar is soulful, his stories are genuine and charismatic, and his rough voice has the audience captivated every step of the way. He…
Donuts and jam
When at its most obtuse, Rochester quartet Mr. Donut makes the most sense. The band’s sound runs cool and curious from a bottom heavy-dirge to lofty explorations full of air. And there are the words that show up — not in the songs as lyrics — but rather splayed out in a fictional interpretation printed…
ROOTS | Matuto
Matuto is ebullient, hip-swaying fun. The band is dubbed Pan-American roots music, combining some melodies of Appalachia with bluesy riffs, and rooted in Brazilian beats. It was guitarist and singer, Clay Ross’ brainchild in New York City more than a decade ago, and he’s since birthed a cultural experience with his band. Matuto signed with…
ALBUM REVIEW: “How Do You Feel Now?”
Joywave “How Do You Feel Now?” Hollywood Records joywavemusic.com In the run up to “How Do You Feel Now?” — the debut full-length album from Rochester’s Joywave — the band developed its sound with a pair of genre-busting mixtapes and various other releases both physical and digital. Deftly mixing styles and ambition, “How Do You…
When wheels are wings
Along with the sweetness of spring comes the freedom of flying through the city on two wheels. As soon as the weather sustains 60 degrees for a few consecutive days, bicycles will join automobiles — and the more hardcore cyclists who’ve been out in almost every condition nature has thrown at us. Through May 15,…
COMEDY | Jim Norton
From Thursday, April 30, through Saturday, May 2, comedian Jim Norton will perform a series of shows at The Comedy Club in Webster. Norton, who has a long, acclaimed stand-up career, has performed a number of specials for HBO and was a regular guest on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Norton also co-hosts the…
DANCE | “Madre Mia”
Borinquen Dance Theatre, a youth company led by Artistic Director Nydia Padilla-Rodriguez, brings its contemporary-modern and folkloric (Caribbean, Jamaican, and Puerto Rican) dance to Hochstein School of Music and Dance this Saturday, May 2, to present “Madre Mia,” a tribute to mothers. The company has nurtured hundreds of city youths through a structured dance program…
LECTURE | “In Conversation” with Bill Flanagan
Author and MTV executive Bill Flanagan will sit down with John Covach, director for the University of Rochester’s Institute for Popular Music, on Wednesday, April 29, to talk about his career in the music industry. The talk is part of the Institute’s “In Conversation” series. According to Covach, these lectures allow students to “hear about…
NIGHTLIFE | Rochester Cocktail Revival
Featuring eight host bars around the city, the Rochester Cocktail Revival has expanded in its second year to include more than 40 different tastings, dinners and seminar events from Tuesday, May 5, through Sunday, May 10. The Revival is highlighted by a large scale event sponsored by Larceny Bourbon at the Rochester Public Market on…
THEATER | “The Bikinis”
When the Sandy Shores Mobile Home Beach Resort is strapped for cash, a popular 1960’s girl group reunites after more than 20 years to try and raise some needed assistance in “The Bikinis: A New Musical Beach Party.” The jukebox musical has been praised for its fun, high energy as the group flies through hits…
THEATER | “Put That Woman First”
There are widely varying philosophies regarding the roles of men and women in society and relationships, and this conversation carries from brunch, to the boardroom, to bills proposed for law. On Saturday, May 2, Kodak Center for Performing Arts (200 West Ridge Road) will host Michael Atkins Yawn’s “Put That Woman First,” a story about…
This festival is dangerous
If you’re not a cinema history buff, it’s entirely possible that you’re unfamiliar with nitrate film. If you’ve heard of it at all, you’re probably most aware of the format’s notorious tendency to catch fire and burn down movie theaters. And over the years, nitrate’s volatile reputation has only grown, thanks to memorable scenes of…
Veramente bello
Even on a Wednesday night, the parking lot at Branca is packed. Waiting for my friend to arrive, I watch the lot’s traffic from my car — for every car that pulls out, another zips in. By the time my friend and I go inside, it’s 7:45 p.m. The hostess apologetically says there are no…
POP | The Wombats
The Wombats are a dancy, quirky trio of musicians from Liverpool, England, who have brazenly thrown themselves into a creative force. There’s such momentum behind this guitar-drum-bass trio that it often feels like the lyrics are just trying to keep up. Since its first album, “A Guide To Love, Loss & Desperation” (2007), The Wombats…
“RuPaul’s Drag Race” Season 7, Episode 9: Divine Inspiration
As a huge John Waters fan, I’d been looking forward to last night’s episode all week and let me tell you, it did not disappoint. Last week’s emotional rollercoaster of an episode saw Ginger Minj in the bottom two and defeating JaidynnDoire Fierce in a lip-sync battle for the books. Last night’s episode saw the…
I Scene It: The Televisionaries, TheTemptaters, and Teagan and the Tweeds
It was standing room only at the Little Theatre Friday night. The place was shoe-horned full of latte lappers and blues boppers there to show loyalty to Rochester blues royalty: Delta blues picker, Fred Vine; the hardest working bassist in town, Brian Williams; and harmonicat, Rockin’ Red. The trio wove in and out of original…
The war on Earth
Despite the environmental history of their political party, Republican candidates are denying the need for strong climate-change efforts.
Film Review: “Clouds of Sils Maria”
Are we witnessing a reinvention of Kristen Stewart? “Clouds of Sils Maria,” for which she won a César, seems to suggest so.
Film Review: “The Salt of the Earth”
The images are positively biblical in nature, depicting thousands of muddy people at work in a massive pit. They could theoretically be laying the foundation for an ancient pyramid, but in actuality the famous photographs were taken in 1986 at Brazil’s Serra Pelada gold mine by acclaimed photographer Sebastião Salgado. It’s this photo-essay that first…
Film Preview: “Poster Girl”
The Reel Mind Theatre and Film Series returns for its seventh year of confronting the social stigma and real-world problems of those battling mental illness, addiction, and brain disorders, and the 2015 installment kicks off on Tuesday, May 5, with director Sara Nesson’s intense “Poster Girl.” This Academy Award-nominated documentary puts an unexpected face on…
