Cover Story
The Son also rises
A four-day festival celebrates the life and legacy of blues legend Eddie “Son” House The story of bluesman Eddie “Son” House — who once called Rochester home — is that of a 20th-century Moses. House spent years wandering the desert of obscurity, leading others into a promised land of recognition and cultural popularity that he…
I Scene It: Santana at CMAC
August is arguably the best month for an outdoor concert in the Finger Lakes region, particularly if the event is situated at a beautiful venue like CMAC. My friend and I agreed that we should attend the Santana show on Saturday, but also catch a lecture, “Seven Candles: Science for a Deeper Spirituality,” before the…
WEEK AHEAD: Events for the week of Monday, August 24
United Christian Leadership Ministry and the Take It Down Group will rally outside of the County Office Building, 39 West Main Street, at 10 a.m. on Tuesday. The groups want city and county officials to remove a panel of the Dentzel Carousel at Ontario Beach Park. The panel is a pickaninny caricature of two black…
No decision yet on Aldi
The city’s Zoning Board of Appeals didn’t make a decision at a meeting earlier today regarding controversial plans for an Aldi grocery store on the corner of Blossom and Winton Roads. Aldi submitted revised plans last month in an effort to address numerous concerns about the project. But the revisions failed to persuade many residents…
Photonics institute partners vow to play nice
Sometimes, things have to get worse before they can get better. And for the week-long photonics institute skirmish that blew up yesterday, that cliché may hold true. University of Rochester President Joel Seligman says that he, Assembly Majority Leader Joe Morelle, SUNY Polytechnic Institute CEO Alain Kaloyeros, and an unnamed senior official with Governor Andrew…
Town’s rained out and tapped out
On June 15, 3.3 inches of rain fell within 40 minutes in the Ontario County town of Richmond. The “gully washer,” as Supervisor Ralph Angelo calls it, busted out 22 culverts along town roads, with East Lake Road taking the worst hit. If that sounds familiar, there’s good reason. On one July day last year,…
Attack rallies trans community
Nicole Clark, a 19-year-old transgender woman, was attacked last month on Monroe Avenue near Goodman Street. Clark, who was with her mother at the time, says she was punched several times and knocked to the ground, where the attack continued, according to a police report. Police later charged Dyshieka McFadden with harassment in relation to…
Envisioning a “one-stop shop” for vets
US Air Force vet Shannon Barradas spent a recent afternoon painting the intricate details of a mixed-media piece she calls, “Rebirth.” Barradas, who served in Operation Desert Storm, has been going to art therapy at the Veterans Outreach Center on South Avenue for about a year, and is preparing her own art show. “I’ve been…
Urban exploration 101
Welcome to college and a brand new city. Chances are you moved to Rochester and now have an opportunity to carve out a new home for the next four years — five years, if you’re like me. Or it’s likely that you were born in the area; still, you haven’t experienced Rochester as a college…
FOOD | The Great American Backyard Burger and Rib Festival
History proves you can’t go wrong with burgers, ribs, and beer. In line with that, the Great American Backyard Burger & Rib Festival is a three-day celebration of those simple pleasures. Local eateries Red Osier Burgers, SwillBurger, Tapas 177, The Owl House, and more will be serving burgers and ribs in Martin Luther King Jr.…
Scenic Rochester
Rochester can sometimes be a drab place. Our winters are incessantly cold, and the other seasons can certainly seem painfully short in comparison. But despite this, the area is also a place with a rich, unique history and landscape. In our warmer months, going off the beaten path a bit can offer some wonderful sightseeing.…
SPECIAL EVENT | A-List Rooftop Pool Party
Few things are seen as more glamorous than a party at a hotel rooftop pool. A-List’s pool party hopes to live up to that reputation. A-List’s Rooftop Pool Party will offer a broad range of fashion, health, and beauty goods and services, including braiding from Allora Salon and Spa, manicures and massages from Shear Ego,…
Getting Off Campus
Every new student has heard college is the best four years of their lives. But a campus can soon begin to feel more like a prison than a place for growth. Sometimes, the best thing to do is just break out. And a good place to start an off campus exploration of Rochester is downtown.…
FESTIVAL | Puerto Rican Festival
Celebrating one of the most prominent cultures in the Rochester community, the 2015 Puerto Rican Festival will run Friday, August 21, through Sunday, August 23. Sponsored by the City of Rochester, the festival offers a broad range of music, food, dance, and activities. Gates open at noon on Friday, with performances from the Lucas Santana…
Food, room, and attitude
The flat flavors and lack of autonomy inherent to campus dining is enough to deter some from the dorms and meal halls. But college can also be seen as an introduction to a smaller-scale, down-to-earth style of living. With a little bit of looking, it’s easy to find alternatives that will stock your shelves with…
SPECIAL EVENT | Wine Symposium of the Finger Lakes
When Wine Enthusiast ranks a region the best in the world, it is always a cause for celebration. The Wine Symposium of the Finger Lakes begins on Friday, August 21, at Geneva’s Visitor and Events Center (35 Lakefront Drive) with a Grand Tasting at 5 p.m. Here, attendees can sample 26 different award-winning Rieslings, the…
Campus curiosities
With numerous area colleges, many of them more than a century old, it’s easy to expect a few campus curiosities and legends to develop over time. Things like cavernous abandoned indoor pools, lucky albino rodents, and mysterious Underground Railroad tunnels have become part of the character of their campuses and the stories work their way…
Savage soul
Barrence Whitfield and the Savages will shake you to your bones.
Standing out
When Marissa Adams, a University of Rochester alumna, is asked to talk about her major, she’s hesitant to answer. Adams graduated in 2014 with a Bachelor of Science in physics and a Bachelor of Arts in mathematics, and will return to UR as a graduate student this fall. “I never end up saying what my…
ALBUM REVIEW: “Howlo”
Howlo “Howlo” City of Quality Records howlo.bandcamp.com Ben Morey, a grade school music teacher by day, indie rock purveyor by night, has long been making meaningful music in Rochester through such projects as The Wallpaper Singers and Dumb Angel. With his latest band, Howlo, and its self-titled debut — released on July 31 via City…
Upcoming events
College life will probably keep you pretty busy. But there’s lots going on in and around Rochester all year long, so you’ll want to put aside the books every once in a while and get off campus. Below you’ll find a list of major upcoming events in the Rochester area that should interest college students,…
Fantasy on flesh and facade
Every time I see Lea Rizzo, the artist and single mom is buzzing with slightly frazzled energy but still somehow has a dose of sunshine for everyone. She has a sensitive and loving nature, and stays busy with her own projects between her practice as a tattoo artist, collaborating with artist friends, helping run The…
ROCK | Gregg Allman
Most music critics will tell you that The Allman Brothers Band was the pioneering Southern rock band, the kick-ass ambassadors of Dixie whose efforts paved the way for groups like Lynyrd Skynyrd. After the Allman Brothers Band finally called it quits and displayed the message, “So stay calm, eat a peach, and carry on” at…
JAZZ | Paradigm Shift
Guitarist Mel Henderson slips easily into Wes Montgomery-style solos, organ wizard Gerry Youngman captures the allure of Hammond B3 that audiences never tire of, and drummer Sean Jefferson holds it all together on drums. The sum of the parts is Paradigm Shift, a trio that has enlivened Rochester clubs and festivals for two decades. Paradigm…
IRISH | Dallahan
Dallahan has a reputation for the weight of its talents. The band already has a slew of awards, both for the individuals in the band (BBC Young Traditional Musician of the Year Award 2013, All Britain Banjo Champion in 2006, to name a couple) and their combined chops (Emerging Excellence Award from Help Musicians UK).…
ROCK | The Atomic Bitchwax
New Jersey’s The Atomic Bitchwax has set quite the bar with its self-described genre of “super stoner rock.” But damn if they don’t reach it. At its core, this is a classic rock troupe coasting on high energy drums from Bob Pantella, frantically danceable rhythms, and a whole lot of catchy vocals from Chris Kosnik.…
POP | Meagan Hickman
Meagan Hickman creates catchy pop that’s pushed by the singer-songwriter’s impressive vocal range and technique. Her latest release, “Sightlines” (2015), is about maturing as she uses her “raw soul-searching process” to find the sound she really wants after years of playing, including 4 years spent at the Berklee School of Music. Jazz, R&B, and soul…
Wolf in burger’s clothing
Over the last several years, Rochester has welcomed several gastropubs to its dining and imbibing scene. Included in that burgeoning group — and offering fine company to such notables as Tap and Mallet, Lovin’ Cup, Victoire, and ButaPub — is Blu Wolf Bistro, which opened in 2013 on the corner of Park Avenue and Berkeley…
AMERICANA | Nathan Kalish
Nathan Kalish has a rock band, a country band, and a solo project. He keeps pretty busy blowin’ miles around the country between the three. It all seems to come back to his lyrics from the road and voice that wails and breathes. Rock guitars and drums drive through his latest under his country hat,…
ALBUM REVIEW: “No Limits for Tumbao”
César Orozco & Kamarata Jazz “No Limits for Tumbao” Alfi Records cesarorozco.net In the liner notes for his new album, pianist César Orozco retools the old Duke Ellington title to read, “It don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got that Tumbao.” Tumbao is an irresistible Afro-Cuban rhythm and on this CD, Orozco proves the…
ROCK | Life in Film
Using bright, jangly guitars, bouncing bass, and danceable drum grooves, Life in Film has created an infectious indie pop sound that wants to soundtrack the summer. The East London quartet released its debut studio album, “Here It Comes,” earlier this year, and the single “Get Closer” has been getting a heavy spin on American radio…
DRINKS | Flour City Brewers Fest
The Flower City Brewers fest, in its 20th installment this August, functions as a large-scale showcase for New York State breweries and craft beers. There will be more than 100 available, food, and music from Jumbo Shrimp and Amy Montrois. This year, the number of food trucks on hand has doubled, and several of the…
The photonics mess
The fight over the photonics institute’s headquarters is not about real estate. It is about power, leadership, and process.
Film Review: “Straight Outta Compton”
As one whose job it is to think too much about movies, I gotta admit that I was a little wary of “Straight Outta Compton,” the new film about pioneering West Coast rappers N.W.A. There’s rarely any variation in the plot trajectory of a musical biopic — adversity, opportunity, prosperity, conflict, redemption — and the…
Film Review: “The End of the Tour”
The journalistic relationship between interviewer and interviewee is complex, delicate, and often precarious. On one hand, writer and subject are simply strangers making conversation — as benignly normal a situation as one can imagine. But they’ve each been forcibly entered into this exchange, by necessity bringing their own (often opposing) agendas to the table. The…
Feedback 8/19
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