Cover Story
Greg Townson unmasked
The Rochester musician just played in front of 50,000 fans in Mexico City. Now, he’s hanging out for happy hour at Abilene.
RPO announces new music director
The Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra has named a new music director. Ward Stare, a Rochester native and former resident conductor of the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra, will begin his new position on September 1, the RPO announced at a press conference on Tuesday. The position has been vacant since January 2013, following the RPO’s dismissal of…
Get used to the downpours
Rochester has had a pretty wet July. Going by National Weather Service records, the area has had 7.51 inches of rain this month through yesterday, when the normal level is 3.11 inches. And yesterday’s intense rains broke the daily record: the 2.42 inches measured by the NWS at the Rochester airport topped the 1966 high…
Film Review: “The Purge: Anarchy”
In a time when some politicians now kick off their campaigns in gun shops, armed yokels wave the Confederate flag outside the White House, a candidate in the South hosts target practice with President Obama’s face for a bull’s eye, a movie like “The Purge: Anarchy” must seem a gift from God to members of…
Film Review: “Lucy”
Despite its persistence, the theory that human beings use only 10 percent of their brain’s capacity has long since been proven false — the scientific community’s equivalent of an urban legend — but that hasn’t stopped storytellers from exploiting the way the myth has seeped into the public consciousness. The widespread fallacy is an easy…
Irondequoit releases draft comprehensive plan
Irondequoit officials will take public comments on a draft comprehensive plan for the town during a public forum at 7 p.m. on Thursday, August 7. A public hearing will take place at 7:35 p.m. on Thursday, August 21. Both meetings will be held at Town Hall, 1280 Titus Avenue. The town government hasn’t adopted a…
Week Ahead: Dems want parking study for DHS building
Democratic County Legislator Leslie Rivera has introduced legislation for a parking study for the Department of Human Services building at 619 St. Paul Street. A Legislature committee will take up the measure during its meeting at 5 p.m. on Monday, July 28. In a memo accompanying the legislation, Rivera says that the parking situation at…
“True Blood” Season 7, Episode 6: Karma
Anyone who has ever had issues with lawyers needs to watch that magnificent segment with Vampire Bill and the attorney. And then they need to slow clap, clap, clap at its last 2 minutes, rewind, and watch it again. Seriously, that was a thing of beauty, and probably especially gratifying for anyone who has been…
![[UPDATED] Vargas muffs principal’s removal, comes under attack](https://i0.wp.com/www.roccitymag.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/vargesbolgen3_thumb.webp?fit=180%2C180&ssl=1)
[UPDATED] Vargas muffs principal’s removal, comes under attack
An update appears at the bottom of the story. The Rochester school board heard from more than two dozen students, teachers, and principals last night who came to protest Superintendent Bolgen Vargas’s decision to remove Monroe High School Principal Armando Ramirez from his post. In a packed room, board members listened to students and teachers…
Brooks say no to casino in Monroe County
Now we know how Monroe County feels about possibly having a casino within its borders: it doesn’t want it. County Executive Maggie Brooks has sent a letter (see below) to Governor Andrew Cuomo and the federal Department of the Interior expressing opposition to putting a casino in Monroe, according to a press release sent out…
VARIOUS | Rochester Insomniac Night
Local alternative publication The Rochester Insomniac is hosting a benefit gig to raise funding on Friday, July 25, with eight bands playing on two stages, a pool tournament, and the women of The Sirens and Stilettos Cabaret collecting tips all night. Music starts at 7 p.m. at The California Brew Haus, 402 W. Ridge Road.…
Film Review: “A Most Wanted Man”
When the Berlin Wall came down, the Soviet Union collapsed, and the specter of international communism ceased its decades of haunting the frightened souls of the West, many commentators wondered if the espionage novelist John le Carré would suddenly run out of subjects. But the author, one of the best contemporary English novelists, simply applied…
Film Review: “Sex Tape”
In the high-concept farce, “Sex Tape,” Cameron Diaz and Jason Segel star as a long-married couple who, in an attempt to reignite the marital fires, record an epic, marathon-length session of lovemaking, only to find out the next morning that their amorous adventures have been accidentally uploaded to “the cloud” and synced to several iPads…
Film Review: “Manakamana”
Manakamana is the name of a sacred Hindu temple built high in the mountains of Nepal. While it once took days to reach the destination, in the late 90’s a cable-car system was installed, reducing the journey to a leisurely 10-minute ride. This increased convenience made the temple more accessible than ever, and turned it…
Film Review: “Venus in Fur”
Arriving late for an open-call audition, an actress, Vanda (Emmanuelle Seigner), tries to convince a first-time director and playwright, Thomas (Mathieu Amalric), that she’s perfect for the lead role in his production, a staged version of Leopold von Sacher-Masoch’s 1870 novel, “Venus in Furs” (the author’s name is where the term “masochism” originates, so that…
Lessons for Rochester from Raleigh
Garner Magnet High School, just outside Raleigh, North Carolina, has more than 2,400 students, with overflow classrooms in 14 standalone trailers on the 100-acre campus, and 48 more classrooms in temporary modular units. A few years back, the school district purchased an old movie theater across the street from Garner and converted it to a…
Urban Action 7/23
This week’s calls to action include the following events and activities. (All are free and open to the public, unless otherwise noted.) Discussion about discrimination’s health impacts The University of Rochester’s Summer Brown Bag Series will continue with its talks about the “Impact of Everyday Discrimination on Health: What We Can Do About It,” at…
This Christian nation: the immigrant children
Maybe I’m naive, but I was shocked last month by the reaction to news that Monroe County might get a shelter for immigrant children. In late June, when the media reported that the federal government was looking at locations in the Rochester and Buffalo areas, Congressman Chris Collins lashed out. It’s “unacceptable,” he said, that…
SPECIAL EVENT | 1964 Riot Events
Thursday, July 24, marks the 50th anniversary of Rochester’s 1964 Riots. A number of events will take place across the city to commemorate the three days of rioting that shaped the community. All of the events are free. For more information about the riots and their impact on Rochester, check out CITY’s July 16 cover…
FESTIVAL | Ten Ugly Men Festival
The Ten Ugly Men is a non-profit organization operated by, you guessed it, ten “ugly” men with a single goal in mind: to put on huge festivals and donate the proceeds to charity. As if the allure of unlimited amounts of chicken sandwiches, hot dogs, ice cream, and various other snacks wasn’t enough of a…
DANCE | Salsa Under the Summer Stars
This Friday, Essence of Rhythm Latin Dance Co. is hosting a salsa cruise on the 80-foot boat Harbor Belle. It is the second year the dance group has offered the cruise, the only one in upstate New York. Darren Price, Artistic Director of the company since its inception 3 years ago and owner of the…
FESTIVAL | Native American Dance & Music Festival
Ganondagan’s annual Native American Dance & Music Festival is celebrating its 23rd year this summer with a host of activities celebrating Native American culture and traditions. This year’s featured performers include New Mexico’s Dineh Tah’ Navajo Dancers, Iroquois singers and dancers, and Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Joanne Shenandoah. The festival also features traditional Native American demonstrations —…
THEATER | “Witness of Kitty Genovese”
For Americans over 50, the name Kitty Genovese still conjures up uncomfortable memories. On March 13, 1964, this young woman was stabbed to death outside her Queens apartment; neighbors heard her screams but did nothing to help her. Her case, and her name, quickly became a byword for urban loneliness, fear, and lack of caring.…
AMERICANA | Mike Brown
Mike Brown, by himself, is a better folk act than most full-scale projects. His skill as a guitarist/dobro player and singer-songwriter is unparalleled. Using a loop pedal, Brown layers and synchronizes beats and progressions, cleverly creating a full band sound that stomps and moves like a raucous barn bash. His lyrics are thought-provoking as they…
EXPERIMENTAL ROCK | Man Man
If there is one word that can sum up Man Man’s musical style, it would have to be “experimental.” The Philadelphia-based group’s horn and bass drum dominated sound is accompanied by lead singer Honus Honus’ crooning voice, combining to make odd, yet magical music. The lyrics don’t stray far from the experimental theme — like…
CLASSICAL | Finger Lakes Choral Festival
2015 is the 330th anniversary of the birth of J.S. Bach, so we’ll be hearing a lot of his music in the coming months. This is a good thing, of course. You can get a head start on the Bachanalia this weekend with the Finger Lakes Choral Festival, whose annual summer concert this year is…
INDIE POP | Mikaela Davis
Looking for a fun way to spend your lunch break? The High Falls Business Association has teamed up with Hochstein School of Music & Dance and WXXI to present Hochstein at High Falls, a noontime concert series. This Thursday, indie harpist Mikaela Davis will perform alongside trio members Alex Coté (drums and percussion) and Cian…
ROCK | Royal Blood
Royal Blood doesn’t go for all the frills; it’s straight-forward bombastic garage rock. The English duo — vocalist-bassist Mike Kerr and drummer Ben Thatcher — released its four-track debut EP, “Out of the Black,” in March, and it’s a great example of how alternative rock can still be heavy, bluesy, noisy, and exciting without crowding…
DINING REVIEW: Lucca Wood-Fire Bistro
The modern pizza originated, as you probably know, in Naples, Italy. There’s a long, global history of flat breads, but the story goes that it was in Naples that flat breads were first topped with tomatoes — and later buffalo-milk mozzarella — giving birth to what we now think of as pizza. You’ll still find…
PROGRESSIVE ROCK | Makayan
The opening to Makayan’s track “Barnold” sounds like a spaceship firing up, and it fits well with how the track develops. Swirling, certainly spacey, and a little funky, “Barnhold” really showcases what Makayan is all about. The Asheville, North Carolina, band mixes in equal parts prog-rock and psychedelia for a jam-band feel that feels fresh…
Feedback 7/23
Send comments to themail@rochester-citynews.com, or post them on our website, rochestercitynewspaper.com, our Facebook page, or our Twitter feed, @roccitynews. For our print edition, we select edited comments from all three sources. Add it up Tim Louis Macaluso quotes Rochester legislator Joseph Morelle as saying that “on the question of state aid, the argument that Buffalo…
The battle over bar hours
A little-known court ruling has the potential to shake up the late-night scene in the city.
ALBUM REVIEW: “Emergency Situation”
Rod Piazza and the Mighty Flyers “Emergency Situation” Blind Pig Themightyflyers.com Rod Piazza’s howlin’ harp attack is a dazzling azure collision of the down and dirty grit of Chicago blues with post-war jump blues’ accelerated swing. Dressed like a used car salesman in an Easter parade and under a slick crop of silver, Piazza leads…
