Cover Story
Designing for a better city
The City of Rochester, says Maria Furgiuele, is experiencing a long-awaited renaissance, and it has a chance to shape its future in a way that will benefit all of its residents – and attract new ones. With thoughtful planning, she says, the city can provide quality housing for all of its people, create mass transit…
WALLTHERAPY 2017: Lucinda Yrene’s mural celebrates motherhood, healing
A smudge stick and a good omen for GP4H: Lucinda Yrene’s WALLTHERAPY mural at 1112 East Main Street.
WALLTHERAPY 2017: Jess X Snow, Chrysanthemum Tran, and the Queer Mother Earth
Rochester just got its first mural that spotlights queer identity
Film review: ‘Atomic Blonde’
The stylish “Atomic Blonde” has much in common with its protagonist: it’s brutal and glamorous, though somewhat hollow at its core
SNEAK PEEK: The Fox Sisters, “My Finest Hour”
SNEAK PEEK The Fox Sisters “My Finest Hour” b/w “On The Upside.” Dive Records Another fantastic party platter from Rochester’s frantic soulsters and R&B upstarts The Fox Sisters. This 7-piece band puts some gas in the brass like James Hunter, only a little faster, with their eyes clenched shut, no hands on the wheel, and…
Album review: ‘Tempus Fugit’
A Fitting Revenge “Tempus Fugit” Self-released afittingrevenge.com The monolithic guitars on A Fitting Revenge’s “Tempus Fugit” — “time flies” — offer nothing in the way of the shrill shriek heavy bands often find themselves caught up in. Instead the band keeps it thick and nasty by keeping the speed in check. This is a good…
Album review: ‘Stranger Here Myself’
Groveland Station “Stranger Here Myself” Self-released grovelandstation.com In defining itself, the members of Groveland Station bandy about terms like stompgrass. Now, I’ve never heard anything called stompgrass before. I’ve heard the term bluegrass; I’ve mowed grass; and yes, I’ve smoked grass. But I’ve never heard of stompgrass. I was intrigued. “Vienna,” the first cut on…
Feedback 7/26
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 comments from all three sources, and we do edit selections for publication in print. Hopeless? On Urban Journal’s “The State of the Union in the Age of Trump”: I know…
Urban Action 7/26
This week’s calls to action include the following events and activities. (All are free and open to the public, unless otherwise noted.) Planning wildlife management The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation will hold a public information meeting on Tuesday, August 15, regarding the completion of a wildlife management plan. The DEC manages state…
Finding hope, locally, in the age of Trump
A reader responding to my column last week – “The State of the Union in the Age of Trump” – concluded that I’ve abandoned hope. And in doing that, wrote Phillip Miner, I’ve failed in my responsibility to encourage readers to fight back. Actually, I haven’t abandoned hope, although I’m certainly discouraged. But I appreciate…
CRCDS landmark status delayed
At a special joint hearing last week of the city’s Preservation Board and Planning Commission, Thomas McDade Clay, vice president of institutional advancement at Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School, pleaded with members for more time – and he got it. McDade Clay asked members of the two boards to delay their vote on whether CRCDS…
The long, long road for Cobbs Hill Village
It’s not unusual for development proposals to be controversial, and several development plans are generating a lot of heat in Rochester right now. But one of the most complex is the expansion plan for Cobbs Hill Village, a 60-year-old apartment complex for low-income senior residents. Currently, the Village consists of six one-story apartment buildings tucked…
ART | ‘Architectural Salvage’
Urban renewal projects are integral for cities to flourish, but they often come with the erasure of artful historic details. Hosted by Episcopal Senior Life Communities, “Architectural Salvage” is an exhibit of prints, etchings, lithographs, and serigraphs by Katherine Baca-Bielinis, a California native and RIT graduate, that focuses on preserving the beauty in architectural elements.…
Swillburger opens seafood and hotdog offshoot in Pultneyville
When Brian Van Etten and Jeff Ching visited the Landing at Pultneyville last spring, they immediately saw the potential in the distinctive red building with its lakefront location. Van Etten and Ching co-own the South Wedge burger joint, bar, and video arcade The Playhouse/Swillburger — Ching also owns the Owl House on Marshall Street —…
JAZZ | Jonathan Scales Fourchestra
Steel pannist Jonathan Scales formed his modern groove, avant-garde quartet, Fourchestra, in 2002, with a cast of revolving members and special guests like Victor Wooten and Howard Levy of Béla Fleck and the Flecktones. The current Fourchestra lineup is a unique blend of renowned musicians, including Weedie Braimah of Nth Power, Snarky Puppy’s drummer Robert…
KIDS | Sunday Summer Kids Fun Fest
On select Sundays through the end of August, Cobblestone Arts Center in Farmington will hold special kid-friendly events. On Sunday, July 30, Airigami Balloon Art will make its way to Cobblestone with bigger and better-than-your-average balloon animals. “Bubblemania” will perform on Sunday, August 13, with a mixture of comedy, tricky bubble manipulations, and juggling. And…
ROCK/THEATER | ‘Born to Run in the USA’
These types of shows go beyond your need for a good rock fix and venture to explore where the artist ends and the music begins — where the artist themselves got on the train to redemption and oblivion. It’ll be interesting to see how the Downstairs Cabaret Theatre’s production of “Born to Run in the…
Lakeshore Record Exchange to close
Just as Lakeshore Record Exchange celebrates its 29th year in business, the beloved record store has announced that it will close. Lakeshore’s focus on alternative music made it an important spot in Rochester to score American and European records and CDs in the genre. Time and technology have changed the accessibility of these products, Lakeshore…
GLAM PUNK | Faster Pussycat
Faster Pussycat always had the 90 percent that made it great, but the band remained a few steps away from the throne and just outside the mainstream. Regardless, the Kings of Sleaze Rock were mainstays of the 1980’s hair metal and glam punk scenes with albums like “Wake Me When It’s Over,” which earned Faster…
FESTIVAL | Joseph Avenue Festival
Thanks to groups like the Joseph Avenue Business Association and the Joseph Avenue Arts and Culture Alliance, and several dedicated activists, Joseph Avenue has been undergoing a renaissance. With several new small businesses and plans to soon turn an old synagogue into a performing arts center, the future is bright. Around 300 people came out…
CLASSICAL/POPS | Hans Zimmer Live
One of the heavyweight film composers working today, Hans Zimmer is the versatile, Oscar-winning musician who brought audiences the iconic scores to films ranging from “The Lion King” and “Pirates of the Caribbean” to “Gladiator” and “The Dark Knight.” He’s also responsible for the steel whale “BWAAAAMM!” sound that’s absolutely inescapable at the movies these…
THEATER | Shakespeare’s ‘The Tempest’
Summer is a time for Shakespeare productions, and Modern Sensibilities Theatre Co. is taking advantage of the season with its debut production of “The Tempest,” believed to be the final play that Shakespeare wrote by himself. Modern Sensibilities, one of Rochester’s newest theater companies, wants to make history accessible to young artists and audiences by…
ROCK | Pat Benatar
Before MTV became “Empty-V,” Pat Benatar’s face and powerful mezzo-soprano pipes were all over. This four-time Grammy winner has racked up 19 Top 40 singles, including “Hit Me With Your Best Shot,” “Love is a Battlefield,” “Invincible,” and “We Belong.” Her moxie has been — and still is — matched by her hubby (and one…
DANCE | Summer Movement Institute
Don’t be surprised if you see a group of teens dancing around the Memorial Art Gallery (500 University Avenue) this week. The students of Garth Fagan Dance’s Summer Movement Institute will perform a free, public show on Thursday, July 27. Drawing inspiration from the gallery’s outdoor sculptures, the performance will be directed by Natalie Rogers-Cropper…
INDIE ROCK | Cherry Glazerr
In 2017, the female-fronted rock band is still all too rare an entity on the popular music landscape. Fortunately, Cherry Glazerr of Los Angeles follows in the footsteps of bands like Blondie, The Runaways, and Sleater-Kinney, with an effortless cool and covert edginess. On its new album, “Apocalipstick,” the band sets singer Clementine Creevy’s grimy…
SPECIAL EVENTS | ‘Ujamaa: The Pop-Up’
In a mission to support black-owned businesses from Buffalo and Rochester, Flower City Noire Collective will host “Ujamaa: The Pop-Up,” on Saturday, July 29, from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., with vendors gathered together at Causing Effects Garden (739 Jefferson Avenue). The pop-up hopes to make it easier for people to find items sold by…
Vanishing Sun take a progressive approach to funk
By allowing for space in its swirling infinity, Rochester’s Vanishing Sun keeps the confusion out of the fusion without restricting its own flavor and flow. You could call it funk if it weren’t for the subtle yet impactful rhythm dynamics that lace the brew. It’s definitely a progressive approach to music; you won’t need a…
RTS adding electric buses to its fleet
The half-rumbling, half-whirring grind of a diesel bus is unmistakable. For a lot of Rochesterians, it’s the sound of public transit. But the next era of RTS buses could be much quieter and cleaner. The transit agency plans to begin a process for buying five electric buses in the late summer or early fall, says…
Film review: ‘Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets’
Luc Besson is an optimist at heart. That defining trait accounts for the candy-colored, utopian vision of the future depicted in the French director’s “Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets.” It also accounts for the leap of faith that convinced the filmmaker that two relatively untested leads could carry his massively ambitious space…
Film review: ‘Girls Trip’
Coming hot on the heels of recent disappointing “women-behaving-badly” comedies “Snatched” and “Rough Night,” “Girls Trip” succeeds in showing those films how it’s done. The movie gives its audience the raucous comedy and heartfelt emotion that those films promised, but only sporadically delivered. “Girls Trip” follows four women, old college friends who’ve fallen out of…
Film review: ‘A Ghost Story’
There’s a thrill in seeing a filmmaker truly take a risk; it’s even better when they manage to pull it off. A mournful meditation on love, loss, and the afterlife, “A Ghost Story” isn’t the type of movie most directors would choose to follow their first big-budget, special effects-laden feature. But that’s what David Lowery…
Theater review: Bread and Water’s ‘Dionysus in ’17’
Perhaps the less you know going into a performance of Bread and Water Theatre’s “Dionysus in ’17,” the better. Written and staged by the company’s artistic director, J.R. Teeter, it should at least be said that the performance art-driven play is a modern update of “The Bacchae,” by the Greek tragedian Euripides, filtered through The…
