Cover Story
Annual Manual 2016: Welcome to the Rochester of Tomorrow
How do you describe an ever-changing, breathing region in an annual guide like this one? One way is to describe things as they are, introducing recent transplants to their new home and reminding long-time residents that there is still a lot to uncover in our part of Western New York. Another way is to think…
Concert gallery: Bear Hands, Foals, Silversun Pickups, and Cage the Elephant
Cage the Elephant last Saturday headlined a sold-out show at the Main Street Armory with Bear Hands, Foals, and Silversun Pickups.
Dinolfo sheds no new light on I-Square flap
Monroe County Executive Cheryl Dinolfo says that her administration had nothing to do with county GOP boss Bill Reilich’s claim that Irondequoit’s I-Square development is struggling. Whether the public buys her proclamation is another matter. The whole brouhaha started when Reilich took a swipe at former Irondequoit Supervisor Adam Bello, a Democrat, who was sworn…
Advocates to push for $15 minimum wage
Local clergy members and representatives from soup kitchens, food pantries, and programs for the homeless will hold a press conference on Tuesday in support of a $15 minimum wage. Governor Andrew Cuomo proposed a $15 minimum, which would be gradually phased in over five years, in his 2016-17 state budget. Lawmakers are negotiating the budget,…
The City Seen: March 26
City slinked into the Montage Music Hall last Saturday night for the Sirens & Stilettos Cabaret: Burlesque Showcase. Hostess Penny Scandal opened the show with plenty of wit and seduction and kept the crowd whistling and hollering all night long — occasionally joined by stage kittens such as Raven Allure and Phoenix Foxx. The show…
Brad Lubman on performing Steve Reich’s music
The Musica Nova conductor explains the enduring legacy of composer Steve Reich.
Anger and dismay over Rochester teachers’ contract boil over
RTA’s contract seems to harden the district’s stance on student discipline.
Sheppard wants Reilich and COMIDA investigated
Democratic County Legislator James Sheppard wants Monroe County’s newly created public integrity office to step into a messy and odd political dispute in Irondequoit. But there’s a slight problem: the office isn’t up and running yet. County Executive Cheryl Dinolfo last week announced the start of a national search for the office’s director. In a…
Silversun Pickups keeps experimentation alive
There are some unspoken rules that bands everywhere apply: set the precedent, always experiment, and stay true to yourselves. But those rules may not be seen anywhere better than with Silversun Pickups. The Los Angeles four-piece (vocalist and guitarist Brian Aubert; bassist Nikki Monninger; Joe Lester, keyboards; and Chris Guanlao on drums) has been a…
MOTOWN | The Temptations and The Four Tops
When it comes to the history of Motown, there may be no group as iconic as The Temptations. With a rich history that spans five decades, the vocal quintet has been a permanent fixture in American popular music, even through numerous lineup changes. Led by lone original member Otis Williams, the current roster includes Larry…
DANCE | “DANCE/Strasser”
The annual “DANCE/Strasser” performance, produced by the College at Brockport department of dance, presents three days of student-led choreography. The show is based on the worlds of the dancers and choreographers, from current events to past experiences, and is performed with an audience on three sides of the stage. Numbers include group and solo work,…
AMERICANA | Jim Lauderdale
If you love true country music, this show is for you. If you don’t … this show is still for you. Two-time Grammy winner Jim Lauderdale’s songs are a thing of swingin’ honky-tonk beauty. So is his voice, a creamy baritone full of heartache and conviction. Known as a songwriter’s songwriter, Lauderdale has penned tunes…
LECTURE | Women Voted in New York — Before Columbus
In some ways, we are led to believe that history moves humanity toward more progressive iterations of itself. One way this isn’t the case is explored in a Women’s History Month “Rochester’s Rich History” lecture about the women of this region who voted long before the 19th Amendment was ratified. While white women in the…
Feedback 3/23
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. Both candidates…
FILM | “VIVA”
ImageOut, Rochester’s LGBTQ film festival, will get its 2016 season rolling with a screening of “VIVA” on Thursday, March 24 — a month before the film’s official US release. The film had its world premiere at the Telluride Film Festival, screened at Sundance as part of its Spotlight program, and was Ireland’s official entry for…
METAL | Clyde
Clyde is a heavy band with a massive sound that it shoehorns into bars that dare take on the onslaught. The Rochester trio is metal, but it’s well known that the band is entrenched in American roots music. Singer Todd Krasz can belt out Johnny Cash with a twang as easily as he can Venom…
SPECIAL EVENT | Mess-tival: Gross Science
Kids can have some good, clean fun while getting gross with science at the “Mess-tival” that kicks off this week at Rochester Museum and Science Center (657 East Avenue). Visitors of all ages can partake in experiments to discover the science behind different disgusting substances, including edible “poop,” slime boogers, fake blood, and others on…
Urban Action 3/23
This week’s calls to action include the following events and activities. All are free and open to the public unless otherwise noted. Book discussion on journalism pioneer Friends and Foundation of the Rochester Public Library will host a book discussion of “Mary McGrory: the First Queen of Journalism” by John Norris from 12:12 p.m. to…
THEATER | “The Seagull”
To close its 2015-16 mainstage season, Bread & Water Theatre is producing Anton Chekhov’s 1896 work, “The Seagull.” The play is considered the first of four great plays written by the Russian doctor and playwright and was followed by “Uncle Vanya,” “The Cherry Orchard,” and “Three Sisters.” The plot focuses on a new play that…
New York’s big choice
Presidential races are not clean, polite affairs; candidates rarely escape without jagged cuts or lasting scars. But the 2016 presidential race has been a spectacle from the start. That can have its good points: for example, some of the debates, while feisty, gave voters a good feel for where the candidates stand on key issues…
BLACK METAL | Archgoat
Something that often gets lost in the naval-gazing of contemporary Black Metal is some good ol’ fashioned blasphemy. Thankfully, Finland’s Archgoat bring the gargled vocals, beautifully sloppy riffs, and upside-down crosses in spades. All of its devil-and-darkness posturing makes for some wonderfully unpretentious black metal. There’s a time and place for the spiked bracelet-ed masses…
The future is now
CITY Newspaper put together a Rochester themed time capsule to be opened in the year 2050.
HIP-HOP | R.A. The Rugged Man
Long Island’s R.A. The Rugged Man genuinely appreciates hip-hop in a way that appears to be lost among so many current emcees. While the bulk of rappers seem to be content with hoping from trend to trend, desperately clawing toward a high-profile feature or a radio single, R.A. has spent his career honing his craft…
A new Smugtown
Frank De Blase had a dream about a Rochester future with no guns, free parking, free health care, free pot, a new train, and cherry pie. It was raining hammers and nails when I stepped off the East Avenue EL Train — locals call it the “Slaughter Express” — and into the neon-dusted area called…
ROCK | Foals
There just aren’t many bands that have been so consistently adventurous and equally satisfying with its sound as Foals. The English band has so far put out four albums, and each one has taken a new left turn — from the math rock-esque excitement of the debut album, “Antidotes,” followed up by the mature, epic…
Rochester: Connecting the dots
Think you’re seeing the same faces again and again in city and county government? You are. Take a peek behind the curtain.
Hot Mayonnaise slathers on the rock ‘n’ roll
Rochester band Hot Mayonnaise is reverential in its handling of rock ‘n’ roll. But the quartet also knows that rock ‘n’ roll, the beloved icon, is itself iconoclast: It’s a snake that sometimes needs a little help shedding its skin. So for the last two years the band has taken music from an era that…
ALBUM REVIEW: “Method to My Madness”
Tommy Castro & The Painkillers “Method to My Madness” Alligator Records tommycastro.com Tommy Castro is in fine voice on his new, bluesy Alligator Records release, “Method to My Madness.” But to call this strictly a blues record would be a little short-sighted and unfair to the rock ‘n’ roll, driving soul that has always been…
Bold predictions
Rochesterians fire up their crystal balls, and in some cases, their imaginations, to share what they think the world, and Rochester, will be like in 2050.
ALBUM REVIEW: “Ghost Town”
The Brothers Blue “Ghost Town” Self-released thebrothersblue.com Sometimes when writing a review for one album or another, I catch myself evaluating the whole genre that band falls under. This happens usually when the band shines particularly bright or quintessential. So here we go with Buffalo-based bluegrass trio, The Brothers Blue, and its impressive new album,…
Five reasons to check out the 19th Ward
The historic neighborhood boasts plenty in the way of parks and community events Nestled alongside the Genesee River and I-390 in the city’s southwestern sector is the 19th Ward, a largely residential neighborhood that’s been home to Rochesterians since the late 1800’s. And yet, you could easily spend a lifetime in Rochester and not make…
Down the road
We take a trip on South Clinton Avenue
A world of culture
Rochester performance groups carry traditional art forms into the future The rich cultural diversity of Rochester’s arts community shows in its various festivals and performance groups. Individuals who have landed in Rochester from afar as well as this region’s Native Americans have sustained their culture’s traditional performance arts, imbuing them with a timeless quality and…
Jim’s Restaurant reopens on Main
When news came that Jim’s Restaurant would be shutting down in order to make room for Aldi, a supermarket chain, the popular diner’s regulars were shocked. Campaigns to save the restaurant popped up on social media and local news outlets covered the emotional last day. Elena Knapp has owned Jim’s for 14 years; she started…
ROCK | Summer Twins
It’s too laid back to be considered power pop, but California-based quartet Summer Twins will fill your ears with honey. Chelsea (guitar, vocals) and Justine Brown (drums, vocals) front the rock act that is touring the country in their parents’ minivan. The pair has its fingers on the pulse of a classic vibe that blends…
Local spirit
The last five years has seen a growth in local distilling, so City wanted to learn more about three growing companies
CLASSICAL | Steve Reich and Musica Nova
Eastman’s Musica Nova Ensemble next Wednesday will present an ode to the influential American composer Steve Reich and his vital concert output with a program of his works. With his 80th birthday approaching later this year, Reich has done as much to inform the contemporary classical landscape and inspire a new generation of artists as…
ART | “A Possible Result of Wanderlust”
Six years ago, artist Lynne Hobaica was a resident artist in the ceramics program at Genesee Center for the Arts & Education’s Fire House Gallery (713 Monroe Avenue). After relocating to four different cities across two continents, Hobaica is back at Genesee Center as the ceramics studio manager. In her new body of work, “A…
Film review: “My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2”
A sleeper hit in 2002, the original “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” still holds the title of highest grossing romantic comedy of all time. That film earned writer and star Nia Vardalos an Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay, and it even spawned a short-lived television series. Considering the success the film achieved, it’s shocking…
Theater review: “The Seafarer” at MuCCC
Each March brings the annual Irish Players of Rochester production, and this year the group has chosen a modern day comedy with a Mephistophelean twist. “The Seafarer,” which opened this weekend at MuCCC, is categorized as “an Irish comedy with tragic possibilities.” Essentially, it’s a black comedy with plenty of humor on morbid or weighty…
Another schools ‘solution’ that avoids the big issue
We keep trying to fix the problems in Rochester schools. But none of the fixes address the cause.
Documentary looks at lynching’s past and present
Trinity Emmanuel Presbyterian Church on Wednesday, March 23, will host a screening of “Shadows of the Lynching Tree,” Carvin Eison’s 2010 award-winning documentary. While shedding light on America’s lynching history, the film also asks if lynching has contemporary counterparts. May 15 will mark the 100th anniversary of the brutal death of Jesse Washington, the teenage…
Jazz Festival announces 2016 lineup
The Rochester International Jazz Festival announced new details and the full lineup of its 2016 festival.
Five takes on ‘Light and Spirit’ at Ross Gallery
At St. John Fisher, five artists take on a loose interpretation of “light” and “spirit.”
