Cover Story
Food for all
Rochester’s food culture has never existed in a vacuum. In this year’s edition of DISH, we focuse less on the food itself and more on the effect those factors like history, tradition, and trends have had on creating the cuisine
I Scene It: Queens of the Stone Age at the Dome
You can’t deny the power of the riff. And frankly, why would you want to? Royal Blood, opening up for The Queens of the Stone Age at The Dome on Friday night, spilt Rochester peasant blood as people clamored to get closer to the stage. Not since Morphine have I seen a band led by the…
Rochester school board commits to fixing broken special ed
Rochester school board members agreed last night to implement the recommendations of its Special Advisory Committee on Special Education, which are aimed at overhauling the failing department. Chief among those recommendations is entering into a legally enforceable consent decree, “containing specified consequences should the district fail to substantially comply with its obligations.” The agreement…
Opera review: RPO performs ‘Carmen’
Georges Bizet’s “Carmen” is the perfect opera for people new to the art form: It’s a fast-paced, lively crime drama with captivating characters, irresistible rhythms, and indelible melodies for days. But the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra’s Thursday performance of the operatic classic — a semi-staged production directed by Sara Widzer — also provided more than enough…
Smaller venues have jitters about proposed RBTL theater
A consultant studying the potential impact of a new theater on Parcel 5 was in town yesterday, giving a brief update and taking questions from City Council members. And it was clear from his discussion that many of the city’s arts organizations are still very concerned about the proposed new venue for the Rochester Broadway Theater…
After years of effort, School 12 could get a Douglass name change
For years, a community group has led an effort to rename the School 12 to commemorate the Douglass family. And that change could happen soon.
EMO | Mineral Girls
Riding on the new wave of emo music, Charlotte, North Carolina’s Mineral Girls carries the tradition of the genre’s complex chord structures and earnest, wailing vocals while still managing to feel new. This is a band that contains lo-fi punk elements, mixed with the darker sides of rock ‘n’ roll, giving them a Saddle Creek…
Album review: ‘The Blood Bog’
Goron “The Blood Bog” Self-released goron.bandcamp.com It’s really an easy procedure: pop the CD in the dash and mash the play button. Give a couple of critical spins, let fly with what you like about the album or not, and then let the world know. One thing however that makes my job a little harder…
Album review: ‘Coming Home’
A Girl Named Genny “Coming Home” Self-released agirlnamedgenny.com A Girl Named Genny’s first full-length album, “Coming Home,” feels a lot like getting behind the wheel on the first spring day. It’s a joyride. Shifting between bluegrass, Southern rock, folk, and everything in between, the album is like taking a twisting backroad, jumping from scene to…
Edible excursions
Exploring local flavors and forging new friendships through walking food tours Walking through a neighborhood, you’re able to find hidden gems that you wouldn’t be able to see if you were just driving by in your car, whether it be a pocket park you never knew was there or a small restaurant that ends up…
DANCE | Rochester Dance Theatre: ‘Exhilaration’
When Flower City Ballet’s late founder Wayne Blatt’s health was in decline, he shifted leadership of his dance school to his mentee, dancer and choreographer Erika Ruegemer. She’s since expanded the school’s vision to incorporate contemporary dance, and re-minted it Rochester Dance Theatre. The company and school will this week present “Exhilaration,” a dance exhibition…
Let nothing go to waste
On an average Saturday, Flower City Pickers will collect between one and two tons of unwanted produce and food products from vendors around the Rochester Public Market. About 60 percent of that, says FCP founder Khoury Humphrey, is still good for human consumption — the rest of it can feed livestock or be composted —…
THEATER | ‘Living in Exile’
Open Road Theatre in 2015 re-located from Boston to Rochester, and since then has organized shows in town with casts of all ages. This week ORT will present its first all adult production, “Living in Exile,” a war story penned by Jon Lipsky that director Karen Dieruf says is about compassion instead of revenge and…
JAZZ | Tatsuya Nakatani
Tatsuya Nakatani creates soundscapes unlike anything you’ve ever heard. A master percussionist, he employs many traditional drums, cymbals, gongs, etc., but he rarely uses them in a traditional manner. Nakatani wields his hand-crafted Kobo bow, playing the gong like a circular, metal, avant-garde cello. The range of sounds he coaxes is nothing short of otherworldly.…
Split check
There’s a perception that west side food doesn’t match east side offerings. There might be some history behind that. East-siders are snobs. West-siders are bumpkins. Welcome to Rochester. At least, that’s the stereotype, reinforced in the minds of those who entertain it every time a Chili visitor complains about small portion sizes or a Pittsford…
ROCK | Queens of the Stone Age
The Queens of the Stone Age are the kings of the riff. Since its inception in 1996, the band has deconstructed heavy rock only to rebuild and super charge it. Besides front man and founder Josh Homme, the band’s revolving door policy has found QOTSA working with members of Screaming Trees, Nirvana, Soundgarden, Dinosaur Jr.,…
ART | ‘The Walkers’
Photographer Alyssa M. DeWitt in 2009 began photographing the Walker family at their farm in rural Indiana, developing a close relationship with them and documenting moments of their lives. In her artist statement, DeWitt writes: “At times a drama unfolds and a tense or vulnerable moment manifests; other moments are calm, even serene. Many circumstances…
ALT-COUNTRY | Western Centuries
Just by its very existence, Seattle’s Western Centuries rages against what claims to be country. It’s a no-frills affair that still runs deep. The band moves musically to and fro like a night train to Memphis, and the shift between honky-tonk and Countrypolitan is seamless with fragments of other influences doing laps in the soup.…
A farm grows near the Public Market
The piles of debris sitting on a lot at the corner of Pennsylvania Avenue and First Street have a purpose. The broken-up stone curbing is being used to create raised garden beds. The black barrels at the back of the lot will be used to collect rainwater for irrigation. And the piles of wood lath?…
KIDS | ‘Science + You’
Rochester Museum & Science Center this month opened “Science + You,” a new interactive kids’ exhibit that explores the impact that science has on health and wellness. The exhibit is a child-sized pharmaceutical lab with eight sections and is presented in both English and Spanish. Through eight hands-on stations, kids will learn about sterile science…
POP PUNK | The Menzingers
A band like The Menzingers is probably the best possible outcome you can hope for when a generation of kids raised on ska-punk and Asian Man Records starts their own bands. While the Philly-based act’s first few records are unabashed in their Less Than Jake and early Against Me worship, it has truly come into…
ART | ‘Artifaks of the Artist’s Imagination
The depths-plumbing work of five regional artists is currently on view at Patricia O’Keefe Ross Gallery. “Artifaks of the Artist’s Imagination” includes Lee Hoag’s sculptures from transformed industrial objects, encaustic landscapes by Constance Mauro, architect Al Pardi’s theatrical tables, Jane Notides-Benzing’s mixed media classical-contemporary compositions, and Dan Scally’s synesthesia-like paintings. “Artifaks of the Artist’s Imagination”…
GRINDCORE | Aborted
While metal is a genre that’s as susceptible to trends as any other one, it’s fair to say that its legions upon legions of fans value consistency the most. Bands that are able to trade on and expand upon a single gimmick for decades are often viewed as heroes of the scene writ large. And…
Feedback 5/23
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. Those of fewer than 350 words have a greater chance of being published, and we edit selections for publication in print. We don’t publish comments sent to other media. Poverty’s cause As…
Another special ed reboot
Once again, the Rochester school district is under fire for failing the children who receive its special education services. And once again, district officials are considering another reform, one the school board could adopt this week. Rochester’s troubles with special education date back at least to 1981, when the Empire Justice Center filed a class…
Urban Action 5/23
This week’s calls to action include the following events and activities. (All are free and open to the public, unless otherwise noted.) Police oversight is topic of Saturday event The social justice activist group Enough Is Enough will present a panel discussion, “Intersections of Rebellion and Accountability,” on Saturday, May 26. The program will focus…
BLUES | JJ Grey and Mofro
Part band, part creature from the murky Florida swamp, JJ Grey & Mofro has been laying down salty grooves for more than 20 years. Complete with chunky horns and dense harmonies, Grey and his band are known for leaving their audience feeling like their ears just had a hearty meal. Grey’s powerful voice is only…
Exhibit explores black women artists’ fight for representation
The massive exhibit “We Wanted a Revolution” is a survey of the work and activism of black women artists in the era of the Civil Rights and Black Power movements. But how much have art world demographics really changed?
Bob Morgan, housing, and downtown’s future
The news about a prominent developer provides one more reason for city officials to assess the housing underway downtown.
Throwback screening of ‘Diva’ at The Little
The cult film screening, along with live opera and more, is part of the “Diva Festiva” event to raise funds for restorations to the historic theater.
Washington Square Park neighbors plan a community forum
Around 5,000 people packed Washington Square Park a few months ago for the Rochester March for Our Lives rally against gun violence. A year before, 2,000 people had gathered there a day after Donald Trump’s inauguration. Occupy Rochester NY in 2011 set up its encampment around the Soldiers and Sailors Monument in the downtown space.…
Moving Mountains breathes a little fresh air
It’s sheer music biz savvy: A band celebrates 10 years together, releases a new CD, hires a new bass player, sets up a celebratory gig, and then breaks up. Pure genius. That’s precisely what Moving Mountains — then known as The Goods — did a year and a half ago. And the band — drummer…
Local beet manufacturer rethinks the root
Located in Eastman Business Park, Love Beets offers more than a dozen preparations of the healthy root vegetable including sweet chili-marinated baby beets, beet salsa, and ginger-beet juice.
Film review: ‘Let the Sunshine In’
Like swiping left through a subtitled version of Tinder for 90 minutes.
