Despite the winter freeze, this town is a hotbed of live music. I caught So Last Year on Thursday night at the Bug Jar not knowing what to expect other than that several of the band’s tunes piqued my interest. Buffalo-based folk-pop outfit Darling Harbor was performing when I got there and the quartet sounded […]
I Scene It
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I Scene It: 1349 at Bug Jar
“It really sucks outside,” says a hooded man standing behind 1349’s merch table as I curiously examined an “Aural Hellfire” t-shirt. “I would move far away from here if I were you.” Putting aside the fact that the more masochistic side of me does enjoy Rochester’s frigid winters, the evening’s dreadful weather actually seemed fitting […]
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I Scene It: Coulter & Christiano, Enforcer, and The Majestics
Neither snow nor sleet nor rain kept me away from catching Americana act Coulter & Christiano at Sticky Lips Juke Joint on Thursday night. It had been a while since I heard Rita Coulter sing, so it was time to hear what’s happening. Her partner, Don Christiano, performed double duty on guitar and co-lead vocals […]
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I Scene It: Mickey James Duo at Harro East Ballroom
The death of Mickey Smay. Now don’t flip out, the kid’s not dead, but you gotta die in order to get reborn. And from my perch on the shores of a sea of about 600 people, I watched first hand this 15-year-old musician got reborn in rock ‘n’ roll, sanctified in the blues and soul. […]
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I Scene It: John Hammond at Geva Theatre Center
So this Son House “festivus for the rest of us” had the whole town invigorated. It ain’t a secret this is a blues town; our winters are cold and our women are warm. But this four day affair was something else. I went and saw John Hammond play Thursday night. I’ve always dug this cat […]
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I Scene It: Barrence Whitfield and the Savages at Abilene
It’s gratifying to hear rock ‘n’ roll fans say my article on an artist swayed them to go to the show. So I was pleased to the max my words managed to get a few lonely souls off the couch and onto the Abilene dance floor where Barrence Whitfield fans beat on it like a […]
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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 […]
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I Scene It: The Tragically Hip at CMAC
The last time I saw The Tragically Hip in concert, the Canadian band didn’t yet have its own postage stamp, and Bill Clinton was the president. That was 15 long years ago, so when Gord Downie and company announced an area gig, I filed it under “must see.” The Hip did not disappoint as it […]
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I Scene It: The Televisionaries, TheTemptaters, and Teagan and the Tweeds
It was standing room only at the Little Theatre Friday night. The place was shoe-horned full of latte lappers and blues boppers there to show loyalty to Rochester blues royalty: Delta blues picker, Fred Vine; the hardest working bassist in town, Brian Williams; and harmonicat, Rockin’ Red. The trio wove in and out of original […]
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I Scene It: Hot Rod Betties fundraiser at The Firehouse Saloon
The bitchin’ babe in the two-tone beaucoup bouffant needed some green to bring her shop back in the black — in other words, Hot Rod Betty’s threw a fundraising wing-ding with the Sirens & Stilettos Cabaret, Buffalo’s Blue Ribbon Bastards, and Dark Nemesis joining forces at The Firehouse Saloon last Friday. The promise of boobs, […]
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I Scene It: A Pony Named Olga at Abilene
A Pony Named Olga. The barkeep was raving extreme tossing out guarantees for free. Step right up. I concluded I had to go. Dodging the raindrops, I came upon the scene at Abilene to a thunderous giddy-up coming through the joints pores and doors. I can think of better names, but I can’t think of […]
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I Scene It: Third Coast Percussion at Kilbourn Hall
Five blocks of wood, four thick dowels, and a mallet. If that sounds like the ingredients for a woodworking project from your 8th-grade shop class, you were not at Kilbourn Hall Tuesday night with Third Coast Percussion. The four members of the group — David Skidmore, Peter Martin, Robert Dillon, and Sean Conners — were […]
