Al's Blog-o-Sphere

I went into Downtown Lockport last night to check out the Canal Concert. This was the first time this year for me, as I was out of town for the opener last week. I didn’t actually stay for the concert, but passed through the area twice during the event. These are my impressions…

I was walking down Main Street early, about 5 o’clock, and noticed a lot of broken glass, mostly of the brown variety, on the sidewalks. Not an isolated place, but everywhere. Did I miss a riot, or something? This was before the concert started and they don’t serve glass containers there anyway, so where did all this come from? I don’t think it was the craft show! It was endemic the whole length of Main Street. Big pieces were gone, like they had been picked up, but smaller pieces were in every crack and crevice. Is beer-bottle throwing some new sport in Lockport? Continue Reading…

This week’s summer concert lineup comes to us as follows:

Tue.: Artpark - America w/ Stacy Clark
Wed.: Gateway Park - Jonesie & the Cruisers, Nickel City Pimp Choir
Thurs.: Lafayette Square - Ed Kowalczyk (No opener listed)
Fri.: Lockport - Our Lady Peace w/ Jimmy Gnecco of Ours, The Incurables
Fri.: Gateway Harbor - Backbeat 64
Sat.: Hard Rock Cafe - Gord Downie, Joshua James, Alison Pipitone

and it looks like a great warm-up to Independance Day! Continue Reading…

Well, the summer concert season has officially begun with the first Thursday at the Square concert in Buffalo. They kicked it off with Alejandro Escovedo last Thursday.

This week provides more choices in free outdoor concerts in the Erie-Niagara area. Artpark opens it’s Tuesday series with War with Then and Now billed as openers.

Thursday at the Square continues it’s run with Ingrid Michaelson. A. A. Bondy opens.

With only two concerts this week, the choice is pretty clear. If you want familiar, comfort-food music, you’re going to go see War at Artpark. If you’re the type that goes and sees America there every summer, (June 29 this year) and thinks The Boys of Summer is a great local band, then you know who you are.

But if you want to hear something new and embrace something that isn’t being spoon-fed to you by 97 Rock, (or worse, WJYE) then Thursday at the Square is the clear winner. I hadn’t heard of Ingrid Michaelson or A. A. Bondi, but a quick listen online (I’ve put MySpace links in above) has tweaked my curiosity. They’re both worth a trip to see.

Kudos to Buffalo Place for getting “It” and bringing in some new and upcoming talent, rather than just the latest in the milk-it-for-all-it’s-worth touring greatest-hits has-beens.

Incidentally, MySpace may be getting kicked around by Facebook when it comes to popularity in social media, but it’s still the best place to find and hear new music. Every band has a page there. It must be required by law or something. Even when they have other outlets for their online presence, a MySpace page is an integral part of any musicians self-promotion kit.

You wouldn’t be surprised to see some waterfowl along the canal, but the Geese at Widewaters and the other parks along Market Street are out of hand again this year.

While they are majestic birds and their goslings are cute, their droppings are a nuisance and their aggressive behavior can be intimidating. They stand around in droves, or packs, or technically, flocks, on the recreation path and act like they own the place. If you challenge them, they begrudgingly move, just enough to let you pass, honking as they do. And whatever you do, don’t approach their chicks! Continue Reading…