From Big Sugar

Last week’s Canal Concert with Big Sugar was, in my opinion, the best of the season. I was happy with the opening acts, but Big Sugar stole the show with a outstanding set. As I warned you, they were LOUD! but gave a great performance with songs representing all of their catalog. They really fed off the audience’s energy and fed it back in a long show going to at least 10:30pm.

The attendance was somewhat lower than the previous week. I don’t know why, maybe weather uncertainties, or other events, but a very respectable sized crowd nonetheless. It was a fitting turnout for the band without being excessively crowded and I got some good photos. I put my earplugs in and moved up as people were moving back because of the loudness!

Here’s next week’s lineup:

Monday: Artpark - Sara Evans, Amanda Nagurney
Tuesday: Artpark - The Trews, Aqueos
Tuesday: Gateway Harbor - No Excuses, Hit N Run
Friday: Artpark Main Stage ($) - Bachman-Turner
Friday: Pine Ave. Pavillion - Amanda Nagurney, Mason-Dixon Band
        (7-9pm Niagara Falls)
Friday-Saturday-Sunday: Hamburg Fairgrounds - Buffalo Irish Festival
Saturday: Ulrich City Center (Lockport) - NYS Rock & Blues Fest -
       Savoy Brown, Square Circle Triangle, Terranova Band, Wanted By The FBI,
       Flyin' Blind Blues Band, more
Saturday-Sunday: Elmwood Ave. Festival of the Arts - 3 stages, over 20 bands
       each day! Plus the festival!

Amanda Nagurney is all over the place this week. She’s really been busy this summer. I know I kind of said some less than enthusiastic things about her earlier, but I do love her. She’s a very promising talent and a credit to our area. I hope she has tons of success. Catch her at Artpark or in Niagara Falls this week.

The Trews at Artpark this Wednesday is the last First Niagara Wednesday show for the season and it should be a good one. I like The Trews, a band from Nova Scotia very popular on Canadian radio. There’s a Big Sugar connection here too: Gordie Johnson of Big Sugar has worked with them as a Producer. Aqueos, a Buffalo prog-rock jam band opens for them.

No Excuses and Hit N Run make for another cover band lineup at the Gateway Harbor event. No Excuses is one of those bands that needs an original name; do you know how many No Excuses bands come up in a Google search? But you might recognize some of the members from other local bands like Suckerpunch and Gravity.

The big shows this week are the festivals. NYS Rock & Blues Festival is new this year, held in the same venue as the Molson Canal Concerts were, just on Saturday. A bunch of great local bands are booked to warm you up for Savoy Brown.

From Amherst Scottish Festival

Another “more bands than I can mention” event is the Buffalo Irish Festival. If you love Celtic music, as I do, you have to spend a day or two at this festival. Oh there’s plenty of other things to do, but with a couple stages of pretty much continuous music, you can’t go wrong. Grab a Guiness while you’re there too!

Bands to check out: Penny Whiskey (played at the Scottish Fest last weekend), Emish, The Dady Brothers, (Lockport’s own) The Dustmen, Seamus Kennedy, (Outstanding!) and The McKrells. Kevin McKrell is a gifted songwriter and is currently performing as a trio with his daughter and Buffalo native and former Steam Donkey, Doug Moody.

And it’s a shame they fall on the same weekend, but the Elmwood Festival of the Arts is also going on. As an art festival, it’s kind of the Allentown festival’s little brother, but less pricey and more accessible, IMHO. But for entertainment, you can’t beat it with several stages going at all times. Check the web page for the schedule, you’ll need to plan ahead to see the acts you want.

The biggest problem with narrowing this week down is there are fewer evening shows and the weekend ones all happen together. Wednesday with The Trews at Artpark is an easy choice. The weekend, though is a “can’t do it all” situation. The best case scenario would be Irish Fest on Friday night, the Rock & blues Fest Saturday, and finish up with the art festival Sunday! If you can do all that, you’re a better man than me!

[Clicking on photos will take you to their albums!]

[Left: Jeremy Hoyle Band/Strictly Hip at Finnans in 2006]

Tuesday: Artpark: Foreginer, Free Henry!
Wednesday: Artpark: Sloan, David Nolf
Wednesday: Gateway Harbor: Dreamland and That ’80s Hair Band
Friday: Gateway Harbor: Bleeding Hearts
Friday: Canal Concerts Lockport: Big Sugar,  Johnny Nobody,
                          Beggar's Best, Jeremy Hoyle Band 
Saturday: Amherst Scottish Festival (Amherst Museum):
     ($10 admission to festival)
     Penny Whiskey, Celtic Circle Ceilidh Band, Stone Row,
     Harpbeat, Hobson's Choice,  Step in Time, more

It’s hard to believe, but the Thursday at the Square shows put on by Buffalo Place are already over. It is just me, or didn’t they go until September in the past? But they had some geat shows this year and more Rocks The Harbor shows on the weekends than ever before.

As far as local bands, Free Henry! get’s their shot at Artpark today. Well worth seeing again, if you caught them at the Hard Rock recently. I had them on my podcast a few years ago and they are even better now.

David Nolf is new to me, but sound really good on his web page. If you’re going to see Sloan, be sure to get there early and check him out. you won’t be sorry.

The Bleeding Hearts have a web site, but I still really came away not knowing much about them. I did learn that there is an interesting Rock/Punk band in North Carolina with the same name and that Roger Waters had a band called The Bleeding Heart after he left Pink Floyd. It really is true, all the good band names are taken…

But for local music fans, Friday’s Molson Canal Concert in Lockport is a treasure trove with three great local bands.

Johnny Nobody, Beggars Best and Jeremy Hoyle Band are all some of my favorite area bands. Johnny Nobody and Beggars Best are hard-rocking bands that should get the crowd pumped. The Jeremy Hoyle Band, a band that impressed me years ago at one of the North Tonawanda concerts can be great. They frequently play local bars as “Strictly Hip” or “Toby Live!” and are a great cover band, but really shine when they bring out their original material. I hope they do for this show!

I’m a Big Sugar fan, so you can guess which show I’m going to try to be at this week. I remember Big sugar playing pretty regularily around Buffalo years ago, but was sad when they broke up. I saw half of the band as Grady in Buffalo a while back and they were absolutely the LOUDEST band I’ve ever heard. They played an outdoor stage and literally cleared out a space in front of the stage for a couple hundred feet as people moved back. It was ear-bleeding loud, but great music! Be prepared for anything at this show: bring earplugs!

For a change of pace, try the Amherst Scottish Festival being held Saturday at the Amherst Museum. Food, Highland Games, exhibits and lots of Celtic music make it well worth the small admission. Hours are 9-5, so get there early and make a day of it.

Photo from last week’s Canal Concert: Jamie Moses Band ft. Michael Hund

From Jamie Moses Band

http://gritzmacher.net/wp/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/BluesTraveler-awesome.mp3
http://gritzmacher.net/wp/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/Blues-Traveler-intro.mp3
http://gritzmacher.net/wp/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/BluesTraveler-fuckin-awesome.mp3

Last week’s shows were pretty much can’t miss. Hope you got out and attended those you wanted to. I had a great time at the Lockport Canal Concert again seeing my old friends Free Henry. I got there too late to hear Bearhunter, but talked with them at the merch booth and picked up a couple CDs. Automaton was a pleasant surprise and I hope to see more of them.

Anyway, here’s what’s on tap for this week:

Tuesday: Artpark (outdoor) George Thorogood & The Destroyers,
                      Tom Hambridge & the Rattlesnakes
Wednesday: Gateway Harbor - Wide Right, Boogie Monsters
Wednesday: Artpark - John Browns Body, Little Mountain Band
Thursday: Lafayette Square - Robert Randolph & the Family Band
Friday: Lockport Canal Concert - Rik Emmett, Wanted by The FBI,
            Friendly Fire
Friday: Gateway Harbor - Widow Maker (probably not the Dee Snider band!)
Saturday: Buffalo Place Rocks the Harbor ($) - OAR, Citizen Cope
Saturday: Hard Rock NF - Lou Gramm, Free Henry, McCarthyism and eXit!
Sunday: Buffalo Place Rocks the Harbor ($) - Slightly Stoopid,
             Cypress Hill

Okay, it’s late and I want to get this post out before the week is over with, so I’m going to forgo all the details on the groups playing. Google is your friend and if you want to preview almost any band here, you should be able to find them online.

My favorites for the week are:

George Thorogood at Artpark. This should be a good show regardless who the opener is, but Tom Hambridge sounds really interesting.

Ike Smith’s Boogie Monsters are always a great show. If you’ve never seen them before, go. Unless you’re dead, you’ll be dancing along.

John Brown’s Body and Little Mountain Band should be a great show where one act feeds off the other to create a night to remember.

Robert Randolph & the Family Band (at Lockport last year and many, many times before at TATS) returns for their annual appearance. Despite, that I never get tired of their high-energy sacred steel sound and often listen to their CDs at home.

I’m not so crazy about Rik Emmet, but Wanted By The FBI is a great local blues band and put on a good show last year. I expect no less this time around.

Lou Gramm played the Canal Concert last year as well and I wasn’t impressed with the Geezer Rock show, but the opening bands at the Hard Rock are worth seeing. If you didn’t see Free Henry last week, or didn’t get enough of them, this is your chance. They are there with McCarthyizm, another band that played the Canal concerts previously, but always great to see again. And there is eXit! making a triple local band show.

My Pick: Too close to call. It’s a three-way tie with George Thorogood/Tom Hambridge, John Brown’s Body/Little Mountain Band and Robert Randolph Band.

But, why limit it to one show? After all, they’re free!

They’re a scarf, a hat, a personal cooling device, a neck protector in hot sun. They’re a washcloth, a towel, a cleaning rag. You can wear one by itself, or under another hat.

I used to think they were not cool. Something only a hick farmer would wear. (No farmers aren’t hicks, or not cool, either. That’s just the stereotype.) So I never had any.

But this year our robotics team used them as a fashion accessory to help make our team stand out and issued us each two, one red one and one blue one, to be used to show which alliance our team was currently on. If that doesn’t mean a thing to you, that’s okay, just know that I ended up with two of them after the competitions were over.

I started carrying one with me on my bike this summer. I perspire a lot and it’s been a hot, muggy summer so far. Having it handy to wipe the sweat out of my eyes has been indispensable. Recently, on a ride, my bandana got so soaked with sweat that I decided to rinse it out in the restroom at a park we stopped in. Not only did it feel great to wipe my face with the cool cloth, when I was done and had rinsed it again, I put it around my neck. Instant air-conditioning! The more I rode, the more it cooled me!

I’ve tried sweat bands before, but they are only so effective. Once they get soaked, rinsing them leaves them yukky and they loose their elasticity. Don’t rinse them out and after a while they are disgusting. Bandanas are much better than a terry sweat band. And you don’t need to buy wrist bands either. Just wrap a bandana twice around your arm and tie. Voi-la!

They’ve been so handy, I think I’ll pick up some more. I just hope someone doesn’t think I’m in a gang or something. What color should I get so that no one thinks I’m a Crip or a Blood?

Three Dog Night at the Lockport Canal Concert last week

Tuesday: Creedence Clearwater Revisited, Maria Aurigema (Artpark)
Wednesday: Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue (Artpark)
Thursday: Flaming Lips (Artpark Mainstage $)
Thursday: G. Love & Special Sauce with Rogue Wave (Lafayette Square)
Friday: Blues Traveller w/ Free Henry, Automaton, Bearhunter (Lockport Canal Concert)
Friday: Celtic Women (Artpark Mainstage $)
Saturday: Soul Asylum with The Incurables, DoDriver and A Potter’s Field (Hard Rock NF)

Let’s do the run-down. Tuesday, Artpark brings the next in their lineup of Oldies acts with CCR. No, not Creedence Clearwater Revival, it’s Revisited, as in no John Fogerty. Another franchise act. But the opener isn’t bad at all, Maria Aurigema is the real deal and a local blues act well worth seeing.

On Wednesday, Artpark brings in Trombone Shorty and Orleans Avenue. From New Orleans, Shorty takes the trombone and trumpet to a level kind of like where the Campbell Brothers (Next week!) take steel guitars. It’s a little Jazz, a little funk, a little urban and totally unique and different. Try it, you’ll like it. There is no opening act, not just none listed, they say there is none, so expect a special, long show.

The Tonawanda Harbor shows are notably absent this week. The reason: Canal Fest is in full swing with all kinds of music. Too much to mention here, so check it out here.

That brings us to Thursday and the Square, Lafayette Square. Buffalo Place brings back G. Love and Special Sauce for what seems like the twentieth time. I’m sure it’s only the second or third, but are they really that popular? I haven’t seen G. Love yet, but he seems interesting. Kind of a jam-harmonica sound, what they call Hip-hop Blues. Call it what you want, it’s likely not going to bore you. Opening is Rogue Wave. Should be a good fit for the mood.

If you don’t mind paying, the Flaming Lips are at the Artpark mainstage Thursday.

On Friday, the Lockport Canal Concerts bring Blues Traveler to the Ulrich Center. Harmonica wizard John Popper, looking somewhat slimmed down will bring his high energy jam-rock to the stage. A trifecta of local openers are lined up as well.

Free Henry, Automaton, and Bearhunter all will warm up the crowds. Don’t show up at 8 o’clock and ask who is on stage. Show a little respect and get there in time for the hard-working, local acts. They’re really pretty good.

Free Henry returns for the second year. They also are on the Artpark and Hard Rock schedules this summer, so they’ve been busy! One of my favorite local rock bands. Another local rock group from the Harvest Sum collective is Bearhunter. No info on Automaton, or Automation, as reported elsewhere. You’ll have to go to find out!

Competing for time on Friday night, but not really because it’s a totally different genre, is Celtic Women at Artpark’s mainstage. A little to polished and smarmy for me, I would rather see Cherish The Ladies who were here last week!

Finally, Saturday brings the Hard Rock Cafe’s free show in Niagara Falls with Soul Asylum. The runaway train hits the stage there after local openers The Incurables, DoDriver and A Potter’s Field. DoDriver brings a harder-edged rock sound, while The Incurables seem to be more in tune with Soul Asylum’s sound. A Potter’s Field, formerly Nancy’s Candy, kind of splits the difference, and I really like the lead singer! I can’t find a web site, but I found this site with photos and videos.

So, what’s my verdict? This week is pretty much a draw. Not a bad show in the bunch, but I can’t really say any one is a must-see. I have a hunch, though, that the show on Wednesday with Trombone Shorty will be the one people will be talking about afterwards. But you won’t go wrong with G. Love or Soul Asylum. G. Love and Rogue Wave together will be a good show, while Soul Asylum has a wealth of local talent to support them.

So, Trombone Shorty and Orleans Avenue is the pick by a nose!

Dale Campbell at the Canal Street Gazebo

Lockport Canal Street Gazebo shows (noontime)
M&T Plaza Event Series (noontime)
Lewiston Jazz Festival
Lewiston Art Council (Blue Monday, Summer of '69, Jazz Festival, more!)
Comprehensive collection of concert information around Buffalo

I was standing near the stage watching Rob Falgiano when some toothless old guy and his haggy girlfriend comes pushing their way up and he asks; “What band is this?” I said; “You come here and you don’t even know who you’ve come to see?” So he said; “We’re here to see Three Dog Night. I don’t think this is them.” No kidding. I think he’s personally spent a few three-dog nights, by the look of him. So, I said; “This is the Rob Falgiano Band. They’re a local group.” At that point, I walked away.

I just think it’s the height of rudeness to come late to a show, push your way to the front past the people who got there early for the opening acts and then expect them to explain what is going on. I know, I’m the exception to the rule in that I’m usually more interested in the local and lesser-known groups, than the big-names, but this is what spoils the free shows for me more and more.

Anyway, I took some photos. Actually a lot of photos, but weeded out a lot of duplicate shots and put them up on the web. You can check them out at My Opera Photos.