A WRAP-UP OF THE SUMMER CONCERT SCENE REVEALS THE HIGHS AND LOWS OF AN UNUSUALLY WET SEASON
The Summer Concert Season: Looking back through the rain
When John “Johnny Rotten” Lydon arrived on stage in San Francisco for the final date of the Sex Pistols’ first (and last) U. S. tour in 1978, he looked around at his road-battered bandmates, gazed into the pit of numb-but-violent humanity in front of him, considered his lot in life, and uttered the now-famous moot question, “Ever get the feeling you’ve been cheated?” Looking back on the summer concert season of 2008 in Western New York, it’s tough to avoid succumbing to a similar sentiment.
It might seem a bit of a stretch to claim feeling “ripped off” by a concert season that included no less than four free showcase series in the immediate vicinity. Still, the doubt lingers. Couldn’t we have had so much more? And shouldn’t we be demanding more than country and classic rock?
OK, so that’s a bit of an oversimplification. There certainly was no shortage of choice for the music-lover in the Buffalo Niagara region, and often, that music-lover could breeze through the gate at a show without having to part with a single penny.
That said, I’d hazard the guess that many of these same music-lovers would have been more than happy to part with plenty of money if they were being offered top-tier concert bills instead of secondary market leftovers. The reasons for this paucity of major concerts are best left to another time, place and column space, but ponder this truism: Our massive downtown hockey rink/concert venue was dark for the majority of the summer, save the appearance of easy (well, not that easy) listening diva Celine Dion. ’Nuff said. Here, then, are my nods for the best and worst of Summer 2008, musically speaking. Hey, there’s always next year, right, sports fans?
The Best: Zappa Plays Zappa
Thursday at the Square, Aug. 7
Cut a bit short due to a lightning storm with a bad attitude, this show still stood out as the most dazzling of the summer. Blending humor, killer musicianship, easy interplay and a delightful stage presence, Dweezil Zappa and Co. did the elder Zappa proud.
Gov’t Mule
Artpark, July 29
Twin sets of smoking Gov’t Mule, on a beautiful night, in a charming, inviting space.
Jakob Dylan
Thursday at the Square, July 3
The wrong venue for a fairly intimate, acoustic-based show? Maybe. Regardless, it was wonderful to hear Dylan and band bring the songs from “Seeing Things” to life on the eve of the 4th of July.
Music is Art
Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Aug. 13
It poured, nonstop, but attendance was strong for Robby Takac’s yearly festival. More importantly, the music flowed seamlessly over several stages, and anyone visiting from out of town would have rightly been led to the conclusion that Buffalo bands and artists kick butt.
Bruce Hornsby and the Noisemakers
Town Ballroom, Aug. 9
This was supposed to be a free outdoor show as part of the Gateway Park series, but problems with a liquor license put the boot into Hornsby’s gig. The fine folks at the Town Ballroom – and local musician Gary Zoldos, who’d previously booked a fundraiser at the Town that evening – welcomed Hornsby to their club. It turned out to be a lengthy, intimate, inspired evening of music.
The Neville Brothers with Dr. John
Seneca-Niagara Casino, June 27
The Nevilles blew Dr. John off the stage with an absolutely killer set of New Orleans funk, soul, R&B and rock. Pure class.
Mickey Hart Band
Thursday at the Square, July 17
It’s tough to play a program composed almost entirely of music audience members are unfamiliar with, but Hart – with the estimable assistance of guitarist Steve Kimmock and bassist George Porter Jr. – pulled it off. World-beat rhythms rattled around Lafayette Square for a few hours, and it was sublime.
Sloan Gateway Park Labatt Blue Concert series, June 2
Raw. Sloppy. Fun. A classic Sloan show, then, diminished only by the lousy wet and windy weather.
Ted Nugent
Erie County Fair, Aug. 10
He acts like a meathead a lot of the time, but put a guitar in Ted Nugent’s hands, and he becomes a one-man rock wrecking crew. Nugent played a rainy Fairgrounds as if he was headlining Madison Square Garden. It was impossible not to appreciate his efforts.
Heaven and Hell
Erie County Fair, Aug. 12
Black Sabbath, Mark II, offered their third outstanding area show in as many years.
War
Artpark, Aug. 27
Deep grooves, timeless tunes and great stage presence combined to make this one outstanding. The band was announced as a potential inductee into the 2009 class of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame shortly after this show. Coincidence? Yeah, probably. But cool, just the same!
Mike Gordon Band
Thursday at the Square, Aug. 14
Gordon played his new album, “The Green Sparrow,” and his guitarist, Max Creek veteran Scott Murawski, offered a jaw-dropping performance.
Kenny Wayne Shepherd
Molson Canal Concert Series, July 25
Sturdy, sultry rock-blues on a beautiful night, in downtown Lockport – which, as it turns out, is a great place to see a show.
THE WORST
The Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival Darien Lake Performing Arts Center, Aug. 19
Violent, ugly, and cliche-ridden. And that was just certain members of the audience! On stage, things weren’t much better.
Riders On the Storm /Molson Canal Concert Series, Aug. 8
Like a Las Vegas lounge act doing Doors tunes. Jim Morrison rolled in his grave, if he actually is indeed dead. Bless Ray Manzarek and Robby Kreiger, but man, this hurt.
Celine Dion / HSBC Arena, Sept. 3
This concert absolutely baffled me, suggested a surreal encounter, and urged me to write what I felt was a sarcastic, tongue-in-cheek review. Based on the response, few people got it, the most popular question being, “Well, did you like it, or not?” Let me clear up the confusion. It was simply awful. Dion, at left, has pipes, no doubt, but this show was the musical equivalent of a particularly bad episode of “Days of Our Lives.” As in, melodramatic, overblown and about as subtle as an icepick to the forehead.
