Weekly Rochester Events #235: Sweet Mother of Mother Hubbard

Thursday, July 10, 2003

Getting back into the swing of my normal job-centric life (ha ha) I got to see Jerseyband [yay!] at Milestones (170 East Ave.) [boo!] on Tuesday. I planned ahead to knock back sleeping pills that night because I'd be getting home late and all wound up, just like I really did—dang, those guys are good. Plus I talked with Alex (who's kind of the leader of the band) and got him to promise to not be at Milestones next time. Well, he didn't really promise. He really didn't say that either ... I guess he implied that he'd look into The Bug Jar (219 Monroe Ave.) Montage Grille (50 Chestnut St.) and The Club at Water Street (204 N. Water St.) instead. I said I'd try to get hold of Rob at the Bug Jar and use my mighty influence in the Rochester music scene to get them in there. What I mean by that is: "Rob, I know you're going to read this sooner or later so please please please let Jerseyband play at the Bug Jar. They're really good." And what that means is that I'll talk to Rob and he'll be very polite, but assess the band himself and hopefully come to the same conclusion. Oh, "Rob, ask Andy/Drew (the drummer from Low Ton) how good they are if you want a second opinion from someone who knows something about music."

I think I conveyed to Alex just how little influence I have at all—a status I'm harshly reminded of every time I try to get someone to do something like this.

A great many things may be changing for me, though. On Saturday I went to Edibles (704 University Ave.) for dinner. I just had a thing for getting a good meal for my last night before it'd be back to work. Anyway, I sat outside despite the wind and the threat of rain. The southwestern spring rolls were really good as an appetizer. These are one of those must-try things, like the gnocci at Lola Bistro and Bar (630 Monroe Ave.) The eggplant ravioli was just so-so ... the raviolis themselves were good, but with a garlic sauce with feta and olives, it just turned into a cacophony of flavors. But that wasn't the best of it:

To cap off dinner, this pigeon died in front of me.

Seriously.

As best I can tell, it just fell off the building and whacked its head. It struggled to get to its feet and then it walked around really dazed. When it started to fly I thought it'd be okay, but it only made it about a yard, struggled a bit, then stopped moving forever.

The weird part, though, is that there was marginally okay acoustic cover band called Next Weeks News playing at Starry Nites (696 University Ave., formerly Moonbeans) just around the corner and at that moment they decided to play Cat Stevens' If You Want to Sing Out, Sing Out which is the closing theme to Harold and Maude.

If you haven't seen the movie, it's a whole lot like having a good dinner, watching a pigeon die, then hearing a Cat Stevens song about the opportunities of free will.

T H U R S D A Y

Over at The Bug Jar (219 Monroe Ave.) starting around 8:45 p.m. is Gregory Paul whom I guess is a pretty good acoustic rocker (I'll have to give him yet another chance) and the 3-piece power-ish rock band Seven Head Division Around 8:30 at Johnny's Irish Pub (1382 Culver Rd., still smoke-free) is Comedy with Dave Schmitt and Friends. The guy's been pretty funny in the past and I'd like to see a real show again. Tonight at Montage Grille (50 Chestnut St.) is another chance to see Thought starting around 9:30 p.m. Monty's Krown (875 Monroe Ave.) will be hosting the really excellent funk band, The Filthy Funk starting around 10:30 p.m. Watch for the innovative drum work. The Dryden Theater at George Eastman House (900 East Ave.) will be showing Strangers on a Train starting at 8. From Hitchcock's twisted mind comes this film of a couple strangers on a train who make a deal to kill someone for the other ... no strings attached. Pure Kona Poetry Open Mic Night is at Daily Perks (389 Gregory St.) tonight starting at 7:30.

F R I D A Y

Rochester Visual Studies Workshop (31 Prince St.) will be hosting Xiu Xiu, and Devendra Banhart starting around 8:30 p.m. The Bug Jar (219 Monroe Ave.) will be hosting some real rock and roll with The Paybacks, and The Grinders starting around 8 p.m. Starting around 7:30 at Genesee Country Nature Center (Flint Hill Rd. in Mumford) is the Bats Of New York State Evening Hike. The Hill Cumorah Pageant (Hill Cumorah, Palmyra, N.Y.) starts tonight and runs through next Saturday, every day except Monday at 9pm. Over at Alexander Street Pub (291 Alexander St.) starting around 9:30 p.m. is a bit of modern rock and covers with Uncle Plum. Tonight at Montage Grille (50 Chestnut St.) is—according to the list on the wall—the jazz fusion band with violins, Headlines starting around 9:30 p.m. The Dryden Theater at George Eastman House (900 East Ave.) will be showing The Wrong Man starting at 8. Hitchcock entertains again with a musician incorrectly fingered in an armed robbery. Stop thinking dirty thoughts, pervert. Over at Verb Café at Writers and Books (740 University Ave.) is Wide Open Mike with Norm Davis starting around 7:30. Apparently, anything goes. Anything.

S A T U R D A Y

O'Bagelo's, 165 State Street, noon. As best I can tell, the Manchester, England electronica duo The Freeloaders will be at F.Y.E. (672 Eastview Mall) starting around 4 p.m. Some part of me suspects it's some other band called "The Freeloaders," though. The Havoc, Bludwulf, new punk band The Teenage Junkies, The Dismissed, The Evicted, and The Nocturnal will be at an early show at The Bug Jar (219 Monroe Ave.) starting around 3:30 p.m. Today and tomorrow is the Corn Hill Arts Festival in the Corn Hill Neighborhood from 10 to 6. So far the only thing I know about is BMX Bike and Skate Demos all day near the food court. I looked and looked to see what bands were playing, but no dice. You'll have to get that from the program at the festival. Well, I did find one: the solid groove rock band with a zydeco twist, Sunny Weather will be at one of the stages on Saturday from 1 to 3:30. Oh, and it looks like jazz bands at the Gazebo stage on both days. Syracuse alternative-rock band 805 will be back after an eleven-year hiatus at Water Street Music Hall (204 N. Water St.) starting around 10 p.m. Tonight at The Bug Jar (219 Monroe Ave.) is Syracuse rock band Thunderosa, Spacetrucker, and tight, complex rock-and-roll from The VEiNS starting around 10:45 p.m. Updated: Tonight at Monty's Krown (875 Monroe Ave.) is 5 Watt Bulb with experimental-based folk rocker Scrappy Joe and Buffalo modern rock band Seneca Laines starting around 10:30 p.m. Acme Bar & Pizza (495 Monroe Ave.) will be hosting the best funk-rock band in Rochester, Astronomical Unit starting around 9:30 p.m. Over at Richmond's (21 Richmond St.) starting around 10:30 p.m. is Intox, really good metal band Ghost, and Sourpuss Rochester's own jazz/jump/swing/rockabilly band Bobby Henrie and The Goners will be at Montage Grille (50 Chestnut St.) starting around 9:30 p.m. The Dryden Theater at George Eastman House (900 East Ave.) will be showing North by Northwest starting at 8. One of my personal favorites, and the last of three from Hitch at the Dryden this month. Cary Grant plays Roger Thornhill, a man pulled into a world of spies and double-crosses through mistaken identity.

S U N D A Y

The Dryden Theater at George Eastman House (900 East Ave.) will be showing Clash of the Titans starting at 3. Nothing like a Sunday afternoon movie which was first experienced by a lot of people my age as a Sunday afternoon movie. This is the one with the mechanical owl and the other cheesy-by-today's-standards stop-motion special effects. The Rochester Jewish Film Festival starts today at The Little (240 East Ave.) and several shows will also be at The Dryden Theater in George Eastman House (900 East Ave.) See the website for details. July 20 is the last day of the festival. Tonight's another Open Jar Jam at The Bug Jar (219 Monroe Ave.) starting around 9.

T U E S D A Y

The Bug Jar (219 Monroe Ave.) will be hosting rock-and-roll with The Dirtbombs, The Horrors, The Thundergods, and The High Strung starting around 10:45 p.m. Montage Grille (50 Chestnut St.) will be hosting the great funk band The Filthy Funk starting around 9:30 p.m. The Dryden Theater at George Eastman House (900 East Ave.) will be showing I Vitelloni starting at 8. Fellini shows how the wonders of growing up grind into the horrors of destiny, although I suspect it's not quite so heavy and depressing as that description. Tonight and every Tuesday in July, funny funny guy Kevin Meaney will be at Comix Café (3450 Winton Pl.) at 8:30. Daily Perks (389 Gregory St.) is hosting an Acoustic Open Mic from 8 to 10. For this one, there's no microphones and it's pretty open ended.

W E D N E S D A Y

The Dryden Theater at George Eastman House (900 East Ave.) will be showing Fellini: Je suis un grand menteur (Fellini: I'm a Born Liar) starting at 8. A documentary about Fellini that includes a rare and introspective interview with the famous filmmaker. Tonight at Comix Café (3450 Winton Pl.) is formerly local comic Joel Lindley with still local comic Lamar Williams at 8:30. Joel is funny because he does a CB joke. Tonight from 8 to 10 is an Open-Mic Comedy Night at Daily Perks (389 Gregory St.) While once it was a workshop type of environment, it's now more-or-less a regular open mic ... by default it's still a place to try out new stuff.