Weekly Rochester Events #238: Keep That Clarence Out of the HOV Lane

Thursday, July 31, 2003

I got to go to Ten Ugly Men Event (east side of Genesee Valley Park) for free. Well, not quite—I volunteered with Single Volunteers of Rochester to join them cooking food between 5 and 7 p.m. I claimed a spot on one of the four 3-foot by 7-foot 3-burner grills and started cooking. Chicken. And more chicken. And some garden burgers. And more chicken. And some beef burgers. And more chicken.

I think it was around 300 chicken breasts, 50 garden burgers, and 40 beef burgers. It was hard to tell because I was just staring at the grill and didn't notice the bulk of the 6,000 or so attendees looking for dinner. I have found all new respect for short-order chefs.

I got a chance to check out the event and, well, I'm glad I didn't pay $30 for it. The whole event is pretty much like Old Country Buffet for alcoholics. They had Michelob, Budweiser, and Empire Brewing Company (300 State St.) beers, and I think Genesee was there too. For food, there were burgers, garden burgers, chicken, and pizza. Oddly, though, there was no caffeine to be found—Jone's Soda provided their product which didn't even include a cola product. Hmm.

The bands consisted of popular locals who played mostly covers of popular songs. I guess that's why there were 6,000-ish people there instead of 600-ish. A lot of people like poplular songs ... and let me add that it's dark at night because the sun isn't in the sky and other obvious statements. Really, though, I think people would like a lot of the original music local bands play, but it's just through sheer repetition that the popular music today is popular. Give the local stuff a bit more radio play and people can sing along too.

See, like when I saw The Purrs on Tuesday night. I had that stupid "Hellish Nightmare" chorus stuck in my head all night and couldn't sleep. Nothing like taking sleeping pills at 2 in the morning when you've got to get up in 3 hours. Thank goodness there weren't cool bands to go see Wednesday night or else all the caffeine in the world wouldn't save me.

But the point is that I've gotten to the point that I get local bands songs stuck in my head. Not every band cranks out easy-to-digest stuff like Barenaked Ladies does, but there's quite a bit out there.

All you've got to do is drop $5 for a show three or four times a week for a couple years and you'll have a half-dozen or so songs you can remember. And you can rest assured that the thousands of dollars you shell out mostly make it to the bands so they can buy guitars and other band stuff like shots of J.D., cigarettes, pot, cocaine, and ecstasy. Why would you want to line the coffers of some rich corporation with a couple hundred bucks you spent on CD's at Amazon.

... makes you think, doesn't it?

T H U R S D A Y

Over at The Bug Jar (219 Monroe Ave.) starting around 8:45 p.m. is a variety of rock styles including Don Anonymous for his CD release party, Sci Flyer, and Dreamend. The Dryden Theater at George Eastman House (900 East Ave.) will be showing Skammen (Shame) starting at 8. When the island home of a couple is invaded by troops in a civil war, all the morality and dignity they had constructed through social structures collapses. Tonight at Montage Grille (50 Chestnut St.) is even-paced jazz-oriented rock with Thought starting around 9:30 p.m. Top notch heavy metal band Kalibas, Amongst the Swarm, and well-constructed heavy rock/metal band Heatseeker will be at The Bug Jar (219 Monroe Ave.) later on starting around 10:45 p.m. Tonight at Highland Bowl (South Ave. at Robinson Dr.) they're showing The Wild Thornberrys Movie starting around 8:30 or dusk or whatever. Pure Kona Poetry Open Mic Night is at Daily Perks (389 Gregory St.) tonight starting at 7:30.

F R I D A Y

Tonight and tomorrow from 5 to 10 at High Falls Festival Site (Browns Race and Commercial St.) is The Flour City Brewer's Fest Tickets are $13 (if you buy them from Rohrbach Brewing Company (3859 Buffalo Rd.) in advance) or $15 at the door and includes your own tasting glass and as many samples as you can get from dozens of microbreweries. For your fix of modern rock and covers, Uncle Plum will be at Alexander Street Pub (291 Alexander St.) starting around 10 p.m. Updated: Over at Monty's Krown (875 Monroe Ave.) starting around 10:30 p.m. is the awesome rock band Eddie Nebula and the Plague with punk band The Emersons and The Nocturnals. I wonder if they've got any new stuff since they haven't been playing out in a while ... 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. Over at Mt. Hope Cemetery (North Gate, 791 Mt. Hope Ave.) starting around 1 p.m. is a Mount Hope Cemetery Tour with The Friends of Mount Hope. There's a party at Memorial Art Gallery (500 University Ave., near Goodman St.) for Finger Lakes Community College artists starting at 8. Get tickets in advance for $15 or less depending on what your membership level is (if any.) Food Not Bombs Rochester (367 Lyell Ave.) will be hosting a Chess Tournament at either Washington Square Park (across Woodbury from Geva Theater) if it's nice or their location on Lyell if it's raining from noon to 4. They're fishing for donations between $6 and $8 per person and have two divisions—youth, up to age 13, and adult for 14 and over. Rochester Chess Center is offering their support as well. Updated: Today from 10 to 6 and tomorrow from 10 to 5 is Park Avenue Festival (Park Ave. from Alexander St. to Culver Rd.; also see Rochseter Event's Park Avenue Festival Page). Additional Update: The Rochseter Event's Park Avenue Festival Page published the list of bands on Thursday night or so and here's some of the highlights: talented acoustic soloist JoAnn Vaccaro on Saturday at the Oxford St. Stage from 10 to 10:30 fun groove-rock/zydeco band Sunny Weather on Saturday at the Somerton Green Stage from noon to 12:45 regrouping of Colorblind James Experience as hünü? on Sunday at the Kirkhaven Stage from 1 to 1:45 the excellent rock band The Hirisers on Sunday at the Kirkhaven Stage from 2:30 to 3:30 the excellent rock-acoustic band The Earl Cram Revue on Sunday at the Oxford Street Stage from 3:45 to 4:30 The Bug Jar (219 Monroe Ave.) will be hosting some excellent examples of modern rock and roll with The Six Parts Seven, Veluxe, and 5 Watt Bulb starting around 10:45 p.m. Over at Richmond's (21 Richmond St.) starting around 10:30 p.m. is tight, complex rock-and-roll with The VEiNS, and probably Rochester's best punk rock band, The Blast-Off's. A wild night of harsh, fight-inducing metal with 137<, Blatant Disarray, Ghost, Elusive Travel, Kryoburn, and Dead Nutz will be at The Penny Arcade (4785 Lake Ave.) starting around 9:30 p.m. Updated: They actually didn't play on Thursday, but top notch heavy metal band Kalibas and Amongst the Swarm Monty's Krown (875 Monroe Ave.) starting around 10:30 p.m.

S U N D A Y

The interesting acoustic rock of Burning Snella will be at Irondequoit Town Hall (1280 Titus Ave.) starting around 3 p.m. Pelican's Waterfront (566 River St.) will be having a Benefit For Tim Kelley's Kids Education Fund with Uncle Plum, and The Skycoasters starting around 3 p.m.

M O N D A Y

Today is the The Ultimate Drive event at John Holtz BMW (Calkins Rd. at West Henrietta) from 10 to 6. They're already fully booked so it's down to walk-ins. Good luck getting into the Z4. The more you drive, the sooner BMW USA sends another US$1,000,000 to The Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. Tonight at The Bug Jar (219 Monroe Ave.) is Black Print, Tom Sawyer, and Kalpana starting around 10:30 p.m.

T U E S D A Y

Speedloader, metalish punk-rockish band Fallguy, and Warblade will be at The Bug Jar (219 Monroe Ave.) starting around 10:30 p.m. Over at Montage Grille (50 Chestnut St.) starting around 9:30 p.m. is the great beat-driven funk band The Filthy Funk. 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 Casino Royale starting at 8. Woody Allen directs and stars in this film about James Bond after retirement recalled to try to stop a group of assassins of current agents. I guess it's based on the same story that inspired Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery. Tonight at Bennigan's (120 E. Main St.) is a Poolside Party with local disco and rock cover band The United Booty Foundation starting around 5 p.m. 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.