The Blog of Jason "Jayce" Olshefsky

I braved the snow and headed to Boulder Coffee Co. (100 Alexander St.) to catch Paul Burke‘s show there. Paul himself stopped by for a while, but he was performing with his other band, other/other/other at The Bug Jar (219 Monroe Ave.) that same night (in a sadly under-advertised show). Starting out was The Bogs Visionary Orchestra who played a rich tapestry of their modern Americana. Next was Eric the Taylor who I also liked: one guy playing ethereal, meditative, synthesized soundscapes. I’m really glad I stopped by.

Paul encouraged me to go to The Bug Jar (219 Monroe Ave.) as well so I went there and caught the tail-end of other/other/other. Next was Cuddle Magic who I hadn’t seen before. They are a large band with a variety of instruments. They play what I’ve come to call “motley folk” like Baby Shiver’s Boutique but with their own nearly orchestral arrangement. I was getting tired, and alas, couldn’t stay for the rest of the night. I’ll look forward to seeing them sometime soon, though.

I went to The Bug Jar (219 Monroe Ave.) and caught up with Old Boy who played great power acoustic like I expected. I can rely on these guys to really pound out some awesome music. They were followed by The New York Vaults who played some excellent punk-rock. I didn’t stay for long, though: I’ve been less of a party monster lately and headed home early.

I headed out to Boulder Coffee Co. (100 Alexander St.) where Paul Burke was hosting bands he liked. Tonight, he included his own production BELBIVDEVOIVOD which consisted of excellent electronic near-melodies with a bit of a dark edge. I like to listen to his work because it makes me look at everything in the world differently, and somehow intensifies a sense of serenity and inclusiveness, almost like a drug. Next up was Godlazer who DJ’s and remixes, frequently heading into mashup and experimental territory. Not everything he played piqued my interest, but it mostly hit home.

I started out by heading to The Record Archive (33 1/3 Rockwood St.) to catch the in-store bands. First up was Jay Repp playing solo. I generally liked his acoustic-rock and modern-rock style, but I wasn’t particularly drawn-in by it either. As before, I greatly liked other/other/other with their melodic trancey synthesized music. It just touches on dreamy and ethereal, but stays rooted in gently danceable beats.

Ali and I got a chance to get out of the house for a bit on our visit to her mom and step-dad in Florida to check out the local fauna. I searched the Internet for Pensacola’s Mad Happy (a band I’ve liked quite a bit and who I would expect to play in places I’d like to visit) to see if they had played anywhere in nearby Tarpon Springs.

They apparently had [although in a more thorough search, I don't think they did], so we went to The Neptune Lounge and Cyclery (13 S. Safford Ave., Tarpon Springs, FL): a bar/lounge by night and a bicycle shop by day (albeit next-door to one another) situated along The Pinellas Trail. We managed to hear the last song from the first band but got to see The Sound of Armada who played a good variety of jammy modern rock with a distinctive country flair.

From there we went to The Zone (121 E. Tarpon Ave., Tarpon Springs, FL) which was a nightclub and lounge. I gather that the reggae-funk band on the nice outdoor patio was called Paris, and indoors, they were playing a typical dance DJ mix. It was almost like two clubs in one … something I guess I should expect from such a small town.

I stopped by The Bug Jar (219 Monroe Ave.) for the show — one I was quite excited about. Dr . Hamburger was providing projected video over the bands. Starting out was The Leaky Boat Blues which was Tim from A Wonderful. He played some great acoustic that I really liked. Next was a nearly minimal version of Baby Shiver’s Boutique. I have to make it a point to see these guys more often — their “motley folk” music is enhanced by their singer’s crystal clear and ever-so-melancholic voice. Finishing up the night was Autumn In Halifax — just Dave this time accompanied by the electronic-boxes form of the Leaves. His luscious, poetic acoustic rock always cracks open some inner creativity and I’m left longing for the night to never end.

I headed to Boulder Coffee Co. (100 Alexander St.) to catch the show there. When I got there, Where is Fred Brown? was already playing. Conceived as a three-piece with John Valenti, Alfred Brown, and Paul Burke, it’s temporarily named for the absence of its middle member. They played a great set of melodic trance-snyth. It had this nice dreamlike finish to it. I also stayed for The Bogs Visionary Orchestra who played some excellent “new Americana”, so-to-speak: rooted in Americana, but with a modern-rock presence. Unfortunately, the flu I’d been fighting for the past three days was getting the best of me and I didn’t stay for Seth Faergolzia.

The other day, I met the drummer for The Beaumonts. He mentioned playing in Hypnotic Clambake and I knew that JoAnn Vaccaro also played with them (among a cast of thousands, I guess) so I had seen him again at the show last weekend. Well, we got to talking about The Beaumonts and Rochester people, and he mentioned that Marianne Buckley would be in town and would be playing with them today. I had known Marianne (and Steve from The Beaumonts) for years — they were among the first people I ever met in Rochester in the “music scene”.

So today I’m at Village Gate Square (274 N. Goodman St.) to see the band. I discovered it was an event called Taste of the Gate by a group called Rochester A-List. Their deal is that if you sign up for the mailing list of the “best” events in Rochester and had RSVPed for the Taste of the Gate event, it would have been $10 instead of $15. I gathered that some or all of the money collected went to an adoption service which was there and had a raffle as well.

The event was — I guess — a way for restaurants at Village Gate to showcase their food. California Rollin’ at Village Gate Square (274 N. Goodman St.) took it seriously and produced a great number of sushi rolls. Salena’s (274 N. Goodman St., at Village Gate), I believe, provided a chicken wing tray with a kind of salsa sauce that was quite good. And although I only hovered near their table for part of the time, as best I can tell, The Gate House (274 N. Goodman St., in the Village Gate; formerly Salena’s location) put out two sandwiches and (possibly) a pizza. Nonetheless, the $15 “buffet” wasn’t much of a deal for the 200 or so people who were there.

Well anyway, The Beaumonts were excellent. They play a sort of rock with a ska-ish fluidity. Steve’s influence in the band is at the forefront, and their CD is (so far) fantastic. Plus, I got to chat with my old pal Marianne — formerly of White Cotton Panties. I wore the T-shirt for the band that I had autographed at Norton’s Pub (1730 Goodman St.) or some such place. It’s sure been a while …

Ali and I stopped by Boulder Coffee Co. (100 Alexander St.) to see Gaylord. When we arrived, the crowd was unusually sparse, but I figured I had just predicted on the wrong end of things: I commented when we were leaving Ali’s that if I get there at 8 p.m., the band won’t start until 10:30, but if I arrive at 9 p.m., they will have already played — more often than not, it’s the latter case. I even checked their chalkboard schedule and Gaylord was listed — I was concerned that I mistakenly arrived at the other, identically named Boulder Coffee Co. (955 Genesee St.)

Well, we waited for an hour or so, but no crowd began to form. In fact, I saw nobody else who I’ve become acquainted as friends of the guys in the band. I asked at the bar and was told that Gaylord would not be playing. Apparently every other Gaylord fan got the memo.

It would have been helpful if Boulder had updated their website earlier than today: I last checked it yesterday. It would have been courteous if they had a sign at the bar — or, perhaps, offered the information without prompting. In the past, I have found the serving staff (not necessarily the people working this night) to be apathetic at best and downright hostile toward live bands. They’d turn off the “house” music so the band could play only with great reluctance and repeated prompting (sometimes, not at all). They’d be openly negative about nearly every act I’ve ever seen — usually making snide comments about how much they suck whenever I’d get a drink. And I’ve never seen them be supportive of unusual requests, like when a performer would like to extend the night for an enthusiastic crowd. To top it off, the start-times of shows tend to vary, and bands appear and disappear from the schedule at an alarming rate.

But you know, it works from a business sense. After all, if I had known beforehand, I probably wouldn’t have come down and wouldn’t have spent any money. So thumbs-up to you, Boulder. Good job!

I headed out to [LOCATION REDACTED] to see a show with some bands. Up first was Colonel Parmisan who did some slick looping noise and feedback. Oliver/Reeg was next in a more electronic form (which I guess is called “AC-DC”) and they played a sort-of experimental-alternative rock instrumental kind of thing. Next was Autumn In Halifax who are still a strong favorite of mine … the poetic lyrics over equally-interesting electrically-modified acoustic is just the ticket. Finally was out-of-towners Deleted Scenes who also put on a good show with their experimental-alternative rock.

Unfortunately, I can’t really talk about where I was because it’s a secret. See there’s that fairly new law that the City has been using to shut down non-commercial music events — as opposed to out-of-control house parties as it was “intended”. As such, the shows are quietly announced through word-of-mouth, and only friends get told where to go.