Weekly Rochester Events #242: Host the Hosta Botanist

Thursday, August 28, 2003

So speaking of food, I decided that we'd meet up at the The Bug Jar Music Festival at Highland Bowl (South Ave. at Robinson Dr.) for lunch on Saturday. I was trying to figure out how to do this, since I wanted to see the first couple bands (especially Veluxe since I keep trying to get to shows and I keep missing them) and I wanted to have a regular lunch too. Well lo and behold, they'll have hots, burgers, and veggie burgers for what I can only assume will be higher-than-usual prices. You can always bring your own food and your own drinks to save money. The whole event is a way The Bug Jar (219 Monroe Ave.) thanks the many bands and patrons who visit them, and, of course, for some publicity. The event itself is free and runs all day ... see the list below for the bands.

Gosh, what else ... Sunday night I got to see a couple bands. The first was The Dismissed who are a young punk garage band. The next was World Inferno Friendship Society who are—in a nutshell—an experimental klezmer/ska cult who do a 1950's-style radio musical. They have a guitarist, bass player, drummer, keyboard/accordian player, three saxophonists, and a lead singer on stage at the same time. The lead singer does a bunch of theatrical gestures as he sings and invites the audience to move to New York and other suggestions. The audience, somehow, determined all these seemingly specific dance moves for each song ... presumably because of research beforehand. That was a special one for sure.

Of course, I think the wildest show ever will be at The Bug Jar (219 Monroe Ave.) this coming Tuesday. I tried to avoid perverted sentences, but there's no other way to say it—Your Mom and My Penis are playing. My Penis is a punk band who specializes in smashing up their instruments. Your Mom is a local pair of women who last did an Amazon-style punk-rock show with highlights of inviting audience members to come up and be spanked by a sexy young woman and to "drink from your mom's breasts" (in the form of whipped-cream in a can.) There were a few takers for each. If they stick with that line of performance, it'll be a show you'll never ever forget no matter how much psychiatric therapy you partake in the future.

T H U R S D A Y

Over at The Bug Jar (219 Monroe Ave.) starting around 8:30 p.m. is The A. M., and Returning Soul Lottery. Parotia, and okay groove-rock band Stealing Andy will be at Monty's Krown (875 Monroe Ave.) starting around 10:30 p.m. Pure Kona Poetry Open Mic Night is at Daily Perks (389 Gregory St.) tonight starting at 7:30.

F R I D A Y

The Dryden Theater at George Eastman House (900 East Ave.) will be showing Funny Ha Ha starting at 8. A low budget Boston film about the slackerly 20-somethings populating the world today. Modern rock and covers with Uncle Plum will be at Fat Moe's (4419 Dewey Ave.) starting around 10 p.m.

S A T U R D A Y

Updated: All day today at Highland Bowl (South Ave. at Robinson Dr.) is the annual (well, except for last year) The Bug Jar Music Festival starting at 1:00 then one band each hour. The order the bands will ... er ... are scheduled to appear is: tight modern rock with Veluxe excellent metal with Sulaco loud, fast rock with El Destructo mailman punk-rock with The Grinders Frank De Blase's own The Frantic Flattops instrumental surf-rock with The Mofos early 1970's style rock-and-roll with Thee Shams super-loud grinding punk-rock with The Modey Lemon and finally, in their last stop before returning to Japan, the every-rock-style band, Electric Eel Shock The Dryden Theater at George Eastman House (900 East Ave.) will be showing Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter starting at 8. With a title like that, what can you add? Perhaps that it's a musical? The Bug Jar (219 Monroe Ave.) will be hosting great punk-rock with The Blast-Off's, and Temptress starting around 10:45 p.m. Over at Curley's Saloon (511 E. Ridge Rd.) starting around 10 p.m. is acoustic/electric rock band Burning Snella, and FMGreen

M O N D A Y

Labor Day Tonight at Pelican's Waterfront (566 River St.) is some modern rock and covers with Better Days (or click here to skip their irritating Flash intro) starting around 4 p.m.

T U E S D A Y

V-J Day Already loaded with sexual puns, I think the most disturbing way to put this is as follows: Tonight at The Bug Jar (219 Monroe Ave.) My Penis opens for Your Mom. I gather that My Penis will break things and do punk-rock, and, assuming they continue more of what they did last time, Your Mom will be the most gritty, female-sexuality-charged punk-rock show you've ever seen. It all gets started around 10:30. Get a nap beforehand so you can stay up. Over at Montage Grille (50 Chestnut St.) starting around 9:30 p.m. is the innovative 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

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.