Ali and I Get to Not See Gaylord at Boulder

Ali and I stopped by Boulder Coffee Co.MySpace link (100 Alexander St.) to see GaylordMySpace link. 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.MySpace link (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!

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Hogan's, Station 55, and the Bug Jar

Ali, Stacie, and I went to Hogan's Hideaway (197 Park Ave.) for dinner. I stuck with the sure bets of a good wine, French onion soup, and a grilled cheese and was not disappointed. Well, okay, except the sandwich which wasn't grilled as much as I'd like.

After that we headed to Station 55 (55 Railroad St.) for the ArtAwake event. We were surprised to find that they charged a cover at the door — not exactly an art-gallery-kosher move. I was then disappointed to find the works were not particularly impressive. Worse was that the lighting left nothing to the imagination and there were no nooks to explore. It didn't help all this any that there was no wine to be found either — which, among other things, can help loosen one's ingrained bindings with America's corporate-consumer culture. Alas, it was a big disappointment for me, and kind of kicked off the evening poorly.

So then we went to The Bug Jar (219 Monroe Ave.) a bit early to catch the bands there. Unfortunately — despite it being a rather popular headliner — GaylordMySpace link, in their last Rochester show before moving to Atlanta — the happy-hour vibe was still in full-force: blaring house music and all. I only really saw the first band, Razor Wire ShrineMySpace link who are an instrumental chaotic rock band with subtle influences from all over the place. I only caught a little of Fledgling DeathMySpace link, a thrash/heavy metal kind of band. By then the three of us were quite tired and decided to call it an early night.

In related news, The LandfillMySpace link (625 Weiland Rd.) has been shut down (related because sucky Station 55 has not — it's too milquetoast to displease the aristocracy). I recall reading it in a news clip from The City Newspaper but it doesn't appear to have made it to the online edition. I believe it was a casualty of Mayor Robert J. Duffy's plan to shut down house-parties, as I was pretty sure it was some guy's house. When I first heard of that law, I was concerned it would be abused beyond its original intent: to give police the leeway they "needed" to shut down house parties when they came upon them. Now, my vision of a house party that needs to be shut down is one that is completely out of control — where the residents have lost their ability to control the party themselves.

Once again — like the shutdown of A|V Art Sound Space (N. Union St. at Trinidad St., #8 in the Public Market, formerly the All-Purpose Room) — the creative fringe of this city has had its hands chopped off. And once again, I theorize that this will push one more of these inspirational creators to go find a tolerant city. And the Mayor and all his cronies will sit around and not care about those one or two fringe people, but to me, they inspire — and I assume so of other creative people. And unfortunately that is not a column in their spreadsheet and it doesn't compare well to tax dollars.

So, I'm left giving this advice: don't trust the police. They are not your friends. They are not there to help you. If you see them, go away from them.

I hope this is what the mayor has in mind.

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