Local Music: Complete Thursday at the Harbor and Artpark Buffalo Concert Series

The lineups for both major concert series in Western New York are out, which means its the unofficial start of summer! I'll list them all below in chronological order, with some of what i consider are the highlights and definite recommendations.
TATH = Thursday at the Harbor (Canalside) Free Shows.
BPRTH = Buffalo Place Rocks the Harbor. (Canalside) Paid Shows
Artpark F= Free Artpark shows
Artpark P= Paid Artpark Shows

June 7th - The Cult, Against Me! and The Icarus Line :TATH
                   Come on now, the Cult to kick off the summer fun? What could be better!
June 14th -Fitz and the Tantrums,Sister Sparrow & The Dirty Birds and ZZ Ward:  THAT
 June 19^th – Kansas.  Artpark P
                    Carry on our wayward son, right into western new york!
June 20^th- Ziggy Marley. Artpark F

                     Ziggy puts on a great show. Tons of energy. Check em' out for free!

June 21st - Built to Spill, Matthew Sweet and Hey Rosetta! TATH

June 26^th- Foreigner. Artpark P

                    Be Honest with youself.  Isn't it a little unamerican to NOT want to see foreigner?
Come on down, belt out some of your secret favorites, and have a great time.

 June 27^th- Tokyo Police Club. Artpark F

                   I am more excited for this show than any other on the lineup besides Andrew Bird. Saw them  at Soundlab a few years back and they are one of the most high energy shows you'll ever see. Great uptempo music and great vocals.

June 28th - Fountains of Wayne.TATH

June 29th: Sam Roberts Band and Grace Potter & The Nocturnals . BPRTH

               I saw Grace Potter and the Nocturnals at the Bonaroo Music Festival, and they put on a hell of a show. Sam Roberts Band comes to Buffalo fairly often and they also know how to put on a really good performance. Many people i know are most excited for this show.

June 30th: moe and Conspirator . BPRTH
               Hometown boys M.O.E. make thier yearly return to the thousands of fans down on the harbor front. Mainstays and big time players on the jam band scene, its always exciting when they come back to town. Expect this to be a sell out.

July 3^rd: Huey Lewis and the NewsArtpark P.

              I am trying with all my might not to make a "hip to be square" pun right here.... whew, succeeded.

July 5th - Arrested Development. TATH.
                  Kick it oldschool!

July 10^th: Sublime with Rome. Artpark P

                  Sublime, without Bradley of course, comes to Buffalo for the first time since a warped tour about 10 years ago.  Enjoy some neo raggae and heavy bass.
July 11^th: Lowest of the low. Artpark F

July 12th – Seether. TATH

July 15th: Feist .BPRTH

                   Feist has been one of the most popular, and talented, artists of the past 5 years. With a great voice, harmonies and super catchy tunes, you can head on down and have them stuck in your head for a week.

July 16th: Andrew Bird. Artpart P

                  Far and away the show i personally am most excited for. This man plays every instrument himself, and beautifully so. Deep, layered song, with wonderful movement and melody. An absolute must.

July 17^th: YES with very special guest Procol Harum. Artpark P

July 18^th: The Trews with special guest ill Scarlett. Artpark F

July 19^th: Young the Giant, Bahamas and The Ruby Spirit. TATH

July 24^th: Heart. Artpark P

                 You know you want to go.....

Restaurant Review: Well La-Tee-Da!

QCLA took a nice walk into Allentown from our humble abode on a beautiful Wednesday evening for a nice dinner at La Tee Da on Allen Street, next to Rustbelt Books, and it was absolutely perfect.

First off, the ambiance of the entire place is very inviting, nice and cozy in the main inside area, while feeling a little bit upscale, it's not stuffy at all, and they have a great semicircle bar right at the front. As you walk through, you realize what the main attraction really is, the patio in the back. It is absolutely gorgeous. A full bar, a live band that plays every Wednesday night (The Mick Hayes Band), playing great dinner tunes that you find yourself bobbing your head to. ("Superstition" gets me every time). Talk about being able to enjoy a nice summery evening in Buffalo.

Construction: MLK Park

MLK Park, next to the wonderful Buffalo Museum of science, is showing much improvement and activity with the large splashpad being restored.

The splashpad with be for swimming/activities in the summer time, a reflection pool in the spring and fall, and ice skating in the winter (future Sabres NHLer's, like Patrick Kaleta, maybe?) For this area of the city, the project couldn't have come soon enough, and hopefully this leads to more investments in the area, and more people going to see the great exhibits at the science museum and enjoying a day in the park.

Construction: Sunset Through the Donovan

Not the highest quality picture..... but with a camera phone while driving, what do you want! haha.
Progress on the Donovan Building ( One Canalside) from the 190. A Beautiful sunset in downtown Buffalo, and progress on one of the upcoming jewels of canalside, make for a nice night.

 

Bob Z-

Sports: Summer Sporting in Buffalo: Derek M

We all have our addictions, and in Buffalo, our addiction is our sports teams.  So let me be the one who gives it too you, let me offer everyone a perspective on sports that is Buffalo from Buffalo.

We are in a unique time of the year, no playing Monday morning quarterback, no talking to the cashier at the corner store about who the Sabres should grab at the deadline.  We are about to start summer in the city that can actually enjoy all four seasons.  Our short and simple conversations about sports last about 30 seconds and end with “we’ll see”.

We’re all holding our breath for the fall, to see if the new front four of the Bills defense can actually put the hurt on Tom Brady and Mark Sanchez like we all hope they can.  Whether or not the Sabres can live up to the expectations they put on themselves last year remains to be seen.  But for now we get to enjoy the “one and done” sporting events and the long, grinding, unending and not too important baseball season, (which is very exciting come fall).

First and foremost,

Hat Tip: Buffalo Rising nails it again:

Buffalo rising has an excellent blog on the beautiful new University at Buffalo Medical Campus building thats going to be built downtown. This is exceptionally exciting, and $375 million dollars well invested by UB. This is one of the grandest projects to come downtwon in years (Which is saying something, with the recent Lafayette and Statler redo's being as beautiful as they are).

For more, please check out http://www.buffalorising.com/2012/05/ub-selects-hok-to-lead-design-of-new-medical-school.html for much more information.

What an exciting time to be a Buffalonian!!!
-Bob Z

Events: Beerology at The Buffalo Museum of Science

What could possibly be better than science and beer put together? Well i would have a hard time finding an answer to that question. The annual "Beerology" happened last night at the Science Museum, and it was a sold out event as always.

There were a multitude of local and regional brewery's showing off their finest Lights and Mediums (we only spotted one truly dark beer), and their was a ton of deliciousness to go around. Some brewery's that attended were Great Lakes, Ommegang (one of my personal favorites), Flying Bison, Brooklyn Brewery, Southern Tier, Pearl Street, Community Beer Works and more.

My personal favorite was a

QCLA: Local Music : I Can See Mountains

2012 has been an incredible year for new bands and has been key in the growth of Panic Records. The Seattle, WA indie label is extremely excited to welcome yet another up and coming band to the Panic family, Buffalo, NY's, I Can See Mountains.

I Can See Mountains got its start in the summer of 2011 with the simple intention of doing whatever felt most natural. After months of writing, perfecting, and re-writing, they recorded their debut EP, Hope You Never Get It, in September 2011 at GCR Audio in Buffalo, NY with Jay Zubricky (Pentimento, Every Time I Die).

"We cannot predict the future, nor will we try, but what we will continue to do is pour every ounce of our hearts, souls, and minds into this band. This is what makes us happy. It’s our creative canvas. We want to take our band to the furthest and highest levels. And if that means the stars, then so be it."

Panic Records will be re-releasing I Can See Mountains’ debut EP, Hope You Never Get It, this summer on 12" Vinyl, CD and Digital formats.

Check out the song “Tournesol” on the band official Facebook page now, but rest assured you’ll find yourself humming it for the remainder of the week, month...year! SUNFLOWER!!!

www.facebook.com/icanseemountains

www.panicrecords.net

-Brian Patrick

Places: Botanical Gardens: A gem of Western New York

For those of those who have never visited the Erie County Botanical Gardens, you are missing a jewel of the WNY area. A few years ago the ownership switched over from the county, to a non profit group, and admission went from free to a minimal charge. Let me tell you, it's well worth every penny. They maintain the gardens so beautifully that its the perfect place to stop for warmth in the winter, and sunshine in the summer. It's also a great place for photographers, new and advanced, to hone your skills on some beautiful objects that, thankfully, don't move.

Located on South Park avenue in South Buffalo, near the Basillica (which is a beautiful building unto itself, i would recommend walking the half block down to it), and near the Sorento Cheese plant (considerably less beautiful... haha).

The Gardens have 6 different houses (1 used mostly for wedding and events) including a several story waterfall, and carved dinosaur shapes bushes (which the kids love), a huge koy pod, the worlds largest publically displayed Ivy Display, a great covered area for pictures next to a fountain, a hand carved several foot large checkers boards, a desert landscape, and much much more. Please make sure to enjoy every room, and be there a couple hours.

Here are some pictures from the gardens:

-Bob Z

Construction: Buffalo State College Technology Building

It looks like the new Technology Building on the Buffalo State Campus is slowly taking shape. They've been working on this for about a year and a half or so now, with about another year until completion. This, coupled with new dormatories, brings some excitement to the campus, with obvious signs of progress. This is also a big deal because Buffalo State is one of the only Colleges in the country to have an accredited Communications degree, and this building will provide even more hands on opportunities for the students in not just this, but all cirriculums.

Also condiering that education is one of the largest employers, and fields, in the WNY region, anything we can do to expand our footprint in this field (along with, of course , the medical cooridoor and the new regional tourism down at canalside). Buffalo State, along with the University at Buffalo, are practically mecca's now for downstate students looking for quality education at an affordable price (plus the opportunity to get away from thier parents for a few years!)

This is always my favorite phase of the construction on new buildings, you can see the exoskeleton taking shape, but you're still able to see inside and work being done all around. An exciting time indeed.

-Bob Z