Region: Riding the Metrorail

So this past weekend, a few of us were heading to the Sabres game and decided to ride the metro rail from the allen street station.

I stood outside the station for a moment and thought about how UB will be building a $375 million dollar state of the art medical facility right over top of this staion (while incorporatioed the station into it). Its going to be gorgeous, and this rail stop has so much potential.

The excitement

Region: New HARBORcenter design disappoints...slightly

The Pegula backed HARBORcenter redesign came out today and I must say, while still being a great project overall, the redesign leaves much to be desired.

Initially, the top hotel portion had a beautiful curved glass design which i thought mimicked, or paid homage to the grain silos of Buffalo's past. This 1970's block top look isn't nearly as nice as the original renderings.

That being said, my disappointment is still muted due to the fact that this is still such a wonderful project, with the two NHL size ice rinks, massive sports bar, 8000 feet of retail space, and a hotel being built. The parking garage size is a little overbearing but at the very least I get it.

Now about fixing that hotel portion...

-Bob Z

Oh, Comely: A Review of Jeff Mangum @ Asbury Hall

I will try as hard as I possibly can to not sound as gushy gushy as i would like to be about the show last night, but i make no promises to you, my loyal readers.

It was wonderful, beautiful, haunting, and somehow amongst all that, fun.

To summarize how the entire show felt, a couple songs in, during "King of Carrot flowers" the power to Asbury Hall went out. In the darkness, only illuminated by the Street lights from outside, Jeff unplugged his guitar, came to the very front of the stage, and started playing for us with no power.

And for any of you that frequent concerts knows, a magical thing happened... everyone became completely silent. No one, and i mean no one, made any noise, and we all just listened, like he was hanging out in our living room.

At a point in the song, everyone then started singing along, and in some sort of transcendent moment, while we were all singing and the energy was building to a peak, the power came back on, we continued singing, he plugged back in and the concert was on its merry way. Its one of those magical moments that makes you remember why you go to live concerts in the first place.

After that, he ran through the gauntlet of songs from In the Aeroplane Over the Sea and others. And also played a song that he had "Never played before" (and asked us afterwards "if we liked it", he is exceptionally endearing)

You could tell that he really enjoyed being up there, and openly admitted how taken aback he was at how appreciative we, the audience, were. It was one of the best shows i have ever seen in Buffalo (up there with Andrew Bird and St Vincent @ asbury hall, Roger Waters @ Darien Lake, Umphree's Mcgee @ the outer harbor, Medeski Martin and Wood at Klienhans).

And who knows when, or if, he'll ever be back? He's only played a handful of shows over the past decade, and i for one hope to see him many times again in the future, but if he never comes around again.... This was filled with enough memories to last a lifetime.

Shop local, Support WNY!

I just wanted to take a moment to remind everyone how important it is, during this holiday season, to shop locally whenever possible. With so many great areas of the city to shop (your Elmwoods, Hertels, Allens, Grants, etc), there is a store for you and your loved ones.

So please, help the local economy, your neighbors and friends, and get people something considerably more unique than a gift from a big box store. Everyone will appreciate it!

Happy ChrismaKwanzaChanukah!
(and festivus!)

Local Music: The passing of Mohawk

It's strange how attached you can become to a building. Sure the Mohawk Place is like any other building in Buffalo, 4 walls, some beer, some live music, but it's meant so much more to WNY than any of that.
 I imagine this is how people a few years older than me felt about the Continental closing (i was only able to experience it for a year or two). Its like a passing in the communal family. A lot of the write up from the larger publications always bring up the fact that The White Stripes, The Black Keyes, Sam Roberts and the like played here, which is all very cool and very much a badge of honor...

But certainly not what i'll remember.

(Click to read on)

Local Music: Levek by Brian Patrick

Levek (http://levek.bandcamp.com/) presents their first music video from Look A Little Closer for "Black Mold Grow,” directed by Michael Lawrence in Buffalo, NY.

 

“David (from Levek) and I spoke for months about the meaning behind the album, “Black Mold Grow” in particular,” Lawrence says of how the project first came together. “Similar images kept on coming into both of our heads - a gauzy, transcendental view on a young woman's struggle with her psyche.  Creating the film was an organic process - everything from the original script to the end product was guided by the nature surrounding us.  The locations and environments added a large scope to the film - but, more than anything, created a backdrop for a character-driven story to unfold in a spontaneous, genuine way.”

“Black Mold Grow” is taken off of Levek’s Look a Little Closer, available now.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Levek/236507157635  

https://twitter.com/levekband

An open letter to Gary Bettman

Listen Gary, I get it, you fancy yourself something of an intellectual, plus you're stubborn.

You need to feel like the smartest guy in the room, and you want for everyone else to think you're the smartest guy in the room. So when they hired Donald Fehr you were probably pretty chapped about it. I get it.

There are lots of A type personalities out there who are stubborn, short tempered, and willing to lie to people to get what they want, but heres the difference between A-type personalities that are revered and beloved by people, and ones who are ridiculed and hated by an entire fan base: When the time comes to put the people who love your game ahead of dollars and profits, true leaders find a way to get things done.

Not some pissing match with Donald Fehr, not some lies to a fan saying the NHLPA hasn't compromised, and certainly not cancelling nearly half a season and taking your toys out of the sandbox, because you didn't get exactly what you want.

Real men and woman find a way to swallow part of thier pride, work with the best and the brightest around, compromise with thier counterparts, and find a resolution to a conflict, they don't constantly play games in the media, and rush to judgement on good proposals that work towards the same things you want. It's called compromise, Gary, and i can easily provide you with a dictionary to look up the meaning.

Just know though, Gary, you are not the be all end all of the universe for hockey. I know people who are watching more Major Junior, more AHL, more local, and oh yes, the NFL is still on and bigger than you'll ever be, partially because of your short-sidedness. But know this, this is YOUR third work stoppage, this is YOUR stubborness, and this is YOUR fanbase turning against you, slowly but surely. We are knowledgable enough to know that for a game who's grown over a billion dollars since your last lockout, this time it comes down to your greed.

I'd say "i dont know how you sleep at night", but considering how little you care about us fans in the first place, you probably sleep just fine.

Bob Z
Buffalo Sabres fan

Developement: Sabres win Webster Block

QCLA was happy to learn that the Sabres/Pegula proposal for the Webster block in the prime Canalside district was the winning proposal.

The two main bids, between Carl Paladino's hotel/apartments/retail/ gigantic parking garage and the Terry Pegula 2 ice rinks/retail/restaurant/slightly less obtrusive parking garage was something that QCLA was watching very closely.

Although Paladino has many nice properties around the area, I couldn't help but coming back to the long stalled court street project, and the coffee rich building (which thankfully a judge just ordered to be cleaned up and new windows installed.) I just felt we couldn't have someone with such a spotty track record as the key developer on the most sought after parcel of land in Canalside. This had nothing to do ith Carl on a personal level, just a professional level.

Plus, having someone from outside the area willing to invest over $100 million in dowtown is the type of opportunity you don't let slip away. It will be a draw for junior, college and other tournements which run year round, and also supply more hotel rooms (along with the 1 canalside donovan restoration) for out of towners to stay by the arena. This will positively impact not only the retail businesses that go into the building, but the walkable coblestone district, pearl street, and hopefully, the newer areas of main street being redeveloped (with the metro line running up main and back down to the 1 canalside address.

Buffalo Niagara = Affordability

The Buffalo Niagara region is currently ranked 3rd in the country in home price affordability. Article here:

http://homes.yahoo.com/news/cities-where-homes-are-most-affordable.html

Review: Brian P: Rockstar Mayhem: More Rockstar Than Mayhem

It would really be hard to refer to what we got at Darien Lake last night as the Rockstar Mayhem festival. This bastardized version featured only four bands – Anthrax, Motorhead, Slayer and Slipknot, and while that’s not exactly a lineup to sneeze at, it didn’t feature even half of the billed bands currently touring the country with the Rockstar Mayhem festival, most notably for this reporter, the mighty As I Lay Dying. 

To be honest, there was definitely some novelty in seeing those first bands in action, and having never seen the trio of Anthrax, Motorhead and Slayer live; I guess it was a noteworthy show. But for me, and those with me, Slipknot was definitely the drawing point. Even though images of [Anthrax guitarist] Scott Ian’s beard (thankfully perfectly visible from our vantage point) and sounds of [Motorhead frontman] Lemmy’s legendary raspy howl probably were the things I’ll take away the most from this show, but as I said, Slipknot was the main drawing point for me.

 Slipknot truly is a band you’ll never get tired of seeing. I first saw them in Toronto on Ozzfest 2001 (anyone remember Ozzfest?), and have seen them a couple more times since then, and they never get old. The masks, the jumpsuits, and more importantly, the music – it just never tires. With the band having just released their greatest hits canon Antennas From Hell, I knew I was in a veritable who’s who of Slipknot cuts. And that’s what I got. “Wait and Bleed,” “Before I Forget,” “Eyeless,” “Surfacing” and “Psychosocial,” and the list goes on and on, almost literally, though the true highlight was “People=Shit,” which I was thinking they weren’t going to play. I don’t say this about many bands, but if ever there needed to be one band on your must-see live list, then Slipknot is it.