Events

[ROCK] Financially speaking, if you could own the rights to any single song of the rock era, you’d be hard pressed to pick better than “Born to be Wild,” which in the years since it appeared in the film Easy Rider has become universal shorthand for chasing a dream of freedom out on the road. A song so iconic might have become a millstone around the neck of another band, but it perfectly displayed the hard rock style of Steppenwolf, who reworked it from a folk tune into the first heavy metal anthem. Popular for their political leanings (best displayed in the 1970 hit “Monster”) as well as their embrace of biker attitudes, the band had a fair number of hits (“Magic Carpet Ride,” “Rock Me,” “The Pusher”) before breaking up in the early 1970s. Reformed under the aegis of lead singer John Kay (who lived for some time in Buffalo on a childhood journey from Prussia and Toronto to California), the band’s current lineup contains no member newer than 1996, with most with Kay since the early 1980s, so expect a polished show when they play at Artpark for the final concert in this year’s Tuesday in the Park series. Opening is the local band Nerds Gone Wild, who cover 1980s New Wave classics with a stage show that guarantees you won’t confuse them with the headliners.