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Looking Backward: North of City Hall, 1958

In a rare color photograph taken in 1958, the West Village and Allentown appear much as they do today, but there are important differences. This view from the City Hall Observation Deck would have been much different today had the West Side Arterial, connecting the Kensington Expressway and Niagara Thruway, been built. With the arterial plans scrapped in 1976, mass clearance was averted, but spot demolitions have still done damage. The largest change came with the 1971 construction of the Thaddeus J.

Shantell Martin at the Albright-Knox

[ARTIST TALK] It all starts with the simplest of things: a line. A line in thick black marker on white that bends and twists and opens new fields. Shantell Martin’s bedrock method starts with a black line on everything without planning what she is going to draw or how the bigger picture will develop. “The pen knows where it is going and I just follow,” Martin has said. 

Martin Barre Band

[ROCK] Casual listeners to FM hard rock know Martin Barre’s guitarwork on such Jethro Tull staples as “Aqualung” and “Locomotive Breath.” For my money, you need scratch only a hair deeper to find the the track that best illustrates the character of his playing: “Skating Away on the Thin Ice of a New Day,” from 1974’s War Child. Lilting acoustic that bespeaks classical and folk influence give way to crunching electric power chords—Tull in a teacup. But that’s just me.

Joe Rogan After Party with Space Junk

[INDIE] Comedian Joe Rogan is performing at Shea’s Performing Arts Center this Friday, but if this is the first you’re hearing out it you’re out of luck (and you have been for quite some time) because the show is sold out. A bunch of local Joe Rogan fanatics will likely meet at this unofficial Joe Rogan after party, however. Space Junk, Stereo Nest, Black Source Magnetic, and Wave Magnetik will set up at Nietzsche’s for a special post Joe Rogan show.

Darude

[TRANCE] When the layperson hears the term “trance music” the tune that likely immediately pops into their head, whether they know what it is or not, is “Sandstorm” by Darude. Since its release in 1999, “Sandstorm” has become ubiquitous—appearing in films, in commercials, and in memes, almost to the point of cliche. Which is too bad, because the Finnish artist has more to offer than just “Sandstorm,” including establishing his own imprintm EnMass Music, on which he pushes his personal favorite artists.

BlackRockSteady 1.0

[HIP HOP] A fairly new and versatile art space has popped up recently on Hertel. The space, dubbed Faux/Real is branding itself as a “permanent pop-up” space designed for art shows, music shows and more. The next event coming up this Saturday, April 8 is billed as a night of “no gimmicks, no bullshit, just genuine hip hop culture, peace and love,” features a clutch of Buffalo hip hop producers and MCs including Fresh Kils, Coolzey, Farout, IceyTheOne, and Cove Vito. 

Decorum with Orations

[INDIE] From Brooklyn, Decorum is an experimental post-punk band with lo-fi leanings. They’re actually more than that, wandering into darkwave and goth territory at times, so they’ll fit in quite well with the rest of the line up at Dreamland this Thursday, April 6 which also features gothic post-punk band Orations—fresh off of the release of their new record, Wych Elm.

Sharon Bailey Presents

[JAZZ] Jazz singer Sharon Bailey will be joined by jazz regulars Drew Azzinaro on guitar and Eamon Rayhn on bass for her intimate jazz series Sharon Bailey Presents, which continues this Wednesday, April 5. The series features Bailey, a talented jazz singer, delivering her take on a variety of jazz standards—even wandering into the realm of experimentation at times.

Steve Rannazzisi

[COMEDY] You probably know Steve Rannazzisi for one of two reasons: either you’re a fan of the hit FXX tv show The League, in which Rannazzisi starred as the commissioner of a fantasy football league—or because you heard that he lied about being in the World Trade Centers on 9/11. Obviously one of these scenarios is a better introduction to this admittedly funny man than the other. Needless to say, the latter has affected Rannazzsi’s career significantly, though he’s apologized profusely for misrepresenting himself.

Steel Panther

[HAIR METAL] “Facebook can’t handle profanity or sex so we had to remove our bio,” actually tells you more about Steel Panther than any PR firm-generated bio ever could. If Will Farrell did a parody on heavy metal bands a la Anchor Man or Blades of Steel, his parody heavy metal band would be something quite like Steel Panther. The thing is, Steel Panther isn’t a parody.

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