There are reunion shows, and then there are reckonings. Analog Rewind, the curated multi-band event landing at Artpark’s Mainstage Theater Terrace on Saturday, August 22, falls closer to the latter. Five bands — Ansley Court, Girlpope, Marvelous Sauce, The Ramrods, and The Tails — shaped what curator Jeff Miers once described as a scene spanning “punk, post-punk and garage rock, ska-inflicted sounds, funk and interesting hybrids.” They did their work in Western New York clubs through the late 1980s and into the mid-2000s, largely without national recognition. Getting them all on one bill is the kind of thing that doesn’t happen twice.
About the Show
Miers — who spent years covering the Western New York music scene for the Buffalo News before taking on this curatorial role — has assembled a bill that reads like a box set of everything the Buffalo underground did right.
Ansley Court brought Jellyfish-grade power-pop to a circuit that didn’t always know what to do with it; their albums Bakers Dozen and Jade Heart Bleeder hold up better than most major-label product from the same era. The Ramrods — Kenmore’s contribution to the Stooges-worshipping corner of American garage rock — trafficked in primal, hook-heavy work that aged well. Out of their orbit came Girlpope, who took Kinks-inspired structures, doubled the tempo, and produced Cheeses of Nazareth and The Whole Scene Going before calling it quits in 2004, making this appearance genuinely rare. Marvelous Sauce worked British Invasion touchstones — the Beatles, the Clash, the Jam — into American power-pop; their 1995 self-titled release documents the approach working at full capacity. The Tails, also from Kenmore, blended Beatles, New Wave, prog-rock, and jazz on their 1995 album Spiral World.
The event runs 5:00 PM to 10:00 PM and benefits Artpark’s Memory Café — a free, monthly program offering art, movement, and music for individuals living with dementia, Alzheimer’s, or memory loss, and their caregivers. It is a genuinely worthwhile place to put a ticket dollar. Analog Rewind is sponsored by Iroquois Construction Services.
Venue & Logistics
Artpark is a 501(c)(3) non-profit at 450 South 4th Street in Lewiston, NY, with its Mainstage Theater Terrace set within a broader complex overlooking the Niagara River Gorge. With a capacity of 10,000, it is one of Western New York’s principal outdoor performance venues — a scale that gives a local-nostalgia event its proper weight. Box office: (716) 754-4375, Tuesday through Friday, 10am–4pm.
Tickets & Pricing
General admission is $35 in advance and $40 day-of. For those who have earned the right to sit down, the VIP “I’m Too Old For Mosh-Pit” package offers a reserved table for four at $150 — parking and facility fees included. Tickets are available via Ticketmaster or at artpark.net.