moe. at moe.down at Snow Ridge Ski Area — September 1, 2001
By late summer 2001, moe. had stopped waiting for someone else to build them a stage. The Buffalo-born jam band planted moe.down in the hills of the Tug Hill Plateau at Snow Ridge Ski Area, and by its second year the festival had already grown into a real weekend — Soulive, Cracker, Donna the Buffalo, […]
Melissa Etheridge at Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena — August 31, 1996
Melissa Etheridge played the Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena in Binghamton at the roaring peak of her fame. That raspy, full-throttle voice behind “Come to My Window” and “I’m the Only One” filling a Southern Tier arena. Heartland rock with the throttle wide open. Thirty years ago.
Bonnie Raitt at Finger Lakes Performing Arts Center — August 30, 1986
Bonnie Raitt brought her slide guitar to the Finger Lakes Performing Arts Center in Canandaigua — years before “Nick of Time” made her a household name. Just the bottleneck slide, that weathered voice and a barroom’s worth of blues on the amphitheater lawn. Forty years ago.
Van Halen at Niagara Falls Convention & Civic Center — August 29, 1986
Van Halen hit the Niagara Falls Convention & Civic Center on the 5150 Tour — the very first run with new singer Sammy Hagar after David Lee Roth walked. Two sold-out nights, Aug 29 and 30, with Bachman-Turner Overdrive opening. A brand-new era of the band launched in Western NY. Forty years ago.
Barry Manilow at Saratoga Performing Arts Center — August 29, 1976
Barry Manilow played the Saratoga Performing Arts Center the same summer “This One’s for You” hit shelves. “Mandy,” “Could It Be Magic,” “I Write the Songs” — the biggest pop voice of the mid-70s filling the SPAC amphitheater in the pines. Fifty years ago.
Loretta Lynn at Colonie Coliseum — August 28, 1986
Loretta Lynn — the Coal Miner’s Daughter herself — played the Colonie Coliseum in Latham. “You Ain’t Woman Enough,” “Coal Miner’s Daughter” and a lifetime of hard-won country songs, delivered to a Capital Region crowd by one of the genre’s true queens. Forty years ago.
The Cranberries at Finger Lakes Performing Arts Center — August 27, 1996
The Cranberries brought “To the Faithful Departed” to the Finger Lakes Performing Arts Center in Canandaigua. Dolores O’Riordan’s voice — that unmistakable Irish lilt behind “Linger,” “Zombie” and “Dreams” — ringing out over the lawn at the height of the band’s 90s reign. Thirty years ago.
Johnny Cash at Saratoga Performing Arts Center — August 26, 1996
Johnny Cash brought the Man in Black to the Saratoga Performing Arts Center — deep into his American Recordings revival with Rick Rubin, stripped-down and towering. ‘Folsom Prison Blues’ and ‘Ring of Fire’ rolling out under the SPAC amphitheater roof, a country legend reborn for a whole new generation. Thirty years ago.
Aerosmith at New York State Fair 1986 — August 25, 1986
Aerosmith brought the Done With Mirrors tour to the New York State Fair Grandstand — the classic five-man lineup of Tyler, Perry, Whitford, Hamilton, and Kramer back together on the road, one tour before ‘Permanent Vacation’ rocketed them back to the top. Boston’s bad boys at the Syracuse fairgrounds. Forty years ago.
Frank Sinatra at Saratoga Performing Arts Center — August 24, 1976
Ol’ Blue Eyes brought his voice to Saratoga Performing Arts Center — ‘My Way,’ ‘I’ve Got You Under My Skin,’ and ‘The Lady Is a Tramp’ rolling out under the Saratoga pines, with longtime pianist and music director Bill Miller at his side. Sinatra in the Spa City. Fifty years ago.