Thundercat at Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre — June 26, 2025
Just one year ago tonight, Thundercat brought his low-slung six-string bass and falsetto to Kodak Hall for the Rochester International Jazz Festival’s Headliner Series — Stephen Bruner, the genre-melting Grammy winner who held down the bottom end on Kendrick Lamar’s ‘To Pimp a Butterfly’ and made jazz cool for a generation that grew up on […]
Elvis Presley at Buffalo Memorial Auditorium — June 25, 1976
Fifty years ago tonight, Elvis Presley walked onstage at Buffalo Memorial Auditorium in front of 17,950 fans in the Bicentennial Jumpsuit — white silk, gold-eagle appliqué, the cape that took two men to manage. Fourteen months later he was dead. This is late-era Vegas Elvis, prescription-fogged and bloated, but it’s still Elvis, still throwing scarves, […]
Journey & The Doobie Brothers at Bethel Woods Center for the Arts — June 24, 2016
Journey and the Doobie Brothers played Bethel Woods — the original Woodstock site. ‘Don’t Stop Believin” meets ‘Listen to the Music’ on the sacred ground where the counterculture was born. Classic rock at its most iconic setting. Ten years ago.
Blue Öyster Cult at Niagara Falls Convention Center — June 23, 1976
Blue Öyster Cult — Long Island’s own — played the Niagara Falls Convention Center. ‘(Don’t Fear) The Reaper’ was about to become one of rock’s most iconic songs, and BOC’s live show blended heavy riffs with an almost literary sensibility that set them apart from every other hard rock band.
The Allman Brothers Band at Darien Lake Performing Arts Center — June 22, 1996
The Allman Brothers Band played Darien Lake. ‘Whipping Post,’ ‘Jessica,’ ‘Ramblin’ Man’ — Southern rock royalty at a Western NY amphitheater. Thirty years ago.
The Head and the Heart at Canalside (Kerfuffle Festival) — June 21, 2019
The Head and the Heart headlined Kerfuffle at Buffalo’s Canalside on June 21, 2019 — the kickoff of the Living Mirage Tour, the Seattle indie-folk band at the absolute peak of their cycle, playing a free festival on the waterfront with Lake Erie shimmering behind the stage. ‘Lost in My Mind’ and ‘Rivers and Roads’ […]
Yes at Rochester Community War Memorial — June 20, 1976
Yes played the Rochester War Memorial — progressive rock’s most ambitious band at the height of their powers. Steve Howe’s guitar, Chris Squire’s thundering bass, Rick Wakeman’s cascading keyboards. ‘Roundabout,’ ‘Close to the Edge,’ ‘Starship Trooper’ — epic compositions that required a venue big enough to contain them.
Bruce Springsteen at Saratoga Performing Arts Center — June 19, 2006
Bruce Springsteen played SPAC on the Seeger Sessions Tour — performing Pete Seeger’s folk songs with a big band. A different side of the Boss, celebrating the folk tradition that influenced his songwriting. Twenty years ago.
Daryl Hall & John Oates at Bethel Woods Center for the Arts — June 18, 2016
Hall & Oates played Bethel Woods. The best-selling duo in music history — ‘Kiss on My List,’ ‘I Can’t Go for That,’ ‘Maneater’ — on the original Woodstock site. Blue-eyed soul meets counterculture history. Ten years ago.
Lynyrd Skynyrd at SPAC — June 17, 1975
June 17, 1975 — the first time Lynyrd Skynyrd ever played SPAC. The Nuthin’ Fancy Tour. Original lineup, Ronnie Van Zant out front in his bare feet and floppy hat, Allen Collins and Gary Rossington on guitars, Billy Powell on piano. Two years and four months before the plane went down in a Mississippi swamp. […]