This was my first big event at Star 102.5 where I actually got to broadcast my show live. And what an incredible way to start! I know you want to see the pictures and thanks to our awesome Promotions Department, you can see a bunch of them here. Apparently, I was nowhere near the camera at any moment throughout the night (which isn’t really a tragedy).

After looking at the pictures, check out the review from The Buffalo News.

And I have audio for you! My interview with REO Speedwagon can be heard here. I had totally prepared to interview Jon McLaughlin, so I was stunned when I found out it was REO’s Kevin Cronin and Dave Amato I’d be talking to on-air. And as you could tell if you heard it, they were a lot of fun to talk with – so much so, I ended up losing track of time.

The cool thing I learned from them is while they still love their older material, they feel they’ve grown through the years and their most recent album (Find Your Own Way Home) is definitely their favorite. Yeah, I know, they want you to buy the new album and that’s what they’re promoting, but they both seemed very passionate and genuine about this.

They also said that if you buy the full album, listen to it from start to finish and not randomly, because the songs in order tell a story. And individually, you just get a tiny part of what they’re trying to say. Kevin used this analogy: it’s like giving someone a flower petal as opposed to the entire flower.

Unlike some 80’s bands, REO is still amazing live. It’s a lot harder to make acoustic performances sound amazing than it is with the full band – but they did it easily.

And Jon McLaughlin (pictured) was also incredible. His performance was reminiscent of Daniel Powter’s acoustic show about a year back. I consider “Beautiful Disaster” one of the highlights of the night! Buy his album “Indiana” – you will not be disappointed.

I’d love to say I got to see Scott Celani perform, but by the time I made it through all the traffic on the 290 & 90 and got the live broadcast going, I had missed most of that performance. Keeping the station on the air while my boss did his live broadcast took precedence in this case. But I already know how good Scott is live. You can buy his new CD, “Wired For Nostalgia” here.

It was also fun meeting so many Star listeners – in fact, that was the best part of doing my show live at Starry Night. If you couldn’t make it, I’ll be broadcasting my show live again July 13th from 6p – 10p at Darien Lake. Stop down and introduce yourself – it’s always nice to put a face with a name. We’ll be having some awesome admission deals to the park that night. I’ll get you the full details once I have them.

And be prepared to go on some of the rides with me. That’s one of my favorite places on the planet – I’ve been to tons of amusement parks throughout North America, and Darien Lake is one of the best for variety of rides (especially the spin rides). And you just know I’m going to try to get some info on what’s coming in the future when I interview the Darien Lake people.

Thanks again to all the great restaurants and vendors and the Botanical Gardens for making Starry Night so much fun. And thank you for making it such a success. To thank the bands and artists for coming, buy their CD’s! I’m sure they’d appreciate that more than anything.

Let me again thank all who attended what was a “magical” night at
Wednesday’s STARRY NIGHT IN THE GARDEN! Thanks also to our music
acts, SCOTT CELANI BAND, upcoming Superstar JON McLAUGHLIN, and
KEVIN & DAVE from REO SPEEDWAGON who may have actually enjoyed the
event more than you, the fans! We’ll have pictures of the event our our website, and
a final tally of money raised to benefit the beautiful Buffalo and Erie County Botanical
Gardens…see you next year!

The 2007 summer season just started and rumors are already circulating online about what Canada’s Wonderland might be getting in 2008!

FYI, Canada’s Wonderland is no longer a Paramount Park. It’s now owned by the same company that owns Cedar Point – and that company loves BIG roller coasters.

Check out this blog for the rumor details. Keep in mind, there’s lots of wild speculation here. But even if a tiny part of it turns out to be true, I’ll be psyched about this.

Tontine, a reality show offering a ten million dollar prize, is looking for contestants.

The casting events won’t be coming anywhere near Buffalo, but you can send them an e-mail with a short description of yourself, a picture, and contact info if you’re interested. Visit their website for details and make sure to read through everything before submitting anything. The deadline for submissions is August 11th.

The host will be someone well known to reality show fans – “Boston Rob” Mariano from both Survivor and Amazing Race along with a bunch of other reality shows.

As of now, there’s no info on what network will be airing the show (or even if any network is interested).

Sounds fun though. Good luck and let me know if you make it on the show!

Video Games Are Good For You

As my wife will attest, I play my PSP way too much. I’ll admit, I’m a little obsessed, but now I have an excuse: according to a new University of Rochester study, playing video games can improve your vision! It turns out people who play video games outscored people who DON’T play them by approximately 20% on tests of spatial resolution, which is the ability to focus on a target shape or focal point. According to the study, games teach your brain to focus on the important things and filter out distractions, putting you into an almost Zen-like state. So Heather, I now have a medical excuse!

What To Watch

On the weekend, I tend to go through phases where I’ll watch mostly one network most of the time. Lately it’s been A&E. I like “Sell This House,” and my wife and I really like “Gene Simmons’ Family Jewels” a lot. You’d never think a family with fire-breathing Kiss lead singer Gene Simmons as the dad, married to former Playboy Playmate Shannon Tweed, would have two cute, very smart, well-adjusted kids – but they really do! It’s a surprisingly close-knit family.

But one of my new favorite A&E shows, which has gotten a lot of local press, is “Confessions Of A Matchmaker,” featuring Patti Novak’s dating service, set here in Buffalo. I’m not sure how much of the show is actual clients actually looking for love, but it’s fun to watch. Patti’s got a very blunt, unique style, and seeing all the Buffalo footage and local restaurants is interesting. New episodes air Saturday night at 10pm, but you’ll be able to catch all the reruns all weekend long…because it’s cable.

–Brian

Check out this short video of what happens when Norwegian kids think they’re engineers and mess with train tracks.

While this goes without saying, I should probably say it anyways. Do NOT even think of trying this yourself…

Not only have JON and the boys just released their new LOST HIGHWAY CD but will re-launch MTV’s UNPLUGGED on Friday at 8pm on MTV, Saturday June 23rd at 9pm (and June 24th on CMT). The Band will also play at the Vh1 SAVE THE MUSIC FOUNDATION’S 10th ANNIVERSARY GALA on September 20th at Lincoln Center in NYC (the Gala will honor Bill and Hiliary Clinton and their contributions to the Foundation). Bon Jovi will also OPEN/play the new PRUDENTIAL CENTER ARENA (“THE ROCK”) in Newark, NJ on October 25th and will also play shows there on 10/26, 10/28, 10/30, 11/1, 11/7, 11/9, 11/10 and 11/14. That’s a busy schedule!

I have been very uninspired to write, lately, but I figured I should update you on some things to keep you interested.

• First, the Demay family was on the front page of our local newspaper, the Lockport Union Sun Journal:

  

  http://www.lockportjournal.com/local/local_story_168000222.html

  Kind of a nice story about the Taste Of Niagara over the weekend.

• Thumbs up on the new Bravo Italian Restaurant at the Walden Galleria. Heather and I liked it in Dayton, and were pleased that it was just as good here in Buffalo. If you want to get in, however, either go early or make a reservation, otherwise you’ll be waiting for at least an hour on Saturday night.
• The 2nd Annual Demay Family Mulching went well. I would recommend Russell’s shredded hardwood mulch to anyone looking for a quality, inexpensive mulch – delivered! We covered our entire front garden and still have at least a cubic yard to spare. Good stuff.

Things at the station are going well, Starry Night is nearly sold out, and I learned a couple of new tricks on the website. More later!

–Brian

Games, comics, an art gallery, a store, and all-you-can-eat lasagna!

Celebrate all things Garfield at his official website.

Wild Kingdom In The Backyard

You often hear me talk of wildlife ruling my backyard, in particular rabbits ripping apart the garden. Here’s more proof of what I speak. This morning my wife Linda looked out the window to see someone looking right back at her. A squirrel…standing ON TOP OF one of our bushes. He stayed there long enough for her to get the camera. Almost looks like Disney Auto-Animatronics. Or the groundhog in Caddyshack. Click on the pics to make them bigger.

Remember Elvira, Mistress of the Dark?

Well, she’s still around and she’s so busy that she needs another Elvira to help her out! According to Elvira, there’s too many ghastly engagements for just one “Mistress of the Dark” to entertain. In 2007, the solution is obvious – an Open Casket Call!

It’s “The Search for the Next Elvira”, a new three-episode reality show for the Fox Reality Channel.

If you think you can look the part and be as entertaining as the real Elvira, fill out the application asap.

Naturally, the show will air this October (right around Halloween) on Fox Reality.

Patti Novak’s Buffalo-based reality show “Confessions of a Matchmaker” (previously known as “Patti Novak: America’s Toughest Matchmaker”) will finally make its debut this Saturday night on the A&E Network.

You get to see Patti setting up the dates, then the actual date followed by Patti’s date prognosis – sounds scary actually.

Some episodes will be heartbreaking, others will be hysterical. And one very special episode will feature Melba.

You’ve undoubtedly heard about Journey’s DON’T STOP BELIVIN‘ being featured
in The Sopranos series finale but did you know that ex-lead singer STEVE PERRY
wouldn’t allow producers to use the song unless they told him the ending before the
show aired! Well the Producers did trust him and told Steve (and he DID keep the
secret).

In other Journey news, the band has announced they’ve parted ways with lead singer
JEFF SCOTT SOTO who’d been filling in for STEVE AUGERI (who had to leave last year due to illness). NEAL SCHON said about Jeff’s leaving “We’ve just decided to go our separate ways
(no pun intended). We’re plotting our next move now!” The Band also announced they’ll be
taking the rest of 2007 OFF (but are planning now for 2008). 2008 is the 30th anniversary
of STEVE PERRY originally joining the Band, wouldn’t it be cool if they put aside their
differences and had STEVE re-join JOURNEY for next year (just a thought).

We just got back from a very nice vacation where my younger brother Drew lucked out and married a wonderful girl by the name of Darbie. Drew was the last holdout of the Demay boys, and we were all very happy to see him finally settle down at last.

We also really liked the happy couple’s choice of wedding destination: the Mayan Riviera, right on the Gulf of Mexico near Cancun! I won’t bore you with a long description of my time there, other than to say if you DO go to Cancun, you can’t beat an all-inclusive resort. The on-site food, drink, and built-in activities are the way to go. It was a rude awakening on the way home at the airport restaurant to once again have to pay for everything. (sigh)

Click on the picture of the strapping young(ish) Demay men to see a slide-show of the trip, and all the fun things we did at the luxurious El Dorado Royale resort!

–Brian

Hockey is OVER for another year, and a big CONGRATS to The Anaheim Ducks on their
Stanley Cup Victory (especially to Todd Marchant, Brad MAY DAY May, and Ryan’s
brother Derek Miller who get their names engraved on the CUP)!

The BEST part of the series for me though was not the Hockey but the ANTHEM’S sung by ALANIS MORISSETTE at her “home rink” in OTTAWA at Monday night’s game. Not only did she sing the CANADIAN Anthem in English and FRANCAIS but a great job on the US anthem too. I think she is the COOLEST rocker there is.