Comments (2) | Posted by on July 7, 2010
Every year we say the same thing around here: 12 months of activities, and only 3 months of summer to cram them all in! That was never more true for me, personally, than last week.
Starry Night in the Garden was another fantastic success. Despite some concerns about the weather, the skies cleared and gave us a cool but dry night, and the artists didn’t disappoint. If you missed any of the performances, definitely check out our video recap and a whole bunch of pictures here.
It was a very diverse lineup this year, with Melanie Fiona kicking things off, just before her big European tour. Serena Ryder got warmed up for the Lilith Tour by playing a very intense acoustic set, and then we were able to celebrate Alex Band’s CD release by presenting him with a cake on-stage, thanks to his fan club.
But Collective Soul was our headliner, and I mean no offense to any of our warm-up acts when I say they truly deserved to top the bill. Hit after hit after hit, with songs that I think sounded better acoustic than they do on record. If you ever get the chance to see Ed and Joel acoustic, do it without hesitation. A very appreciative crowd of 2500+ loved every minute, especially “Buffalo Barry,” who got up on stage and played guitar with the band.
So a fantastic night of food, wine, and music on Wednesday, followed by Thursday At The Square and Martin Sexton downtown.
Friday night, Heather and I were lucky enough to visit the Saturn Club for a wonderful dinner and dancing (Thanks Mike and Christa!) while we listened to music in the courtyard from the Mark Mazur and his Little Big Band.
Saturday night, the Hard Rock Summer Concert Series kicked off in Niagara Falls, and I was able to experience the Gord Downie phenomenon firsthand.
Gord’s normal job is lead singer of the fantastically popular Tragically Hip, but he hits the road now and then with The Country Miracles. When it was announced that he was headlining the first concert of the summer at the Hard Rock, I was wondering if his side project would draw – but as you can see, Old Falls Street was packed. We stuck around and saw fireworks after the show, since it was July 4th weekend.
South of town, the rest of the Star Crew spent the holiday weekend in Ellicottville for the Summer Festival of the Arts, enjoying Survivor and the BPO with fireworks on the slopes of Holiday Valley.
Sunday, we took the kids to see Toy Story 3, which was a fantastic movie, and we finished the weekend with our own city’s fireworks display at Outwater Park in Lockport.
Whew!
So yeah, Buffalo gets a bad rap for its Winters, but we more than make up for it with an incredible selection of summertime activities.
For example, this weekend: Taste Of Buffalo, Thursday At The Square, The English Beat at the Falls, Huey Lewis at the Casino, Vans Warped Tour…..
–Brian
