•A sound check/rehearsal/hangout session by Grammar School, a supercool noise/punk band whose members look to be about 10-12 years old apiece, outside Lagniappe's. If Sonic Youth had a Saturday morning cartoon where they were depicted as pre-teens, they would surely look something like this:
I especially enjoyed the look and attitude of the Mini Kim Gordon. I heard no actual music but would in no way be surprised if they end up dominating avant-rock in the 2010s. They were apparently next in line to perform at
•the College Street Block Party, which is always a good time. When I was there, I saw the Global Village Idiots
and watched kids making a glorious mess with paint (much to ringleader Klinger's delight).
•I ducked into Nietzsche's for Mimi Loco, only I missed her entire set. Said hello. Seemed nice enough. Drove here from DC just for Infringement.
•Final stop of the day was the Yard for Zombie Fest. I've driven by the big graffiti'ed text reading "The Yard" on the side of an industrial building off the Thruway (where Niagara splits off with Tonawanda St.) for at least a year now and wondered what it was. And now I know: yet another archetypal DIY Buffalo venue! You pull up to the back of a warehouse, sit on i-beams (which carry the music directly through your body, via your ass!), and marvel at Bflo's Rust Belt legacy. THIS PLACE WAS MADE FOR METAL! If Penelope Spheeris ever directs another installment of her ongoing Decline of Western Civilization doc series, she should film concerts here:
Me, I'm not that much of a metalhead, but I enjoyed the three songs I saw from the Phoenix Resistance (which included one by Alice in Chains and one by GNR, neither of which was one of those ironic indie covers I was just going on about) as much as I possibly could. Mainly I enjoyed the only patch of truly great weather of the weekend. I was in the right spot at the right time, along with about six other audience members, only one of whom could accurately be described as zombie-clad.
1 comment:
Couldn't agree more about the Yard; what an underexploited space!!I was there for the West African drumming early in the afternoon, and for the tail end of Zombie Fest.THe sun had just about gone down, so a few friends of the final act just pulled their cars in, and flicked on the headlights toilluminate the stage for the last few songs.
I picked up a handful of pretty snail shells as a souvenir. Apparently, tons of snails inch their way out of the Scaja..Ska..the creek in April to mate or something. Wierd.
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