How can I say this discreetly? I can quote world-renowned musician Charles Thompson IV. He recently played the Mohawk Place with the unbelievably talented Brooklyn musician Reid Paley. “Black,” as he’s affectionately known on stage, said, “Hey, Buffalo, New York’s a really big state!” Well, apparently the crowd didn’t quite catch on. Maybe they didn’t hear him because they were too busy spewing ignorance from their mouths.

Does this make it clearer? Shut the fuck up! How about this? Shut the fuck up! Huh? Shut the fuck up, you ignorant, loud-mouthed assholes!

You see, it became clear to me about a year ago when my wife and I decided to take in a show at the Mohawk Place (BTW, this is not a reflection of the establishment, only the patrons…okay, maybe a little with the passive management!) when a musician from the “Big Smoke” came to play songs from his new catalogue. He was accompanied only by a cello player. The crowd was so noisily oblivious that when an audience member yelled out, “Thank you for remembering Buffalo.” He replied, “How could we ever forget you, you’re so damn loud!”

Anyways, on the night in question, Reid and Francis took the stage after debuting in Albany at Valentines the night before. The crowd was belligerent from the start. In fact, they could be described as being loud, aggressive, and simply rude. The ignorance that filled the room was so thick it almost made me weep. The obnoxious comments thrown from the crowd proved that they had little to no respect for the hard work that was being provided by the artists on stage. These people are working. You paid to go and see them perform. What the fuck is wrong with you? Do you have no respect for the people around you?

If I were to make a rash judgment based on what I’ve experienced, I’d have to say that Buffalonians have a primal urge to be entertained, but unfortunately they don’t have the intelligence to be. Do you see the paradox? Keep acting like noisy ignoramuses and you’ll find talented artists opting to drive past Buffalo for the more welcoming towns and more lucrative venues such as…anywhere!

Rock on, Rochester!

> Brendan Tarry, South Wales

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