Four years into the Iraq war and after fruitless searches for more information and truth, activist/musician Michael Franti’s desire to have a finger on the pulse of that torn nation led him to the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and Baghdad, into hospitals and homes. Traveling lightly with a small team, Franti’s guitar and a video camera served as his constant companions, the essentials for the riveting album Yell Fire! and documentary I Know I am Not Alone that would be borne out of his experiences. In one of his most upbeat and hopeful tracklists to date, Franti, together with his band Spearhead, reveals an artistic epiphany. From the people experiencing this daily terror Franti came away hopeful, reminded of music’s power to bring joy and resilience in even the most devastating times. Yell Fire! thus splices serious socio-political criticism with tunes fit for dancing. Franti began his musical journey in San Francisco as part of the industrial punk outfit the Beatnigs. He went on to fuse rock with jazz and electronica in his next project, the Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy, and ultimately to front the rock/world beat/hip hop group Spearhead and further explore actvism and social justice. Coming from a man who once said that “hypocrisy is the greatest luxury,” perhaps a visit to the middle east to “walk his talk” seemed only natural. Many performers wouldn’t dream of it, nor of performing in the places—including San Quentin State Prison—where Michael Franti says he most enjoys bringing his live shows. Thankfully, in Buffalo we can see him at a more familiar venue.

After 15 years, 175 productions, and dozens of nude scenes, Buffalo United Artists (BUA) is ready to celebrate. The maverick theater company never expected to become “venerable,” and will endeavor to shake that image with a big bash to be held this weekend at Hamlin House, located on Franklin St. in Allentown. Among those attending will be many of the artists who have worked for BUA over the past years. BUA premiered in January 1992 with the musical revue A...My Name is Alice and among its accomplishments can boast productions of a wide range of musicals from Pal Joey to Romance Romance and classics from Blithe Spirit to House of Bernarda Alba. And there’s gay work aplenty, including Buffalo premieres of Party, Last Summer at Bluefish Cove, Southern Baptist Sissies, The Laramie Project, Ten Percent Revue and Brad Fraser’s Unidentified Human Remains and Poor Super Man, as well as the first ever production of Terrence McNally’s Love! Valour! Compassion! subsequent to its original Broadway outing. The party will feature an open bar from 9:30-11:30pm, appetizers, raffles, silent auction and a live DJ. Tickets are available in advance at “Q” on Allen St. and $20 at the door. BUA has raised thousands of dollars for AIDS charities over the years, but this time, all proceeds will benefit the company itself. For further information call 886-9239 or visit www.buffalobua.org

Around the time Marty McFly went back in time to make sure his parents sparked, college students Bob Shane, Dave Guard and Nick Reynolds struck up a musical partnership. Their revival of long-forgotten American folksongs interspersed with seemingly off-the-cuff comic patter attracted enthusiastic audiences in California’s North Beach area. Their move to San Francisco led to frequent engagements at packed nightclubs, a representation contract (written on a cocktail napkin), signing with Capitol Records and, by 1958, their first chart-topping hit, “Tom Dooley.” They were the vanguard that created the folk song revival, which produced knock-offs like the Smothers Brothers and the Limelighters and laid the groundwork for Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Peter Paul & Mary and others. Although the personnel began evolving in the mid 1960s, the entertainment ethos of the Kingston Trio has never changed. It isn’t often you get to hear the legend that made it all happen, but this Saturday is your chance when they perform with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra at Artpark. The next afternoon, the orchestra presents an all-Beethoven program that includes the first piano Concerto with soloist Sarah Buechner, and the 9th Symphony, a work so visionary that you can hear Beethoven leaping over the heads of his Romantic successors, pointing the way to Mahler and everything modern that followed.

This year, more than in recent past seasons, the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra’s Summerfest season at Artpark places more of an emphasis on the masterpieces of the symphonic repertoire. On Sunday afternoon, an all Beethoven program features the composer at the very heart of that repertoire, with BPO Resident Conductor Robert Franz leading the orchestra in the mighty Symphony No. 9 and the Concerto No. 1 for piano with Sara Davis Buechner as the soloist. Now in his second season with the orchestra, Robert Franz has proven to be an exceptionally strong addition to the BPO conducting staff. In the past few weeks alone Franz has demonstrated outstanding ability at the podium in very diverse repertoire. Last weekend Franz guided the BPO through an exciting, meticulously detailed performance of Holst’s The Planets. Franz achieved perfect balance between the orchestra and the off-stage female chorus in the final Neptune movement, which begins quietly and then becomes even quieter—no easy feat considering the reduced numbers of female voices available for this particular performance. Franz’s first performance with the BPO of the Beethoven 9th Symphony promises to be equally memorable. Canadian pianist Sara Buechner makes a welcome return to the BPO in the Beethoven Concerto. Buechner has a huge range of one hundred concertos in her active repertoire, and her stylish performances have garnered international acclaim. As just one example of many, a Japanese reviewer recently exclaimed, “The audience was wholly captivated by her performance, which combined an unbelievable technical virtuosity, musical sensibility and personal dynamism.”