We all know what this weekend has in store for this historic Buffalo neighborhood: streets packed with people from far and wide descending on Allentown to fill the few blocks designated for this annual event. Yes, the Allentown Art Festival is once again upon us, and with it brings an invasion unlike any other the city has seen. For natives this can be both a blessing and a curse. Local business owners may approach it with a mixture of hope and dread, welcoming the proceeds but anticipating some grueling work in exchange. Allentown residents had better park their cars on Friday and not move them for the entire weekend if they want to keep a parking spot. And no one ought to plan on calling it an early night on Saturday. But the neighborhood also comes to life from within, and the weekend marks an opportunity for local businesses, galleries, and restaurants to extend their hours and their hospitality. So while the tourists and visitors are out on the streets, there’s ample opportunity for urbanites to take advantage of the special, non-festival events scheduled throughout the neighborhood. Starting Friday night, Allentown art galleries will be hosting openings and pre-parties galore, and will keep their doors open during festival hours on Friday and Saturday as well (see Artviews, this issue). Nietzsche’s has got bands scheduled all day long, both days, starting at 2pm (visit nietzsches.com for full schedule). So even for the festival-phobic, why not head outside during what’s known affectionately as “Allentown,” and support the local business owners and artists (as well as the visiting ones).

Comedy, music, and genuine talent are tough to find all in one place nowadays, but there’s no skimping when it comes to musical comedian Ed Hamell. Hamell is a breath of fresh air for those who are sick of living day to day in our proper, censored world. Playing in advance of the upcoming CD/DVD release of his one-man comedy show, The Terrorism of Everyday Life, he’s sure not only to bring a smile to those who have never seen his act before, but also to please those who are familiar with his work. Hamell is known for strong opinions set to his frantic guitar playing. The title of his last album, released in 2006, Songs For Parents Who Enjoy Drugs, is just the tip of the iceberg. Hamell has been busy for the past 14 or so years, and is now preparing for the July 8 release of his eighth album, Rant & Roll, which features live footage recorded at Asbury Hall. Having won the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Herald Award for The Terrorism of Everyday Life, Hamell doesn’t seem to be slacking off one bit. After pleasing crowds on his latest world tour, he’s finally back in his home state of New York to rock with his devoted Buffalo fan base at the home of his label, Righteous Babe Records. Opening the show will be Kristen Becker and the Dykes of Hazard.

Three of Buffalo’s best-known acts will co-headline a concert this weekend to benefit the Buffalo Music Hall of Fame and the Colored Musician’s Club. Presented by Think Twice Radio, one of the leading forums for local artistic expression (visit thinktwiceradio.com), the concert should appeal to a variety of musical tastes, furthering the mission of the beneficiaries: The Buffalo Music Hall of Fame has been recognizing and rewarding the efforts of musicians in Western New York since 1983, and the Colored Musicians Club—from its heyday during the 1930s and 1940s, hosting the likes of Dizzy Gillespie, Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Billie Holiday, and Ella Fitzgerald—has been promoting jazz in Buffalo for so long it has become legendary. McCarthyizm has won Best Original Rock Band at the Buffalo Music Awards the past two years (2006-2007) with its Celtic influenced rock; piano-man Lenny Revell (pictured) fuses pop, smooth rock, and soul in the manner of Elton John or Billy Joel, earning a solid reputation not only in his hometown but at some of the most popular piano bars and clubs in the Big Apple; rocker Scott Celani has been a fixture on the local music scene for the past six years, gaining huge popularity and gigging around town so often it would be difficult to have missed him. These are also three musicians who are charitable as well as talented, donating proceeds from this concert to give back to the community that has nurtured and advanced their careers.

In the wake of the October 2006 storm, Therese Forton-Barnes saw an opportunity to make lemons into lemonade—or, more precisely, to turn fallen trees into historically themed art. Forton-Barnes lobbied public officials to allow her to requisition tree trunks suitable for carving from the cutting and clearing crews that crawled through Western New York in the months following the storm. She then matched tree trunks with financial sponsors and wood-carvers, who turned the eight-foot trunks into carvings of famous Buffalonians. These now stand in public places throughout the city and the money raised from the sponsors has been turned toward reforestation efforts. Now Forton-Barnes is raising money for the second phase of Carvings for a Cause, which includes a sculpture park for the carvings plus a map of the carvings in their various homes and an audio tour, as well as funding for maintenance of the statues. At Wednesday’s fundraiser, there will be food, live music, a documentary about the project produced at the Canisius College Video Institute, and—apparently—some folks dressed as some of the people the carvings represent: Frank Lloyd Wright, Ben Franklin, Frederick Law Olmsted, and Teressa Bellisimo, to name a few. Visit carvingsforacause.com for more information.