If, on Saturday afternoon, a band of strangers accosts you on Elmwood Avenue and asks you to take a photograph of them riding down the hill between North and Allen Streets in a shopping cart, then you’ve probably walked right into the heart of the Buffalo Scavenger Hunt. Between noon and 6pm, at least 40 teams of four will convene at Cozumel, then fan out across the city searching for items—hundreds of them, big and small, animal, vegetable and mineral, commonplace and rare—and tackling bizarre challenges. It is the second scavenger hunt organized by Charlie Riley and Kristin Jordan; the first took place in February and was such a staggering success (the winning team delivered a live Buffalo Sabre, Paul Gaustad, to the judging table) that the pair have decided to make a regular thing of it. It’s not too late to sign up—visit buffaloscavengerhunt.com to find out how and to read the rules. Judging and scoring takes place at Cozumel, which will offer drink and food specials to participants. If the thrill of the chase is not sufficient motivation, then consider the prizes, which range from mountain bikes and bar tabs to gift certificates and cold, hard cash. The list of items will be released at noon at Cozumel, but here are two clues for you now: Hop on down to 810 Main Street and look for a hot oil massage.

“Horror pop cabaret band” the Rabies are set to release their long-awaited sophomore recording, aptly titled Night Terror. Led by vocalist Lexi Lawsuit—who has drawn more than a few comparisons to Siouxie Sioux of Siouxie & the Banshees)—this five-piece ensemble has been rocking Buffalo’s underbelly for over five years. During that time the band has developed a cult following of sorts, with no shortage of rabid fans to keep them busy on the club circuit at home. In addition to regular gigs here in Buffalo, the Rabies have toured the nation with acts such as the Buzzcocks, Wilco, 45 Grave, Murder Junkies, the Voodoo Glow Skulls, the Gore Gore Girls, and Billy Talent (to name a few), which goes to show that they are much, much more than a campy gimmick. Fans of the first album, Get Infected, will notice improved production quality on Night Terror (Vodka Distillery Records) and the same thematic songs, with titles like “Vampyre’s Kiss,” Domination of the Dead,” and “Ghost in the Graveyard.” Special guests at the show are Buffalo rock bands London vs. New York and Wolf Tickets, and there’s even a free guitar giveaway. Come on out and “get infected!”

When Gary Zoldos—a notable figure in Buffalo rock circles for the past three decades —decided to mount a concert to benefit the Buffalo City Mission, he simply envisioned making a few dollars for the East Tupper Street institution while launching his new band, the Pillagers. That simple benefit concert changed radically this week when Bruce Hornsby’s office called and asked to join the show. Hornsby—the Grammy-winning, multi-platinum hitmaker and virtuosic pianist—was scheduled to play North Tonawanda’s Gateway Park free concert series on Saturday along with his band the Noise Makers. When the Gateway Park concerts hit a number of snags following a revocation of the event’s liquor license, Hornsby was left without a gig for this weekend. Perhaps taking his own advice —realizing “that’s just the way it is”—Hornsby looked for a way to keep his Saturday show in Western New York. When the call came it was a shock for Zoldos, but he couldn’t resist adding an artist of Hornsby’s magnitude to his Feed The City concert. “It’s great to have Bruce Hornsby joining us to help raise money and awareness for Buffalo City Mission,” Zoldos admits. While the fans intent on a free concert in North Tonawanda might see this as a minor loss, Hornsby’s fans aren’t being left in the cold. The big winner in it all is for the City Mission, who for more than ninety years has been helping those who needed help the most.

I met Steve Earle once at the Rodeo Bar in Manhattan, in what must have been about 1988. He gave me his autograph on a crumpled pack of cigarettes. The lanky Texan was slouched against a wall, and if he was not quite at the bottom of his nerve-wrenching spiral into substance abuse that would eventually land him in a correctional facility in Tennessee, he was still pretty much stoned immaculate, as Jim Morrison would put it. For those who’ve followed his career since his initial splash with the record Guitar Town in 1986, it seems no small miracle that the “Hardcore Troubadour” is out there over two-decades down the line, making some of the strongest and most personal music of his life. But Earle is a much different personality these days. His career has always been marked by restlessness and change, and increasingly he’s been an artist unafraid to frankly speak his mind on political and social issues—from the death penalty to the war on terror. What has always set him apart in this regard has been his genius for tucking his lyrics into melodies as comfortable as an old pair of jeans. His latest release, Washington Square Serenade (New West), is partly the product of living in his newly adopted home, Greenwich Village. For a guy who once famously said he’d “stand on Bob Dylan’s coffee table” in his cowboy boots and say that “Townes Van Zandt is the best songwriter in the whole world,” it may come as a surprise that the new record is partly a nod to the 1960s folk revival that exploded from the Village, with Dylan at the forefront. He’s touring with alt.country star and wife Alison Moorer—younger sister of country star Shelby Lynne.