Friday, August 9
Feed The City Benefit Concert
w/ Bruce Hornsby & the Noise Makers and the Pillagers

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.

—donny kutzbach

7pm. Town Ballroom, 681 Main St. (852-3900/www.townballroom.com). $20/advance (box office, Tickets.com/888-223-6000) or $25/at door