By Tony Farina
Even as the long-awaited expansion of the legendary music venue Sportsmen’s Tavern on Amherst St. in Buffalo nears completion, the ongoing work did not pose any problem for music lovers as Scott Celani’s new group Too Yacht to Handle played to a sold-out house last Saturday, May 25, at Sportsmen’s supported by several local musicians including two members of the high-energy group SoleTurn.
As Celani, a Buffalo Music Hall of Famer explained in an advance piece on the program, Yacht music is in full bloom, playing soft rock from the ‘70s and ‘80s and the packed house enjoyed the entire program, according to Sportsmen’s excited owner, Dwane Hall, who is looking forward to the completion of the expansion work at Sportsmen’s by the end of June.
“It was a terrific night and everybody seemed to enjoy all the great musicians on stage who put on quite a show,” said Hall, who said work on the expansion of Sportsmen’s should be completed shortly, promising to double the space for one of the area’s premiere music venues.
There’s also a great deal of music excitement in the air for Vik Bhargava and Zachary Michael, two of the SoleTurn group who took part by invitation in Saturday’s program as they look forward to more packed houses in their upcoming Summer Lake concern series.
Bhargava, lead vocalist of Sole Turn, said the group is very enthusiastic about what’s on tap for the group this summer as they prepare to release their debut album “The Soundtrack of our Youth” which, says Bhargava, “will have five original compositions written by me and Zachary as well as a couple of choice covers we believe will leave our fans wanting more.”
Vik says he’s always used reel-to-reel tape (analog), which they also did in the album, “but it was much more using modern technologies, thanks to Zachary, without deadening the soul of the song. As I’ve said before, in the end, what matters is the song, man. And we’ve got some solid tracks on this LP.
As for SoleTurn’s Summer Lake Concert series that will begin Friday, June 21 at the Blueberry Treehouse Café, the rock band will have all hands on deck as Rob Helms (drums/vocals) and Patrick Mudd (keyboard/vocals) join Bhargava, lead vocalist, and Zachary Michael (bass/vocals) for the concert series that has several events planned.
The Blueberry Café, located at 1897 Davis Rd., West Falls, offers everything for visitors including fire pits, nature trails, a children’s play area, and many fine musical groups, most notably the up-and-coming rock band SoleTurn that is garnering a lot of attention with their performances and excitement about their upcoming debut album.
SoleTurn’s emergence has made their booking agent, Jerry Meyers, a happy camper these days as the band has a lot of folks interested in their musical fare, especially after they sold out Sportsmen’s back in March to get things rolling in super fashion.
“We are very excited about our summer series and the new album,” said Vik Bhargava, “and we look forward to giving our fans lots to enjoy this summer and we will get a terrific head start as we begin June 21 at the amazing Blueberry Treehouse Café in West Falls, a place that has something for everyone to enjoy.”
SoleTurn won’t rest long after that opening concert as they are scheduled to perform the next day, June 22, at Marge’s Lakeside Inn on Lake Ontario, a vintage watering hole featuring an old-time juke box and a scenic beachfront patio on Culver Rd., in Rochester; followed by a concert at the Public House in Hamburg on Saturday, June 29; followed by a private party on Saturday, July 6, in Lake Erie (more later); and the final stop in the series, Cuba Rock the Dock at Cuba Lake on Saturday, Aug. 3.
It shapes up as a rockin’ good musical summer for the red hot SoleTurn, a group that people are starting to notice big time.
For some samples of their performances, check out these video clips:
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