AV Editors Pick
8/23-8/24: ELMWOOD FESTIVAL OF THE ARTS

Buffalo’s homegrown arts festival turns nine years old this weekend, when once again the blocks of Elmwood between West Ferry and Lafayette close downdown and give way to more than 170 regional artists and crafters. The festival’s main stage at Lafayette features performances by John and Mary and the Valkyries, the Corrections, Terry Sullivan and the Low Lamp Session, Them Jazzbeards, the Steam Donkeys, Gurf Morlix, and a host of other musicians and dance companies. Many of the same musicians will cycle into the rotation at the Wilson Farms stage. Under the dance tent beside the Unitarian Church one finds the full range of Buffalo’s musical talents, from gospel choirs to Latin dance music, from polka to bluegrass, from gypsy jazz to soul. The kid’s festival is a living thing of its own here, too. For a complete rundown of the festival’s offerings, visit elmwoodartfest.org.

—geoff kelly

10am-7pm Saturday, 11am-5pm Sunday. Elwmood Between West Ferry and Lafayette. FREE.

8/22: ROCKET SCIENTISTS

The forefront of the American prog-rock movement actually began in the late eighties, and a lot of early neo-prog is attributed to this symphonic jam band from El Dorado Hills, California. Rocket Scientists was just the beginning for talented keyboardist Erik Nolander, who co-founded the band with vocalist/guitarist Mark McCrite, who released their first CD Earthbound in 1993. Bassist Don Schiff then came on board, and the band’s second release Brutal Architecture captured international attention and launched the group’s career, one encompassing enough to warrant this year’s box set Looking Backward, a five-disc collection of remastered versions of previous recordings. Nolander is married to symphonic rock vocalist Lana Lane, with whom the band has worked many times. A progressive rock diva known to fans as “The Queen of Symphonic Rock,” Lane will appear as a special guest. Bands Navigator and Tiles will open the show with master of ceremonies Michelle Moog-Koussa and visual accompaniment by Solar Fire Light Show.

7:30pm. Tralf Music Hall, 622 Main St. (852-2860/www.tralfmusichall.com). $25/advance (box office, Ticketmaster.com/852-5000) or $30/day of show

8/22: STRIKE

In 1925, Soviet film director Sergei Eisenstein burst onto the world cinema stage with a shocking depiction of the unrealized 1905 Bolshevik Revolution called Strike. Originally a silent film that relied on groundbreaking theories of montage—the juxtaposition of shots in a film—to compress the narrative and create a new “language” unique to cinema, Strike is often viewed today as both a milestone in the history of film and a stunning example of political propaganda. After a series of outrages forced upon the workers, one is wrongly accused of stealing from the factory and commits suicide. This is the spark that ignites a walkout that inflames the shareholders and, ultimately, the Tsar’s army. A bold and haunting visual display, the film is being presented by Squeaky Wheel as part of the Gusto at the Gallery series. It will be shown on the back stairs of the Albright-Knox with a brand new soundtrack scored by local musician David Kane, who continues to build a reputation as a talented composer for film

—buck quigley

8:30pm. Albright-Knox Art Gallery, 1285 Elmwood Ave. (882-8700). FREE .

8/22-8/24: BUFFALO IRISH FEST

You can’t go more than a month or so in this town without a chance to celebrate Irishness. But short of St. Patrick’s Day itself, this is by far the biggest fleadh of them all: the Buffalo Irish Fest at the Hamburg Fairgrounds. The 27th annual Celtic pride celebration kicks off with a parade on Friday (August 22) at 5pm, in which local Irish families represent their counties of origin—32 counties in all will march this year. The parade ends with a Guinness toast, marking the official opening of the three-day festival. Over the weekend there will be four stages offering music and performance, vendors selling Irish crafts, a children’s tent, and, of course, like any good ethnic festival, lots to eat and drink. This year, too, the festival offers the world premiere of The Beachers, a play by Mary Kate O’Connell and Josephine Hogan. A complete schedule of events is available at buffaloirish.com.

—geoff kelly

5-11pm Friday, noon-11pm Saturday, noon-9pm Sunday. Hamburg Fairgrounds. $10 adults, $7 kids and seniors.

8/22: I SHOT LUCY

Kenn Morgan got the idea for I Shot Lucy one late summer day last year, at sunset. Realizing the light “needed something of beauty to enhance it,” he said, ‘Hey Lucy, stand there!’ and got the shot that inspired this series. The exhibition is a twist on last year’s Perception and Being show at Gallery 141B (eight photographers, one unremarkable block) but with six photographers, one subject: In this case, local artist—and arts reviewer for Artvoice—Lucy Yao. Participants include Kenn Morgan (organizer and exhibitor), Robert Schultz, Robert Minick, Gene Witkowski, Jerry Greenburg, and Lukia Costello—all well known artists, although at least three of them are not so well known for photographing people (no need to tell who). The exhibition will have its opening reception this weekend, and will continue throough November 1st. Artspace Gallery is open to the public Friday evenings from 5-8pm and Saturday afternoons from noon-3pm.

—k. o’day

6-9pm. Artspace Buffalo Lofts, 1219 Main St (www.artspacebuffalo.org)..

8/22: JANA HUNTER, with LESSER GONZALEZ ALVAREZ

This singer/songwriter from Texas (Hunter) launched Devandra Banhardt and Andy Cavic’s Gnomonsong record label with the 2005 release of her solo debut, Blank Unstaring Eyes of Doom. As that title might indicate (as well as the follow-up, 2007’s plaintive There’s No Home), Hunter’s music is eerie, haunting, ethereal—even spooky. Yet there’s a twangy sweetness and a lighthearted element that draws comparisons to Kimya Dawson and her ilk—somewhere between fun and funereal. Her contributions to folk compilations such Golden Apples of the Sun (Bastet) have got her somewhat pigeonholed in Banhardt’s freak-folk scene, but her versatility and songwriting skills, combined with a background of serious classical training, should make her standout in any genre she chooses. Playing with Hunter is this year’s avant-folk breakthrough, Lesser Gonzalez Alvarez, a Baltimore-based, Latin-American wordsmith whose playful lyrics are a nice contrast to Hunter’s stark honesty.

—k. o’day

9pm. Soundlab, 110 Pearl St (www.bigorbitgallery.org/soundlab). $7-$10.

8/23: JAMIE NOTARTHOMAS CD RELEASE SHOW

Singer/songwriter Jamie Notarthomas is no stranger to these parts, most notably with his annual Bob Dylan tribute show. Citing Dylan as a major influence—he knows by heart 120 songs spanning Dylan’s entire career—Notarthomas is clearly influenced by what he refers to as “the twelve apostles of rock and roll”: John Lennon, Van Morrison, Bruce Springsteen, Elvis Costello, James Taylor, Bob Marley, Leonard Cohen, Peter Gabriel, Luis Jordan, and, of course, Bob Dylan. But he is also an original independent artist, and his previous three CDs have visited themes of environment, nature, love, socio-political issues, and spirituality. His last was released nearly ten years ago—aptly titled Climbing Out of the 20th Century. That’s indeed what he did, as evidenced on The Crow Convention (Soulamander Records), a brand new release with a fresh take on a timeless genre: socially conscious folk-rock.

—allissa brink

9:30pm. Nietzsche’s, 248 Allen St. (886-8539/www.nietzsches.com)

8/23: ROGER BRYAN CD RELEASE SHOW

There’s Roger Bryan the solo artist, Roger Bryan of indie-faves the Old Sweethearts, and Roger Bryan & the Orphans, so far as we know. With the Orphans, he’s just put out a follow up to 2007’s solo effort The Engine Hum (Harvest Sum Recordings), and will be celebrating with a party at Mohawk Place, joined by Johnny Nobody. Bryan’s solo work is, not surprisingly, more intimate and introspective, branching away from the electrified pop/rock of the Old Sweethearts, but with the Orphans he’s not shying away—at least not at live shows where the band employs three electric guitaers. (The Orphans recently played at the venerable Hoboken music club Maxwell’s, opening for Stand and capturing attention on at least one notable music blog). The new CD is titled Recovery, and will be available at the show. Special guests Mark Norris (of the Backpeddlers) and Jesse Mank (Hussalonia) will be in attendance, spinning vinyl from their own (extensive, we’re sure) collections throughout the evening.

9pm. Mohawk Place, 47 E. Mohawk St. (855-3931/www.mohawkplace.com). $5

8/26: MAD HAPPY, with ADAM THE 13th

Kooky electro-pop, hip-hop, acid-rock stripteasing duo Mike iLL and Rivka are Mad Happy—and they want you to be that way too. Their free-spirited beatnik-meets-burlesque-meets-circus act routine is a guaranteed good time, and whether you come expecting rock, punk, rap, or electronica, you won’t be disappointed. Their debut album, Feel Good Music For the Broke Middle Class—which should speak volumes to a Buffalonian crowd with its title alone—put them on the map in their hometown of Pensacola, Florida, and on the national scene. The follow up, Renegade Geeks, shows them continuing to push the envelope of genre mashing and mind and ear bending with touches of Eastern-European folk meeting influences from old-school Public Enemy to Madonna in her pop heyday to good old Hank Williams. This couple does over 200 live shows a year with unflagging energy—it must be their neon hair. Electronic solo artist Adam the 13th (aka Mark Webb) opens the show

—k. o’day

9pm. Soundlab, 110 Pearl St (www.bigorbitgallery.org/soundlab). $7-$10.

8/28: THE NASH LECTURES: EMMETT TILL

When 14-year-old Emmett Till’s body lay in a funeral home in Tutwiler, Mississippi, his mother, Mamie Till Bradley, insisted that the casket remain open, so that anyone who wished could witness how his murderers had tortured and disfigured her son. That anguished, angry act worked: Photographs of the corpse circulated widely, and Till’s murder—hardly the first or last time a young black man was brutally mudered in the Deep South—became a national scandal. Next week, the University of Rochester’s Vincent F. A. Golphin inaugurates the Nash Lectures, a new series of talks focusing on African America, by discussing Till’s murder and its legacy in our nation’s politics and race consciousness. Each of the Nash Lectures is paired with an appropriate book—in this case, A Death in the Delta: The Story of Emmitt Till by Stephen J. Whitfield.

—geoff kelly

7pm. Michigan Street Baptist Church, 511 Michigan Avenue. FREE.