Archival Buffalo News feature articles

Ah, Kris Kristofferson! I suppose that for everybody like me who loved and admired him, there were things about him that were just downright annoying. Nevertheless, you were obliged to forgive because he was, well ... Kris. In my case, I was a huge fan of his 1970 debut record on Monument Records and arranged to interview him in Toronto one Sunday afternoon in March 1971 before a club date in the Riverboat Coffee House, that beloved folk mecca on Yorkville Avenue in the days before Yorkville became impossibly gentrified. Kris was a no-show. Instead, I sat around with his keyboard player, Donnie Fritts, a delightful guy, for a couple hours and then gave up. I heard later that he was down at the Horseshoe Tavern on Queen Street, hanging with some musicians there. Nevertheless, my admiration was back in place six months later when he came to Kleinhans Music Hall on Halloween night. Nov. 1, 1971 A Great Little Turnout for Kris; 'Cat' Sells Out Kris Kristofferson's b

  A night that wound up in the Guinness Book of World Records. Sept. 10, 1979  Disco Fever Lives Up to Predictions The recorded voice of Donna Summer crooned "Last Dance" through 40,000 watts of amplifiers about 4:45 a.m. Sunday as Buffalo Convention Center director Glenn Arnette III broke out the champagne and breathed a sigh of relief.          Beyond his office window were a few hundred die-hard dancers and a vast floor full of used confetti and crumpled beverage cups – the remains of the World's Largest Disco. After a year of planning and three months of preparations, it had lived up to all its hyperbole.          It also lived up to its attendance projections. Halfway through the night, it was reported that ticket sales had passed the 13,000 mark. Later it was guessed that as many as 17,000 might have showed up. By 1 a.m., the turnstiles were lightly protected and anyone who wanted to could walk right in.          Friday night's press preview had offe

  You can’t always get what you want, but sometimes you get what you need. Aug. 13, 1979  ‘Magazine’ Is Cure for Lack of ‘Cramps’ “You won’t believe the Cramps” – that was the advance notice on Festival East’s New Wave rock show in Lockport’s After Dark club Sunday night. But, alas, the zany New York City band met with delays on the road. No Cramps.          It turned out to be an extraordinary night anyway. Festival East gave fans a double subscription to the headliner, Magazine, an arty new British band fronted by former Buzzcock Howard Devoto.          In some ways, that was a better offer than the original. One set of Magazine wouldn’t have been enough. It took a second reading to expose the band’s best qualities.          For the first half, Devoto’s pinched face, painted cheekbones and zombie-like vocals suggested David Bowie. The second time around, however, he summoned up a dramatic power that was very much his own – ripping the air with his fingers as he chanted: “

  Buffalo always had a special relationship with these guys, dating back to that infamous date in 1970 at Aliotta’s on Hertel Avenue, when their road manager stabbed the club owner to death in a dispute over money. June 14, 1979  Older, Wiser Allman Brothers Have Their Act Together Again Gregg Allman grins into the Memorial Auditorium spotlights Wednesday night. “Long time, no see,” he chirps innocently, as if all that hide-and-seek with Cher here a couple of years ago was far, far in the past.          But then again, the Allman Brothers Band has a tradition of forgiving the past, even if they don’t forget it. Despite all the fussing and fighting, drugging and dying, they’ve got it together again. They dedicate the show to the late Berry Oakley and Duane Allman.          The Allmans prove themselves true to that musical memory. They recount many of their old favorites, from “Whipping Post” to “Blue Sky” to “One Way Out,” and they mix in some the best numbers from their new

  Another one of those fabulous nights at Stage One. May 23, 1979  Jackson Show  Energetic Romp Joe Jackson wore his white shoes Tuesday night at Harvey and Corky’s Stage One in Clarence and looked sharp all the way.          The newly-emerging British singer-songwriter rocked the jam-packed club for an hour and left the crowd chanting: “Joe, Joe, Joe.” Among the onlookers were at least two members of Supertramp, who stayed over after their sellout show Monday in Memorial Auditorium.          Jackson cut the figure of a small-time mobster out for a time on the town – gray flannel coat buttoned over a striped shirt and polka-dot tie – an outfit emulated by contestants in a dress-up competition.          His performance was all urgency. His face contorted around his lips and teeth. His short blond hair stood on end when he ran his fingers back through it. His arms shot out at awkward angles.          Jackson unloaded most of the songs on his debut album, “Look Sharp!,” in a

  How big was Supertramp in 1979? So big that one night in the Aud wasn’t enough. They shoehorned a second date into their schedule in June. May 22, 1979  Supertramp Delivers Top-Quality Show “I think it’s only fair to say,” saxophonist John A. Helliwell says early in the show Monday night, “this is one of Supertramp’s hottest spots in America today.”                 The sell-out crowd responds with a long, stomping cheer – the kind usually reserved for encores. Supertramp is Number One in the nation, but in Buffalo they’re Number One and then some. They’ve sold out Memorial Auditorium not once, but twice          The show, which will be repeated here June 7, is a tasteful 2¼ hour tour of Supertramp from their 1974 “Crime of the Century” album to their present success, “Breakfast in America.” The music is impeccable and there’s a light show to match.          The wildest acclaim, of course, comes for “The Logical Song,” which explores the passage from childhood innocence in