Archival Buffalo News feature articles

  There are concerts and then there are cultural milestones. This is one of the latter.   Nov. 17, 1975 Dylan Unrolls Thunder, Paints His Masterpiece             They raise the parchment curtain and it’s Shakespeare’s Theater, Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show and the Mariposa Folk Festival all rolled into one. This the rock era’s most magical minstrel show, Bob Dylan’s Rolling Thunder Revue.           “Welcome to your living room,” Bobby Neuwirth says in greeting, kicking off a comfortable, down-homey, 3½-hour parade of songs and singers old and new that coalesced around Dylan’s jams this summer with veterans of the Greenwich Village folk scene.           The not-quite-sold-out afternoon and evening shows in the Niagara Falls Convention Center Saturday run true to advance raves, but with vital differences in mood.           Afternoon feels like a hootenanny, polite and not quite together. The newly-wakened performers say good morning. They open up to the crowd and glow wit

  Towering talents converge in a band like none other in Buffalo:   Nov. 1, 1975 Rodan – Not Much to Say, But a Lot to Play   RODAN IS A WORD-OF-MOUTH kind of group. The message of them seems to spread like a rumor that the Japanese movie monster of the same name is gobbling up the countryside.           First wind of their talents came a couple weeks ago from a fellow employee, who painted visions of heavy-metal lions at McVan’s on Niagara Street , sitting placidly as lambs at their tables Sunday nights, basking in Rodan’s music. * * * SECOND WIND came from a backyard neighbor, Joe Terrose, who turns out to own McVan’s. He confirmed the coming of the peaceable kingdom and added that when Rodan was elsewhere, such as a Gentle Giant concert, Sunday business was terrible.           Third and least likely wind came from booking agent Fred Saia, who normally lumps far-out groups into the same category as wheat-germ lasagna.           He’s got them playing Mondays at the B

  The last time Buffalo got to witness Fleetwood Mac in so intimate a venue. When they next came to town in 1977, they filled Memorial Auditorium.   Oct. 10, 1975   Suddenly It’s Success, Sellouts For ‘Mac’ – Surprise, Surprise             Dialing up the Century Theater an hour before the show Thursday night guarantees there’s plenty of tickets left for Fleetwood Mac. So why all these kids shuffling away from the place?           “They’re sold out,” grumbles one of the departees, slouching at the rear stage door. There’s a roar of amplified guitars inside. It’s Weekend, a Buffalo group of seven years standing.           Weekend favors shiny British pop-star clothes and a distinctively shimmery three-part harmony that flows like ginger ale. Keyboards and a synthesizer thicken their sparkling texture. They sound good. * * * NEXT : The Amazing Rhythm Aces, whose “Third-Rate Romance, Low-Rent Rendezvous” just ended a trajectory back down from the Top 20.           They

  Nine years before “This Is Spinal Tap,” this young band was living the movie.   Oct. 4, 1975   Coalition Kept Trying and Earned Success   THE EVENING’S BARELY BEGUN , but the Trivet House, corner of Genesee and Transit, is all packed and steamy as if the night were well along.           Looks like the Coalition regulars are here, but it’s hard to tell how many since they aren’t allowed to dance on the tables any more.           Party Paul is here for sure – Coalition on the front of his T-shirt, Party on the back – doing his own little muscular number in the middle of the tiny dance floor.           “We don’t want you to wait until 1 o’clock to party,” announces singer Pat Duggan, who’s given to playing riffs on invisible guitars. “We want you all to party now.” * * * WITH THAT , keyboard man Al Stanford steps forward and the rest of the band rocks into David Bowie’s “ Suffragette City ,” with everyone doing ecstatic little jumps on the chorus.           Ordinari

  An early glimpse of a young musical whiz who has gone a long way.   Sept. 13, 1975   Fitz Williams, 12, With Sabata, Plays Organ, Sax and Sweet Flute   CURTIS FITZGERALD WILLIAMS JR . is at that invisible age. He’s 12. Too old for a child prodigy, too young to be taking an adult share of the spotlight.           As a result, it’s not hard to overlook him in this practice session with the group Sabata as they smooth out steps and harmonies in a couple songs for a weekend gig.           Behind an organ off to the side of the instrumentalists, he’s altogether self-contained. Except for a little between-number noodling, which also tends to get overlooked.           But in his quiet way, the progressive class eighth grader from Buffalo ’s School 81 does a man-sized job on four instruments – sax, flute, organ and piano – whenever he gets a chance.           Sabata, which over three years has developed the talent, tightness and professional determination that makes them one

  A major event in Buffalo rock concert history and a major civic event, as well. Unlike the other shows in Rich Stadium to that point, this was Page One stuff.   Aug. 9, 1975   ‘It’s Only Rock ‘n’ Roll,’ But 70,000 Loved It             The Rolling Stones celebrated the end of their 2½-month American tour before 70,000 fans in Rich Stadium Friday night with a carnival of daredevil stunts and a blaze of fireworks.           The British rock stars took to the stage beneath a yellow-and-white Camelot-style canopy 70 minutes past their scheduled 8:15 starting time for a farewell performance that was light on precision and heavy on exuberance.           Despite advance fears, the largest crowd ever to attend a rock concert in Western New York was surprisingly orderly. The atmosphere inside the stadium was for the most part inebriated and serene.           “The word for today,” observed WGRQ deejay Jim Santella, “is smooth.” * * * FOR SOME , however, the occasion was not

  On one of my mid-1970s visits to Southern California, I brought along my reporters’ notebook and looked up four future Buffalo Music Hall of Famers.   Aug. 9, 1975 Buffalo Musicians Seek Fame in Hollywood   THE MORNING SUN STARTS burning down on the backside of the Hollywood Hills and the phone starts ringing. Gary Mallaber beats the answering service to the bell. By noon, he’s turned down two gigs.           “One of them was for TV,” he mentions, sipping juice while Debbie, his bride of five months, fixes scrambled eggs and toast.           “I don’t know what it was. It’s gotten so that if I can’t do something, I don’t bother to get into the details.”           It takes a lot of playing, politicking and hanging out in the right places to get a break and make it big in the starstruck, supercharged scene that comprises the music industry in Los Angeles .           There are literally scores of Buffalo musicians there seeking fame and fortune. Of all of them, Gary i