Archival Buffalo News feature articles

  One of the things the Grateful Dead’s Jerry Garcia used to do on his days off.   Dec. 1, 1977 review Garcia Performance a Step Back in Time             The Jerry Garcia Band brought the old-fashioned kind of rock concert to Buffalo State College’s New Gym Wednesday night, the kind they used to have back before musicians evolved into superstars.           Just like the old days, the music was great. But also just like the old days, the band was a little short on social graces.           But first the good news. Garcia limbered up quickly in the opener, the old Motown-James Taylor hit, “How Sweet It Is,” and played dazzling guitar long into the night.           He averaged two solos in each of the 10-minute selections, clearly enjoying the freedom he doesn’t get in the big group, the...

  Not every bright idea works when it comes to staging a concert, but this one was wildly successful. Promoters wound up using this large, but surprisingly intimate set-up for many a future show.   Nov. 30, 1977  Dynamic Joel in a Perfect Setting             Billy Joel became the first entertainer to try out the shortened concert-bowl version of Memorial Auditorium Tuesday night and it turned out to be a perfect fit. It fit so well he wound up taking four encores.           In seating for 9,200, there sat maybe 5,500 middle-class high school and college kids who dig Joel’s East Coast suburban brand of thoughtful discontent. That’s more than twice as many as can squeeze into the Century Theater, where Joel originally was scheduled.           For anyone accustomed to the vastness of the Aud, the curtained-off arrangement (actu...

  From the mists of history, an obscure date by a forgotten convocation of memorable players.   Nov. 21, 1977 CBS All-Stars Show Strength, Weakness Of ‘Super’ Groups             Put enough outstanding performers together and the outcome is bound to be entertaining. That’s the old all-star theory and musically it’s an idea whose time has come.           First were jazz festival jams with everybody sitting in. Then record labels gathered their own people in a group under the company banner. Finally, musicians themselves adopted high-quality companions, like Herbie Hancock and the V.S.O.P. quintet.           Like V.S.O.P., the CBS All-Stars are the result of a jazz festival join-up – Montreux last summer. Unlike V.S.O.P., which continued intact, the All-Stars boiled down from a monster orchestra (with Maynard Ferguson among the ...

  Another night on the cutting edge at Buff State .   Nov. 7, 1977 Concert Was ‘Milk Shake’ With Ho-Hos             Jonathan Richman, the most precious of the alternative rock ‘n rollers, stopped a chocolate milk shake of a concert Saturday night in Buffalo State College’s Upton Hall to ask a question of the crowd of 350 or so. He wanted to know why they were laughing.           “You’re funny,” someone in the left center replied. Richman accepted the rationality of that. The real reason, however, was that this Boston-bred singer and bandleader was exorcising the gawky, awkward kid in each member of this sophisticated crowd.           The laughter was easy through the first thrilling bubbles of the milk shake – “Ice Cream Man,” “La Bamba,” “New England" and "The New Teller,” in which Richman sang about how his latest crush kept ...

  A prog rock stalwart in a period of transition.  Nov. 5, 1977 Giant Elevates Spirits After Wrong Prescription             Outside the Century Theater Friday night, it looks like a big beer party has been there and left. Bottles everywhere. The West Mohawk Street turnstiles include a frisking for containers, so a knot of youthful drinkers stand on the sidewalk, polishing off their supplies.           It’s half an hour past starting time, but nobody in the crowded lobby seems any more concerned about securing their seats in the nearly sold-out house than the people outside. The first band is playing, but who cares? They’ve come for Gentle Giant.           On stage is a relatively unknown British quartet called Dr. Feelgood, but their prescription isn’t right for this audience. Gentle Giant fans require massive doses of progres...

  Another in a series of mind-blowing shows at Buff State .   Nov. 1, 1977 Captain Beefheart Fuses Rock, Halloween Into ‘Demonic’ Smash             Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band on Halloween is a mystic combination that can’t be beat. The spirit of the evening lends a certain authority to the Captain’s celebrated musical and poetic abandon. So does the audience.           Buffalo State College’s Moot Hall cafeteria resembles a rock-concert version of the bar scene in “Star Wars.” Sitting at the next table for the early show is a “25th Century Quaker,” a space-age choirboy whose hair looks like a Brillo pad caught in an electric grid. Elsewhere prowls a junior version of The Hulk.           It’s not the best of environments for Sunnyland Slim, the 70-year-old blues pianist. Slim, who’s played with such modern bluesolog...

Thanks to a variety of distribution deals, Record Theatre mogul Lenny Silver’s Amherst Records label promoted a stream of obscure musical artists, some of whom – like this one – have become recognized as gems.     Oct. 31, 1977 Irish Band  Powerful in  Free Show             The Irish quintet Horslips showed a Beggar’s Night crowd of 500 in a free concert at Buffalo State College Sunday what makes them the biggest rock band on the Emerald Isle. No leprechaun trickery for these lads, just the force of music.           Adding mandolin, violin, concertina, flute and tin whistle to the standard rock instrumental formula, they laced the wallop of their attack with traditional folk airs. It’s not often you see a band with a rhythm mandolin. Or a guitarist playing unison riffs with a flute.           In their black leather jack...