Archival Buffalo News feature articles

  Down and dirty with an old pro and a new sensation on the upswing, courtesy of that adventurous concert committee at Buff State.   April 29, 1978   Rock ‘n Roll Returns With Grit, Polish             Lou Reed and Ian Dury celebrated the visceral in rock ‘n roll Friday night in Buffalo State College’s gymnasium. And they celebrated it hard.           Reed, who came to prominence in the ‘60s with the Andy Warhol-sponsored Velvet Underground, found his grit in what the suburban middle class finds unthinkable.           In his hit, “Walk on the Wild Side,” he explored sexual identities. In “Street Hassle,” the title song from his strong new album, he gave a fast-running rap about what to do with the body of an acquaintance’s ex-girlfriend.           Trim and curly-haired, wearing a black tour T-shirt, Reed looked and sounded better than he has in years. No more basement bands from Yonkers for this rock ‘n roll animal. Booming behind him was a big quintet (including Moose, onc

  A totally pumped-up evening  –   Nick Lowe at his power-pop peak and Elvis Costello before he got mellow.  April 26, 1978 review Costello’s Cruel Trick  Leaves ‘Em Hanging             It had to be another one of Elvis Costello’s cruel and deliberate effects. There they were, close to 2,000 of them in Shea’s Buffalo Tuesday night, cheering and clapping away for a second encore, drowning out the sound system serenade of music to find exits by.           Hadn’t the sawed-off sensation told them that’s how to get what they want? Didn’t he say make some noise? Well, here was noise. The backdrop curtains rose. The roadies clicked off the amps and disconnected the mikes. Still there was cheering.           Some of the disgruntled fans blamed the promoter as they finally yielded to the inevitable and put on their coats. More likely, it was Costello’s doing. The British singer and songwriter isn’t satisfied with sympathetic vibrations. He wants to provoke response.           “Up, u

The Buffalo Folk Festival firmament was speckled with rising stars like Bonnie Raitt in the early 1970s. By this time, its pleasures were more down-to-earth.   April 23, 1978 review Folk Festival Rocks With Old-Time Music           Three hours into Buffalo Folk Festival ’78, it has all the earmarks of becoming one of the most satisfying such celebrations of old-timey music ever to grace the University at Buffalo Main Street Campus.           Even the performers on the triangular stage before 1,000 in the Fillmore Room of Squire Hall are giving it good marks for organization.           “It’s a pleasure to be on such a good program,” says bluesman John Hammond, “an unexpected pleasure.”           Friday is star night, and Hammond , junior to the legendary Columbia Record talent scout of the same name, is one of the stars.           Still to come at this hour is the Woodstock Mountains Revue – a bit of a folk festival in its own right.           The revue includes eight