Unce, Tice, Fee Times....

[captainsblog]

As with many things, those things refer to more than one thing. I thought I better get the one up as soon as possible before the number becomes obsolete, probably next week:

It also refers to the one, two, even three events I packed into my Wednesday evening after work.  The second was at its usual time in the usual place, the every other Wednesday open poetry reading at a café on Elmwood Avenue. Other friends, though, had announced musical events occurring on the way to and very close to that, so I had been planning to make a tripleheader out of it.

I also hoped Eleanor would be able to join me at any or all of them, and to make that more possible, I dug into her latest backyard project late Wednesday morning and cut up the latest leavings from her trimming project back there. Two of the five full cans  that went to the curb were mine. Still, filling the other three, plus a couple of big paper yard bags, and cutting everything down in the first place? That fell on her. Well, nothing actually fell ON her, but it definitely aggravated her arthritis, and by the time I filled that final can, it was clear I was going solo for the evening.

The events were at 7, 8 and 8:30, so there was plenty to see and not much time to see it. First, and closest to home, was a Beatles cover band that a friend plays in, at a small restaurant overlooking the Niagara River and Canada called the River Grill. I never even knew it existed until another friend played there last month, but now that  I know it’s there, I see it every time we go by it on the 190 on the way to other things.

And by “on the 190,” I mean the highway is about 10 feet from their parking. My friend who played there last month was on an outdoor stage, but the weather is been a little wonky lately, and the Beatles group got totally drenched in a downpour while doing their rooftop concert tribute two weeks earlier, so the show was inside.

By the time they got to their third song, that certified-small dance floor was already in service, mostly with people my age or even older, still making some plenty fancy moves to the sound of “I Feel Fine.“ Which I did, even if I wasn't dancing:)

These musicians advertise themselves as just playing the songs. No costumes or moptop wigs. Some legendary local musician guys playing the Fab Four, with my equally legendary musician friend Cathy, Preston to service behind them on the keyboards.

——

The place was pretty packed, the menu fairly pricey and the servers very busy, so I decided to get food at the usual café before the poets began at eight. Unfortunately, this was the first time we were there after the establishment officially changed hands, and the new owner is doing a total revamp of the food menu, so the cases were all empty. I wound up sneaking in food from Elmwood Taco two doors down, and stayed for the first hour of more than 30 people reading, many of whom we hadn’t seen there in weeks or even months.

Our beloved Brittany:



Oli, who we hadn't seen here in  a while:



Umar, one of the newest to read here (and also a recent cast member in another friend's Shakespeare production):



Others were finishing up as I headed back from the third head of the hydra of the night. It's a mere block up Elmwood from the poetry venue, but this guy was new as I took that brief walk:



We've seen "him" adorning several overpasses on the 290 and 990 closer to home, but I like to think he's an Elmwood Village kinda guy when he's done for the night:)

----

I wasn't done for the night yet, though, and neither was one of our sometime poets, who was busy at the other end of that brief walk.

Danielle Johnson is a young woman we met through these readings and then discovered in another medium, singing backup for Farrow, a local up and coming rock and soul based group led by another friend, the Michael of that last name.  Eleanor made it all the way to a 10:00 start time over the winter to see this band do a full set. More recently, we've seen posts from Danielle that she had begun fronting her own band of a somewhat similar style named


She's had other gigs before this, most later than we can usually make, but this one at Jack Rabbit was sponsored by the Goo Goo Dolls' local Music Is Art Foundation, so, free to come in, and their band took the stage at a reasonable for us old people time of 8:30. I waited for Brittany to do her reading, then zoomed past Sidewalk Guy to catch most of her hourlong set.

On her left, a singer friend she called up for a number near the end of her time:



I was one of the first people she came to talk to after they were done. Other than reminding her that I'd just left a room full of people who also love and support her, I was virtually speechless. My words after returning for the final poets were almost as brief:

We’ve seen Danielle with Farrow, but she’s been fronting her own project as well. Diyené is powerful and inspirational and damn this grrl just looks so happy and takes the whole room with her:)

The next morning, these words from Ben, one of the poets who co-hosts the open mic:

I have been trying to catch Diyené since they debuted. Last night I managed to sneak out of my open mic, scamper down Elmwood, and catch one song.

There are few acts in Buffalo I’ve seen that made me say “if they’re playing you need to go.” I can’t remember an act that made me say that with one song.

Go see them.

To which I replied:

I sandwiched in the poets between two music gigs: that one, and a Beatles cover band.

Listening to Danielle from literally ten feet from the stage, I thought, this is what the Cavern Club must’ve been like. Not saying they’re destined for that much fame, but damned if I’m ruling it out, either.

If that seems like a stretch, you could ask another young singer from Western New York named Danielle. Not long ago, Danielle Ponder was a Rochester lawyer in the Public Defender's office doing occasional nighttime gigs, including one here that drew a crowd so small she wound up paying her bandmates 34 bucks each for a night of work.  Now she's a full-time musician, working major arenas and festivals, showing up (at least until the strikes) on the late-night talk show circuit, and getting serious Grammy consideration.

Could it happen again? Danielle right it could:)

Comments

[warriorsavant]

Saw the first pic, and before I fully focused, thought it was a reference to certain recently ex-president. (And most hopefully not the once and future prez.)

[angledge]

So my little brother (both a baseball nerd & a politics addict) pointed out that if only Philadelphia can find a way to indict Trump, he will have an active court case in every city in the NL East.

[captainsblog]

Four words:
"Four Seasons Total Landscaping."

[angledge]

OMG