Wild At Heart
One thing Detroit excels in is cars from the North American International Auto Show (which I always thought was a tad boring) to Autorama (always loved the design work that went into these cars), not to mention the Dream Cruise, the Concours, the Henry Ford and a dozen car museums within a decent drive. When I heard that Rochester, NY had a car show (the Greater Rochester International Auto Show), I snagged some free tickets and went to check it out. Let’s just say after 6 years in Detroit auto shows, this was a major let down. That is not to say there were not some nice cars but the layouts were boring and the actual quantity of cars was barely more than a decent car lot. The only car I saw that really impressed me was the Fisker which is a hybrid car from California which was founded in 2007 after numerous rejections from the big 3. You can check out 2010’s documentary “Revenge Of The Electric Car” to get a bit of back story on the company.
Despite not being overly impressed, there were a few cars I did enjoy so here are a few pictures from the show. I think yellow was a hot color.
In my free time, I went to the world famous House Of Guitars to check out a local band Envious Disguise, a punk rock band from Rochester (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Envious-Disguise/160620624041703?sk=app_178091127385). I thought they were more towards a indie rock vibe but they do play their own music. They haven’t been together long but they do have a good vibe on stage together like they are just letting things happen and are not overly serious yet. We’ll see what happens. Feel free to check them out at the link provided.
Last night I took in the Honeycutters from North Carolina. There lead singer (and songwriter), Amanda Anne Platt, has been getting some good word of mouth so I thought I would check out the show at Abeline’s. What I heard some a beautiful blend of songwriting and strings. The band has a couple upbeat songs but I found there more melancholy tunes to be the real stars of the show. I talked to Amanda after the show and brought up playing at the Ark which I think would fit the band wonderfully (she also has a relative that runs a bookstore in Ann Arbor so this should be a no-brainer) unless the guys who put on one of the major festivals want to invite them in (like the Hoedown or Concert Of Colors). They were without their drummer for this tour since he was working as an engineer with the Indigo Girls on their upcoming album. This was a low budget affair with lead guitarist/producer/sound guy Peter James who also added some background vocals as well as Spencer Taylor spectacular play on mandolin and Ian Harrod on bass. They are getting ready to release their sophomore album “When Bitter Met Sweet” sometime around May of 2012 and the songs they played from that album were wonderful. This is definitely a band to check out and all you guys who love the Ark, get some pressure to bring these guys in. You won’t be disappointed.
Getting ready to head out for the Hot Tuna show here in Rochester (they will be in Ann Arbor tomorrow) so have a good week and here are a few more choices of some hot shows, esp Gomez:
Tuesday (3/6) – Hot Tuna @ the Ark
Thursday (3/8) – Gomez @ St Andrews Hall, Matt Nathanson opens for Kelly Clarkson @ Caesar’s Windsor
Friday (3/9) – Tossers and St Thomas Boys Academy @ Small’s, An Horse @ Pike Room
Saturday (3/10) – Reverend Horton Heat @ Magic Stick, Hoots & Hellmouth @ the Ark, Lyle Lovett & John Hiatt @ Fillmore
Monday (3/12) – Anti-Flag @ Magic Stick