Buffalo Music: Tough Old Bird and Florist perform first shows at revived venue

By Elmer Ploetz
(Photos by Elmer Ploetz)

Mohawk Place returned with an invocation Friday night.

That’s what it felt like as Tough Old Bird opened the show — the Mohawk’s first since its closing in January — with the lights off on stage and only a small red light their feet, creating a campfire-like glow. The Buffalo-based trio’s close harmonies only accentuated that effect before a quiet audience that generated a sense of reverence.

That only increased for headliners Florist, a duo that like Tough Old Bird falls into the indie folk camp. The lights were on, but the songs from singer Emily Sprague sounded like whispered confessions. The audience was even more reverent between applauding after songs.

Not to worry, loud will be back at the Mohawk — tonight Kurt & the Loders will reunite and DJ Giggle Giggle will both spin, both as part of a fundraiser for the Rise Collaborative. The Spit Sisters will be headlining a Halloween show next week.

But Friday night’s show was a quiet welcome back to the Mohawk’s audience, a chance to see the floors and bathrooms cleaner than they’ve been in a very long time and to check out the tables — which have blown-up clips of old newspapers mentioning happenings at 47 W. Mohawk Place.

There’s still work to do — there was no beer on tap yet Friday — and new owners Frank DiMaria and Bernice Radle and their team of volunteers and contributors still have to develop their plans to turn the whole building into a community resource worthy of the Mohawk Music & Arts name. You can contribute to those efforts HERE.

But meanwhile, here are some photos (and a video) from the performances on Friday night.

Photo 1 is Tough Old Bird; the rest are Emily Sprague and Felix Walworth of Florist.

Tough Old Bird performing Friday night: