Toronto-based blues rock band hits South Buffalo

By Joe Genco

The Caz is a spectacle. No matter what band you see there, the acoustics will be tight, the sightlines impeccable and the atmosphere almost euphoric because the room is clean, sophisticated and just so.

Add in great blues rock from Toronto’s Bywater Call and it gets even better like it was on Saturday night for the Meghan Parnell-fronted band.

Bywater is seven pieces, keys, drums, bass, guitar, baritone sax and trumpet and Meghan. With tight rhythm and lots of soulful emotion Parnell’s voice shined brightly from the very start with “Sweet Maria” and continued with “For All You Know,” “Everybody Knows” and “Arizona.”

The band hails from the Stockyards neighborhood in Toronto and like many similar-sized outfits travels simply in an old school bus, building a fan base one show, one album sale and one t-shirt at a time.

A pre-show email for more information brought an enthusiastic response from Parnell. There is no room for pretension when an ensemble is perfecting its craft on a twisted road that includes long trips and close quarters.

As for The Caz, the curtains on the stage and sidewall and acoustic tiles on the ceiling keep the sound tight without the echoes you might expect from a large space.

Bands must love it as well because every show is recorded and videoed. Screens flank the stage. There are a ton of Bywater Call videos on the internet. The Caz show will most assuredly add to the collection.

A highlight for us was hearing a fun rendition of Joe Cocker’s “Alright” toward the end. Parnell told the crowd they had never played it out before. After the show she said they had rehearsed it a few times. If it wasn’t perfect, no one knew. They also did a good cover of “Kashmir.”

Bywater Call, named for a New Orleans neighborhood, is the sort of Americana/blues rock band we used to love seeing at the Tralf, almost reminiscent of Donna the Buffalo or Driftwood. We have not been back there since it reopened as Electric City.

At The Caz, tickets were $24. We paid an extra $15 for mezzanine seats.

I counted the house during Diyene and saw 35 people up, 39 down. Toward the end of Bywater’s set I counted again. 40 down 35 up.

General Manager Andre Pilette lords over the place wearing his signature feathered fedora and sport coat evoking images of Gord Downey. He is the epitome of cool, treating the place like he owns it. I would love to see his step count for a night like Saturday. Everytime I took my eyes off the stage it seemed like he was in view walking the room.

The opening act Diyené is a funk/soul/pop band fronted by Danielle Johnson. Saturday she was joined on guitar by Michael Delano, who might be familiar because of his stint with 77 Stone or the multiple other bands he plays in.

Diyené wants us to be “Better,” her signature song, in the same way Tom Stahl wants us to be “Ignorant,” both great messages we need to hear.

Johnson was coming off playing with Uncle Ben’s Remedy Friday night at the Grosh album release at the Town Ballroom.

The Caz was built as Southside Bank on Seneca Street, closed as Liberty Bank and was vacant when purchased by developer Jake Schnieder for $150,000 in 2018. It was built out at a cost of $2.5 million. It is a cashless venue so be careful what you order.

When we saw Miller and the Other Sinners in February, one shared entree, a shared app, a glass of wine, a glass of beer and one bourbon came to a whopping $98.04. We ordered from the QR code and our food and drink arrived at our table. We much prefer having a server to talk to.

This time we skipped The Caz food menu in favor of Mulberry’s in Lackawanna, a great choice for arancini, pasta Alfano and Tre White BBQ hot wings.

For Bywater Call, we had an actual server, which was better than the personless QR code, but having learned our lesson last time, Beth stuck to water and I nursed a Tullamore Dew which set me back $14.49, including a compulsory 18% tip and 2% service fee.

One other thought, related but unrelated. I had a nice chat with Jaden the security guard standing on the stairs. He is 18, works part time as a guard and is looking forward to being 21 so he can get a pistol permit and make a few more dollars hourly. He hopes to become a state trooper but is hesitant to go the military route because war sucks. His is just one of the lives a place like The Caz supports.

You can buy tickets and see what’s coming next here. https://www.thecazbuffalo.com/shows

(Joe Genco is a Niagara Falls-based husband, father, journalist, music lover, cook, hiker, forager, financial services professional and dog lover. You can read more of his work here. https://niagaraexpress.town.news/ )