Stories & Events for Social Connection

Ralph Wilson Park splashing and transforming
Musings on Music: Time and place for tribute acts
Featured Events: 23 this week, encouraging submissions!

Welcome to the Buffalodown, thank you for your attention!

Wishing everyone a reflective holiday weekend, and the resolve to stay struggling for freedom for all, as our flawed founders sort of envisioned it – it was only for some then, and it’s increasingly under attack from Washington to Buffalo’s West Side, where Good Neighbors are rallying around an Iranian immigrant being stalked by ICE for seemingly just being here.

In turn, notice the drop in diversity at community events, as immigrants fear being profiled, detained and dumped in concentration camps that will surely be rapidly expanding with the huge increase in ICE funding at the cold heart of Trump’s disastrous bill just signed into law.

I expect to see such a scene today in Ralph Wilson Park, the front porch of Lake Erie for Buffalo’s largely Latino Lower West Side. While we stay amazed at the ongoing transformation from the crumbling former Lasalle Park to the reborn Ralph Wilson Park through a nine-figure donation from the Ralph Wilson Foundation and newly-established Ralph Wilson Park Conservancy, we’ll gather today for a Summer Splash and celebrate this transformation that’s been guided by input from open community meetings in which everyone is invited and every voice considered.

This is what beloved community looks like, and this is how big and beautiful it can be when our wealthiest neighbors share their abundance.

As an official ambassador for the park, having attended most of these public meetings over the past seven years and witnessed this shining example of radical inclusion, I was honored to thank Ralph’s widow Mary Wilson in person for her legendary generosity at a conservancy gathering last week to premiere the video below about the shoreline transformation – much more to come, stay tuned!

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Musings on Music

A time and place for tribute acts

Nostalgia is a powerful drug.

The word itself originates from pain and sadness, a longing for some past place or time or just a familiar feeling of comfort. Nostalgia meets the healing power of music when an artist performs a song that takes the listener back to that sacred state, and therefore, just like a restauranteur is statistically more likely to succeed by franchising a chain than creating their own concept, so, too, is a musician more likely to be rewarded by performing cover songs and tribute shows than their own originals.

As audiences swell and swill around tribute acts, musicians and venue operators make more money, and so the cycle goes. If you want to see more original and creatively covered music, support those presenting it – from the musicians themselves to the venue operators who host them and the organizations that sponsor them. There will always be options in the events listings below.

This week is a fun one for my part as I’m tasked with curating the live music lineup at Larkin Square, where there’s an increased demand for tribute acts on Live at Larkin Wednesdays along with more creative freedom on Food Truck Tuesdays when the trucks are enough of a draw.

This Tuesday, Saranaide will offer “soulful sounds to satiate your auditory palate” – I love that description of the music of Sara Rodriguez and her fluid band, I’d love to hear your take on it if you attend. Then on Wednesday, I’ve challenged fellow Radiohead fan Zak Ward and his band the Million Dollar Question to celebrate the 30th anniversary of their album The Bends by recreating it from beginning to end, plus a second set blending more from that beloved band with songs of his own. See the videos below for a bit of each.

Last week had huge crowds on both days – please say hey if you see me there!