Jason Aldean packed a sold-out performance at Darien Lake Performance Arts Center on Thursday evening. Photo by Steve Ognibene
Jason Aldean performed Thursday evening at Darien Lake Performing Arts Center, starting out with one of his smash hits, "Burning It Down," and continuing with more of his hits throughout the evening.
All the performances were amazing, including openers Austin Snell, Chase Mathew, and Lauren Alaina, who all put on great shows. Each one played their top songs at a sold-out show enjoyed by all ages who attended.
Classic rock fans certainly got an earful at Batavia Downs on Friday night with what essentially a double headline of a Tom Petty tribute band and a Fleetwood Mac tribute band entertained an estimated 4,500 concertgoers.
Practically Petty took the stage at 6:30 p.m. with a near-note-perfect performance of classics from Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, including a few deep tracks.
Then, Rumors ALT took the stage and delivered a satisfying dose of Fleetwood Mac hits.
This summer, Jason Aldean is doing what he’s done nearly every year around this time since he arrived on the country music scene in 2005. He’s going on tour, headlining amphitheater shows across the country.
To hear him tell it, getting out on the road and onto concert stages never gets old.
“That’s always kind of been my favorite part, the live touring and being on the road and playing music,” Aldean said in a phone interview. “I’m not really a studio rat guy. I’m not a guy that just loves going in the studio and stays in there all the time. When we go cut an album, I want to get in there, get it done, knock it out and then I want to go tour.”
That’s not to say Aldean has been neglecting the music-making side of his career. In fact, he’s been particularly prolific over the past five-plus years, releasing more than 70 songs over the course of five albums – the most recent of which was last year’s “Highway Desperado.”
Beyond being efficient with his time in the studio, one thing that probably has helped enable Aldean to release so much music lately is he’s relied on outside songwriters for nearly all of his most recent material – which means Aldean hasn’t had to set aside time for songwriting.
That, however, changed somewhat with “Highway Desperado,” as Aldean co-wrote three of the album’s songs.
“I got back in the writer’s chair for this album,” Aldean said. “It still is a part of what I do. I can do it. I don’t love it, and I don’t know how to say it. Sitting in a room for me for hours at a time trying to come up with something is torture. I’m just not good at that. I don’t like to feel like I’m closed in in an office. I have to kind of approach it in a different way. So for this album, I kind of wanted to get back into that a little bit and I found a way that kind of works for me a little bit.”
Aldean credited two of his band members, Kurt Allison (guitar) and Tully Kennedy (bass), with spurring him to write with them for “Highway Desperado,” and the two band members have credits on the majority of the songs on the album, including its controversial lead single, “Try That in a Small Town.”
The song decries senseless big-city crime, but was widely criticized as an anti-Black Lives Matter song that celebrates a brand of vigilante justice where townspeople take care of their own.
Aldean has defended “Try That in a Small Town,” saying in a statement the song wasn’t meant to deal with race and was a tribute to communities that come together to support each other in times of trouble. Aldean also commented on the song in this interview.
“‘Try That in a Small Town,” it’s just one of those things that I felt like was something I wanted to say. Like most everybody, I watch the news every night and see what’s going on in our world, and it’s crazy and insane, and it’s just not something I can still wrap my head around,” Aldean said. “You get a song like this that comes along and it says everything you want to say, and it’s like man, I want to cut that and I want to get it out as soon as possible.”
The fuss over “Try That in a Small Town” has eased now, but despite that, it became Aldean’s first song to top “Billboard” magazine’s all-genre Hot 100 singles chart. It also topped the country singles chart.
Having a song top the country charts has become a regular occurrence for Aldean, who splashed onto the scene with a 2005 self-titled debut album that turned out a No. 1 single, “Why,” and two top 10 songs, “Hicktown” and “Amarillo Sky.” He’s gone on to pile up nearly 30 No. 1 songs over his career.
Aldean views “Highway Desperado” as traveling down a similar musical path as his other albums, with several musical genres working their way into a mix of hefty rock-tinged songs and sturdy, melodic ballads.
“I think at this point, when you listen to any of the albums I’ve done, my sound and what I do is just what I do,” he said. “There’s going to be some rock and roll influence in there, obviously a lot of country music influence, some pop and hip-hop-type stuff. It’s what I’ve done kind of my whole career.”
Aldean can’t fit all of his hits into his shows anymore, but he puts a good deal of effort into crafting a crowd-pleasing selection of songs.
“Every year, I really sit down and try to come up with a set list that I feel like is cool, that people are going to get their money’s worth when they come to a show and try to figure out a way to play some of the things that everybody knows from year’s past, and also some songs that we’ve done recently,” he said. “It’s a little tricky sometimes.”
Jason Aldean performs at Darien Lake Amphitheater on Thursday, August 1 at 7:30 p.m.
Playing a set of classic rock and country hits, the Rochester-based band Another Vice entertained fairgoers on Thursday evening at the Genesee County Fair.
Batavia native Joey Pero works on a "mash-up" of two BHS alma mater songs for a new piece to celebrate Batavia Concert Band's centennial this year. It will debut at this week's concert at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Centennial Park, Batavia. Submitted Photo
It was about four months ago when Joey Pero played an alumni concert at Batavia High School and ended up in talks about doing a little something for Batavia Concert Band’s centennial season this year.
A collaborative discussion with band manager Jason Smith and band conductor John Bailey resulted in more than a little something, as Pero, a 1999 BHS graduate who went on to make a name for himself as a talented trumpet player and most recently went on tour with Jesus Christ Superstar, reached beyond merely playing a piece for the concert.
“And they said, ‘Well, what would you like to play?’ And I was just, I kind of mulled it over, and I said, 'Well, geez, you know, we have an alma mater song called Ever Batavia I remember playing in graduation. And why don't I do something really specific to Batavia for the 100th anniversary?' And you know, the more I thought about it, the more it kind of unwound in my head. And the more research I did, there are actually two alma maters. One was written in 1901 by Leslie Coryell, and it's called the blue and white. And then Hoyt Irwin wrote Ever Batavia in 1938. And that's been pretty much the song that is played at graduations, our alma mater events,” Pero said to The Batavian. “So after doing this research about the two, I said, well, I'm gonna write a piece for the concert band and weave these two pieces together kind of like a mash-up.
"And, you know, I wanted to also make the solo part easy for an intermediate level person so that at the conclusion of this concert Wednesday, I'll actually gift the piece to not only the Batavia Concert Band but the Batavia High School archives, so maybe in the future for the bicentennial they can play this piece," he said. "I wrote it with that in mind as well, that it would maybe have some forward life in the future.”
He took the 1901 piece, “The Blue and White,” written by W. Leslie Coryell, and “Ever Batavia,” written by Hoyt Irwin in 1938 and created a brand new piece for the band to celebrate two different decades, time periods and songs that were composed in contrasting tempos. Wednesday’s concert at 7 p.m. in Centennial Park will debut “Ever Blue and White,” a three-minute and 20-second composition by Joey Pero.
“No one's really done anything like that, for these pieces of music are two pretty standard types of pieces you would hear at any school, but I kind of gave it some cool elements and some cool counter lines and some sonorities that I think the band can really handle well and play the heck out of. So, for those who don't know, the concert band practices on Tuesday, the repertoire on Tuesday and performs it on Wednesday, so it's not like they're rehearsing this for months on end or weeks on end. It's really like a sight reading thing and then a performance the next day, and certainly, I'm looking forward to hearing this come to life,” he said. “You sit behind a computer and put these notes on a page. And you know, it plays back on a computer … so it's computerized sound. But the magic is really when they play the first note and that gives lift to the piece of music. So I'm looking forward to that the most.”
The rain location is at Stuart Steiner Theatre on the Genesee Community College campus, 1 College Road, Batavia. Inclement weather has pushed the musicians out to GCC the last two weeks, but Pero and band members, including band manager Jason Smith, are keeping fingers crossed for a clear-skied park performance this week.
“We are excited to have Joey join the Batavia Concert Band as we continue to celebrate our centennial anniversary! Joey was a proud member of the Band, and I was personally and musically thrilled when he returned to our hometown this past year,” Smith said. “Conductor John Bailey and I have enjoyed collaborating with him for this concert on Wednesday, and his presence and the special piece he composed for the Concert Band will be a special honor and is not to be missed — let's hope for no rain! Many of us, including me, have followed and appreciated Joey's musical career over the years, and for him to write a song incorporating the Batavia High School alma mater is indeed special.”
Pero is on a hiatus from the musical world, he said, since his contract with Jesus Christ Superstar ended in summer 2022 and he moved back to Batavia and launched his first AirBnB. Business has been booming, and the two-unit property has been booked ever since he began to advertise it, he said.
Visitors have come to stay from California, Indiana, Florida, Canada, New Jersey, Russia, and as nearby as Rochester, either for a relaxing staycation or to go see Darien Lake, Batavia Downs, Letchworth State Park or to get a glimpse of the eclipse in Genesee County, he said.
Of course, visitors could also attend a free concert every Wednesday, and Pero, who played in the group from 1997 to 1999, can attest to the quality of the Batavia Concert Band.
“It’s a damn good band; they sounded great,” he said of the last concert at GCC.
He described the process of taking this song through “various dynamics and tempos and time signatures.”
“I’ve morphed it into different time signatures and different tempos and I also interwove the two together. So if you listen carefully, you can hear one, and you can hear the other one kind of hinting in the background,” he said. So it's kind of cool how I mashed it up and was able to fit both in with both of them being so different at the same time. There's a beautiful intro to the tune with trilling flutes, clarinets, and piccolos, and the French horns come in with this Blue and White melody, and then the trombones come under it with Ever Batavia. So you can tell right off the bat here that both of the tunes are kind of infused in the introduction.
“I really hope the band enjoys playing it. There are some challenging parts, and I highlighted at least one section each of the band,” he said. “So there’s some moments for the percussion, there’s some moments for the French horns, the trombones, the clarinets certainly and the flutes certainly.”
He credits Josh Pacino for being a tremendous help with the archive search for the songs, which allowed Pero “to gain perspective on these two pieces of music,” he said.
A kaleidoscopic, psychedelic video of drummer Chad Smith plays above him and Flea during the Red Hot Chili Peppers concert at Darien Lake on Friday. Photo by Howard Owens.
The Red Hot Chili Peppers hit the stage hot at Darien Lake Performing Arts Center on a steamy Saturday night with an instrumental jam that featured Flea's funky slap baselines, Chad Smith's pounding beat, and John Frusciante's sizzling fretwork.
Then Anthony Kiedis took the stage and kicked things up a notch.
The LA-based punk/funk band ran through 18 songs on the night, both hits and deep tracks, pulling material from most of their 13 studio albums released since 1984, including Blood Sugar Sex Magik, Californication, Stadium Arcadium, and their two most recent releases, Unlimited Love and Return of the Dream Canteen.
"Eddie" is Frusciante's tribute to one of his guitar heroes, Eddie Van Halen, and it is a standout track on Dream Canteen. From the same album, they also played "Carry Me Home." From Unlimited Love, they featured the opening track "Black Summer" and Kliedis's name-dropping ode to the LA music scene of his youth, "Aquatic Mouth Dance," which opens with one of Flea's greatest bass riffs.
Reliable fan favorites in the set included "Suck My Kiss" and "Californication."
The Peppers also included two covers of the Ramones: "I Remember You" and "Havana Affair."
The biggest hits, "Under the Bridge" and "Give It Away," were saved for the encore.
The opener on Friday was LA-based psychedelic rock band Wand, which is currently on tour supporting its fifth studio album, Vertigo.
Singer and lead guitarist Cory Hanson, with a David Byrne-like wiryness, is an impressive musician and strong presence on stage. Unfortunately, the set was marred by a poor mix. The bass guitar and kick drum dominated and overwhelmed everything else coming from the stage, making the mix muddled and suppressing most sense of melody from the songs. That's a shame because a check of a couple of the band's releases indicates they strike the right tone to potentially win over Chili Pepper fans.
Chad Smith, John Frusciante, and Anthony Kiedis Photo by Howard Owens.
Chad Smith, Flea, and John Frusciante. Photo by Howard Owens.
Frontman Anthony Kiedis Photo by Howard Owens.
Flea Photo by Howard Owens.
Chad Smith Photo by Howard Owens.
John Frusciante Photo by Howard Owens.
Flea, Chad Smith, and John Frusciante. Photo by Howard Owens.
Flea, Anthony Kiedis, and Chad Smith Photo by Howard Owens.
Cory Hanson, frontman for the band Wand. Photo by Howard Owens.
Country music superstar Chris Stapelton's All-American Road Show passed through Darien Lake Performing Arts Center on Thursday. Also on the bill, Marcus King and Nikki Lane.
Something for everyone is promised for those who gather at Veterans Memorial Park on Main Street in the Village of Elba. The event, Music in the Park, will take place on Saturday, July 13, and serves as a scholarship fundraiser.
The event will take place from 3-7 p.m. where there will be a bounce house and face painting for the little ones, as well as a Chinese Auction, 50-50 raffles, food trucks, and live music for all to enjoy. The music will be provided by several of the local favorite bands including GumShoe, Savage Cabbage, and The Royal Halls.
The event is sponsored by the Jared Lee Diehl Memorial Scholarship Fund, Inc. which has been established to benefit local high school students with a scholarship award, to promote an interest in music and to encourage respect and compassion for one another.
Jared Lee Diehl tragically passed away before his 34th birthday in 2023. He will always be remembered for his contagious smile and positive, welcoming personality.
The Cowboy Vampires performed on Jackson Street. Photo by Howard Owens
The sun was out and people were in a happy place in Downtown Batavia on Saturday for the 2024 Batavia Ramble Music & Arts Fest, which was spread out over Jackson Street, School Street, and, of course, in Jackson Square.
For a lot of people and musicians, the festival was their first experience with the new stage in the square.
It received rave reviews for visibility and acoustics. The soundman said it was a big improvement, with the metal ceiling providing a great acoustic reflection.
The stage was funded by a state grant as part of a larger city of Batavia project to transform Jackson Street into a more attractive public square. The total grant was for $750,000 with the stage being just one component of the costs.
Twenty-five acts performed on two stages, including the stage on Jackson Street.
Shotgun Pauly Photo by Oward Owens
Distant View Photo by Howard Owens
Photo by Howard Owens
Photo by Howard Owens
Photo by Howard Owens
Photo by Howard Owens
The Rock-A-Bully's Photo by Howard Owens
Shotgun Pauly Photo by Howard Owens
Photo by Howard Owens
Photos by Howard Owens
Photos by Howard Owens
Photo by Howard Owens
Sons of Luther Photo by Howard Owens
Sons of Luther Photo by Howard Owens
Sons of Luther Photo by Howard Owens
Sons of Luther Photo by Howard Owens
Sons of Luther Photo by Howard Owens
The Royal Halls Photo by Howard Owens
The Royal Halls Photo by Howard Owens
Logan Music, 302 Ellicott St., Batavia, donated a guitar as a Ramble fundraising raffle prize, and Zach Burgess won it. And there are a couple of interesting storylines around Zach's prize. The first winning ticket was to Bob Trombley., who immediately donated it back so somebody else might have a chance to win it. Zach's band, Zackstreet Boys, played the Ramble a few years ago, and he mistakenly left behind a double-sided Hercules guitar stand. At the Ramble on Saturday, Stephen Kowalcyk tells him his guitar stand is being used to hold the Ovation guitar, one of the raffle prizes (there were also Buffalo Bills tickets), suggesting he remember to take it with him later. Well, Zach, by luck, left with the guitar stand and guitar. Pictures, Kowalcyk, Burgess, and Jermey Logan. Photo by Howard Owens.
April Wine headlined the Rockin' the Downs concert series on Friday. Photo by Steve Ognibene
Canadian rock band April Wine headlined a packed crowd in the Friday night summer concert series at Batavia Downs Casino on Friday evening.
Members formed the band in 1969, based in Halifax, Nova Scotia. From its inception, the band was led by singer-guitarist-songwriter Myles Goodwyn, who died in 2023. Brian Greenway now fronts the band.
On Record, an album released in 1972, reached the Top 40 in Canada and yielded two hit singles: a cover of Elton John's "Bad Side of the Moon” and a cover of Hot Chocolates' “You Could Have Been a Lady.”
Currently on a US and Canadian tour through the summer, you can find more details on their website www.aprilwine.ca
More than 200 people turned out Friday night for the inaugural open mic and open art event in Jackson Square. Photo by Steve Ognibene
A new event that many who attended, including the organizers, hope will return in future years premiered in Jackson Square on Friday night, the night before the Ramble Music and Arts Fest.
It was an open mic for local musicians and an open art session for local visual artists.
More than 200 people attended, and more musicians than time available signed up to sing and play.
Jo David Arts and Iburi Photography presented the event.
Jo David Arts is a partnership between local artists Mary Jo Whitman and Brian Kemp. Iburi is a photography studio on Jackson Street that started hosting increasingly popular open mic sessions about five months ago.
"We're excited to bring this event to Jackson Square," Whitman said. "This is a great opportunity for local performers and artists to showcase their work and connect with the community in a fun and supportive environment."
The open art night is an extension of the First Fridays Open Art event at GO ART!, which was created by Kemp, who compared the event to a pick-up game of basketball.
"You just get together," Kemp said. "Like, I never got together with anybody and done art before until I had this idea, 'Well, I play basketball with other people, why can't I do art with people?' We're all working on our own thing, but sometimes we'll do collabs where somebody works on something that somebody else works on the same thing."
The Ramble started at 10 a.m. on Saturday and runs until 10 p.m., with music on two stages -- Jackson Square and Jackson Street. There will also be art and artists, activities, and food and beverages.
For a lineup of musical acts playing the Ramble this year, click here.
A weekend of art and music kicks off a week from today, Friday, July 5, with an open mic and open art session in Jackson Square.
Then, on Saturday, July 6, the 2024 Ramble Music and Arts Fest will celebrate the music and art of Genesee County and the region.
The events on Friday are hosted by Iburi Photography, Jo David Arts, and GO ART!
Musicians are encouraged to arrive starting at 5:30 for the open mic, which starts at 6 p.m. and runs until 9 p.m. Following the open mic, Scotty DiMartino of Esdee Entertainment will close the night with music and a light show.
GO ART! is bringing its "First Friday Open Art Session" to Jackson Square that evening. Artists of all media are invited to bring their latest pieces or start new ones. While tables will be set up for convenience, artists are welcome to bring their easels and create in the open air.
The free event is open to the public.
The Ramble features 26 performers on two stages -- the main (and newly constructed) stage in Jackson Square and on a stage on Jackson Street.
Jackson Street will be closed for the day. It is were attendees can find artists' booths, vendors, and food.
Here is the lineup for the two stages:
Jackson Square Stage
Tom Ryan & Friends, 11:00 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
Lonesome Road. 11:40 a.m. - 12:10 p.m.
Gumshoe, 12:20 p.m. - 12:50 p.m.
Driven, 1:00 p.m. - 1:30 p.m.
Indigo Flow, 1:40 p.m. - 2:00 p.m.
The Real News, 2:20 p.m. - 2:50 p.m.
Soulshine Band, 3:00 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.
Prospect, 3:40 p.m. - 4:10 p.m.
Bad Sign, 4:20 p.m. - 4:50 p.m.
The Rock-A-Bully's, 5:30 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Shotgun Pauly, 6:10 p.m. - 6:40 p.m.
Groove, 6:50 p.m. - 7:20 p.m.
Sons Of Luther, 7:30 p.m. - 8:20 p.m.
The Royal Halls, 8:30 p.m. - Close
Jackson Street Stage (On the corner of Jackon St. and School St.)
