What’s Good – August 3-9, 2023
Our weekly guide to what’s going on around Buffalo and in the world of pop culture.
Thursday, 8/3
Romeo and Juliet (Shakespeare in Delaware Park, 199 Lincoln Pkwy, Tue-Sun 7:15pm, FREE)
The Bard’s tale of star-crossed lovers is performed nightly (apart from Mondays) in Delaware Park, through 8/20.
American Idiot (Ujima Theater Company, 429 Plymouth Ave, Thu/Fri/Sat 7:30-9:30pm, Sun 3-5pm, $25)
The post-9/11 Broadway musical based on the Green Day album of the same name (and their subsequent album, 21st Century Breakdown)
School of Rock All-Stars (Rec Room, 79 Chippewa St, 6pm, $12)
Be touched by children from all over, as the AllStars represent the best teenage musicians from School of Rock’s worldwide locations. With an opening act from Buffalo’s School of Rock.
Nimesh Patel (Helium Comedy Club, 30 Mississippi St, 7:15pm, $27)
Veteran stand-up Patel is also an Emmy-nominated TV writer who’s worked on Saturday Night Live, Full Frontal with Samantha Bee, A Little Late with Lilly Singh, and the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.
Adam Ezra Group (9th Ward, 341 Delaware Ave, 8pm, $20)
This Boston fiddle/bass/drums country group tours relentlessly, and kept the music going through COVID by playing over 500 livestream shows before returning to the road.
Friday, 8/4
Fall Out Boy (Darien Lake, 9993 Alleghany Rd, Darien Center, 6:30pm, $67-$300)
The pop-punk quartet visits Darien Lake on their So Much For (Tour) Dust tour.
Generation (Silo City, 200 Silo Row, 7:30-9pm Fri/Sat/Sun,$25)
Conceptual theater company Torn Space puts on an immersive performance ritual against the backdrop of the waterfront’s towering grain elevators.
Big Gay Infringement (Milkie’s, 522 Elmwood Ave, 8pm, $7)
Milkie’s contribution to the Buffalo Infringement Festival includes The Jukebox of Unfinished Works, folk/soul act MYQ F, moody Beatles tribute Magical Misery Tour, stand-up Johnna Rich, Leafy Trees’ “instrumental soundscapes for gay cats”, and Drowning in Bile’s “queer liberation danger music.”
Legends, Divas & Diamonds (Bittersweet Piano Lounge, 391 Washington St, 10pm)
Keke Velasquez-Lord hosts a one-night-only cabaret-style drag performance, with songs from a variety of musical divas.
Live Band Karaoke (Rec Room, 79 W. Chippewa St, 10pm)
Sing Top 40 songs backed by a live band.
Buffalo Gift Emporium (Ken-Ton Elmwood Commons, 3200 Elmwood Ave, 5-10pm, FREE)
This free event includes a wide variety of food and gift vendors, a beer tent, a magic show and bounce house for the kids, and a performance by Cami Clune from The Voice.
Alex McArthur Quartet (Thin Man Brewery, 166 Chandler St, 6-8:30pm, FREE)
The local jazz group plays as part of Jazz at Chandlerville’s fifth season.
Dave Hill Group (Seneca One Tower, 1 Seneca St, 5-8pm, FREE)
The local jazz group plays as part of the Jazz On the Plaz series.
New Movies This Week
The Meg 2: The Trench (in wide release)
Jason Statham fights sharks, which is clearly the most winning formula in the history of movies.
Shortcomings (Quaker Crossing)
Randall Park makes his directorial debut, adapting a graphic novel by Adrian Tomine, in which Justin Min (The Umbrella Academy) breaks up with his girlfriend Ally Maki (The Big Door Prize) and decides to pursue white women, with mixed results. With Sherry Cola, Tavi Gevinson, and Sonoya Mizuno.
Dreamin’ Wild (Market Arcade 8, Quaker Crossing)
Casey Affleck and Walton Goggins play the real-life Emerson brothers, whose music was largely ignored in the ’70s but was rediscovered in the 2010s. With Noah Jupe and Jack Dylan Grazer as their younger selves, and Zooey Deschanel and Beau Bridges in supporting roles.
Saturday 8/5
50 Cent (Darien Lake, 9993 Alleghany Rd, Darien Center, 7pm, $56-240)
If you believe the Final Lap Tour is actually Fitty’s last tour, we’ve got some NFTs we’d like to sell you. But it’s a chance to party like it’s Get Rich Or Die Tryin’s birthday, as that album came out 20 years ago.
Jack Craft Fair (Larkin Square, 745 Seneca St, 11am-5pm, FREE)
This alternative art festival is in its 10th year, with artists presenting their work, free workshops for adults and kids, and food and drink vendors.
Forest Lawn Walking Tours (Forest Lawn Cemetery, 1990 Main St, 11am, $10)
Tour the cemetery’s natural landscape, while learning about some of its notable residents.
Mick Hayes (The Cave, 71 Military Rd, 7-10pm, $17)
Guitarist Hayes plays his farewell show..
Hilario Durán (PAUSA Art House, 19 Wadsworth St, 7-9:30pm, $20)
The Cuban pianist performs “Con Tumbao,” with an all-Cuban band.
The Restless Soles (Gene McCarthy’s, 73 Hamburg St, 7-10pm)
The Soles play an upbeat mix of summertime music.
George Scott Big Band (Buffalo Naval Park, One Naval Park Cove, 1-3pm, FREE)
A free afternoon of music as a belated Independence Day celebration, including food and drink vendors. Bring your own lawn chair!
Sunday 8/6
Tour de Olmstead (Oliver Hazard Parry Statue, Front Park, 8;9:30am, $20)
Delaware Park was designed by the legendary Frederick Law Olmstead, but this 21-mile bike tour explores his other parks — Front, South, and Cazenovia — along with some of the other marks he left on Buffalo’s landscape across the East and West Sides, Downtown, South Buffalo, Canalside, and Outer Harbor. Helmets required. Experienced riders recommended, as this is a long ride with several significant hills.
Asian Food & Culture Festival (Canalside Longshed, 44 Prime St, 10:30am-7pm, FREE)
The festival includes pan-Asian cuisine from restaurants across Buffalo.
VegFest (Johnnie B Wiley Sports Pavilion, 1100 Jefferson Ave, noon-6pm, FREE)
This vegetarian food festival includes food vendors, speakers, cooking demos, and kids activities. On the grounds of the Bills’ old home, the former War Memorial Stadium.
Heather Bambrick w/Chase Sanborn (AKG Art Museum, 1285 Elmwood Ave, 2pm, FREE)
Acclaimed Canadian jazz vocalist Bambrick teams up with Toronto-based trumpeter Sanborn, who has previously toured with Ray Charles.
Wendell Rivera Latin Jazz Ensemble (Richardson Olmstead Campus, 444 Forest Ave, 2pm, FREE)
The Riviera Ensemble has been voted best Latin jazz band in the JazzBuffalo poll for the last eight years in a row!.
Glasswaves w/Elucidate, Calamity (Mohawk Place, 47 E Mohwak St, 6pm, $15)
A night of atmospheric hard rock.
Sunset Sundays (RiverWorks, 359 Ganson St, 5:30-11pm, $29.50)
House and techno breaks along the water, under the sun and stars.
Monday 8/7
Imperial Life Ride (Butler Park, 6:30-10pm, FREE)
This week’s Slow Roll is a 10-mile roundtrip includes a stop at Imperial Pizza, to learn about ongoing river restoration events… and pizza!
Tuesday 8/8
Food Truck Tuesdays (Larkin Square, 745 Seneca St, 5-8pm)
Dozens of food trucks from Buffalo and Rochester ply their wares, along with live music.
The Wallflowers (Asbury Hall, 341 Delaware Ave, 8pm)
While he might never be the best songwriter in the family, Jakob Dylan has still given the word some terrific pop songs.
XOXO Band (Elmwood Village, 7pm)
This pop group plays covers, and specializes in corporate events, but also performs tonight as part of the Bidwell Parkway Summer Concert Series.
Only Murders In the Building (Hulu)
Hulu’s droll murder-mystery returns, this time with a murder not in the building, as when Martin Short’s struggling theater director puts on a show, someone in the cast is killed and everyone’s a suspect, so it’s up to Short, Steve Martin, and Selena Gomez to podcast (and ideally, solve) the crime.
Hard Knocks (HBO)
Every year, Hard Knocks spends time in the locker room of a professional football team, but this year instead they’re visiting the New York Jets.
Wednesday 8/9
The 183rd Erie County Fair (Hamburg Fairgrounds, 5820 South Park Ave, Hamburg)
Rides, games, corndogs, and funnel cake await, as the fair opens today and runs through 8/20.
Subject Board of Directors Meeting (5:15pm, Google Meet)
Subject is student-run and managed by a non-profit. Our board meetings are open to the public, in case you want to make suggestions or see how the sausage gets made. You can also join our Discord channel to learn more about the site and pitch an article, radio show, or podcast, or otherwise get involved.