ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT ARCHIVE - 11-14-2024

-West Herr Riviera Theatre-North Tonawanda, NY-October 5, 2024-

Herman Hermit’s starring Peter Noone rolled into the historic West Herr Riviera Theatre in North Tonawanda, NY on October 5th, 2024 for a show before a sold out crowd of nostalgic music fans. In the ‘60’s Herman Hermit’s was one of the most successful bands of the British Invasion racking up numerous chart topping hits in the States and England. The seventy six year old Noone still has his mop of hair and mega watt smile that endured him to legions of teens back in the heyday. His energetic seventy five minute set covered most of the Hermit’s hits and more with a voice still clear and strong.

Hitting the stage with “I’m Into Something Good” followed by “Wonderful World”, Noone prowled the main floor singing and interacting with the crowd for the first couple of numbers before rejoining his band mates on stage. A riff on the Beach Boys “Barbara Ann” featuring lyrics changed to mention Cheektowaga brought smiles and chuckles from the audience as did Gerry and The Pacemakers’ hit “Ferry Cross the Mersey” with lyrics changed to mention Tonawanda this time. A main point of Noone’s show is to interact with his audience telling jokes, asking them to sing along (which they joyfully did) and other playful banter. The man is a consummate showman. From the Herman Hermits’ catalog Noone offered up “Dandy”, “A Must to Avoid”, “Silhouettes”, “Leaning on a Lamp Post” and “No Milk Today”. In addition to the Hermits hits Noone covered The Searchers “Love Potion #9”, Huey Smith’s “Sea Cruise”, The Monkees’ “Daydream Believer”, Manfred Mann’s “Do Wah Diddy Diddy” and Cliff Richards’ “Travellin’ Light” with lyrics changed to name check North Tonawanda. Throughout the show Noone would offer snippets of songs ranging from Johnny Cash’s “Ring of Fire”, Elton John’s “Bennie and the Jets” and the Stones “Start Me Up” complete with some signature Jagger dance moves from Noone. Closing out the show Noone reached for Herman Hermits biggest hits including “Can’t You Hear My Heartbeat”, “Mrs. Brown You’ve Got a Lovely Daughter”, “I’m Henry the VIII, I Am” and a beautiful show closing rendition of “There’s a Kind of Hush”. After the show Noone came out to the merch table where a long line of fans waited to meet him as he gladly signed autographs, took photos and engaged with his fans.

Opening the show was The Shades of Blue who performed a fifty minute set of classic Motown and other soul hits from the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s including “Disco Inferno”, “Stand By Me”, “Higher and Higher”, “Sex Machine” and “Love Train” among others.

For more information about Herman Hermits starring Peter Noone check out www.peternoone.com

For information about the West Herr Riviera Theatre and upcoming shows visit www.rivieratheatre.org

The Missing Worker is an experimental rock band formed in Buffalo around 2016. During that time they have released three studio albums and one EP of adventurous and rewarding music. For their latest album titled Behold…a Miracle!, the band consisting of Matthew Cieluszak (bass/percussion/backing vocals), Mike Hermann (guitar/piano/guitar synth), Demetri Realmuto (lead vocals), Erik Reinhardt (drums/percussion) and Todd Reinhardt (guitar/synthesizer/guitar synth), headed to Mammoth Recording Studios in Buffalo with Justin Smith behind the board to lay down the tracks. The nine tracks land on the heavy metal/progressive side of the musical spectrum but with a broad appeal to all music lovers. The album kicks off with “The John Keats Cybrid Retrieval Project” a pulsating sonic assault of the senses followed by the high energy rocker “The Possessed”. Other highlights from Behold… a Miracle! include the trippy vibe of “Confrontation in Sarasota”, the shades of scream-o tune “One Year”; the ringing guitar sounds of “Dolly”, the atmospheric rocker “The Burning of the Treeship Yggdrasil”, the musically adventurous opus “When the Machine Breaths” and the hard charging LP closer “Justify”. With a knack for mixing songwriting and musicianship into an interesting blend The Missing Worker has a bright future. 

September 3rd, 2023 seemed as unassuming as any other gig for this band of road tested warriors except tonight the tapes would be rolling for a possible new live album. And thank goodness those tapes were rolling as musical magic was made. The band ,Willie Nile (guitar/piano/vocals), Johnny Pisano (bass/backing vocals), Jon Weber (drums) and Jimi K. Bones (guitar/backing vocals), are a band at the top of their game able to give powerful and emotional performances of songs that they have played countless times. The thirteen songs on Live at Daryl’s House Club span a considerable portion of Nile’s career. The album begins with Nile asking the crowd “Are you ready?” before he and the band launch in to a celebratory “Places I Have Never Been” which sets the mood for the evening’s performance. An absolutely incendiary version of “This Is Our time” and the spot on social commentary and funky blues work out “Earth Blues” keep things rolling along while the melancholy grandeur of “Lost And Lonely World” and an epic rendition of “Shoulders” change the pace a bit. Other highlights include “New York At Night”, “The Day The Earth Stood Still” and “Trouble Down In Diamond Town”. A galloping run through “House Of A Thousand Guitars” and the sing along anthem “One Guitar” round out the album. If you have never heard Willie Nile and his band live in concert then their latest album Live At Daryl’s House Club is the perfect place to start. For more information about Willie Nile including tour dates and how to purchase Live at Daryl’s House Club go to www.willienile.com or visit www.facebook.com/willie.nile
Album photos by renowned photographer Cristina Arrigoni. 

You can view more of her work at her website www.cristinaarrigoniphotography.com

Handsome Jack is back with a new slab of their swaggering psychedelic blues rock on their latest release A Good Thing. As usual the band, Jamison Passuite (vocals/guitar), Joe Verdonselli (vocals/bass) and Bennie Hayes (vocals/drums), wrote, recorded, mixed and produced the album on their own. They recorded the album at the old Harrison Radiator factory building in Lockport, NY on tape using a Tascam 388 with John Angelo doing the mastering. Evan Laedke stops by to add keyboards to the session. Highlights among the eleven tracks on A Good Thing include the bluesy rocker “Wind It Up” which opens the album and sets the tone for what’s to come, the brash yet soulful “Tough Love”, the greasy rocker “She Don’t Know How to Rock and Roll”, the groovalicious title cut “A Good Thing”, the down home comfort of “Sasparilla”, another soulful number “Nobody Left but You” and the musical nod to the late Band bassist “Rick Danko’s Red Floor”. Handsome Jack’s timeless fusion of boogie, blues, rock, soul and country makes A Good Thing another great album from these master purveyors of music. For more information about Handsome Jack and their latest release visit www.handsomejackmusic.com or go to www.facebook.com/handsomejackband

Dynamic soul and blues singer Ollee Owens has released a new album titled Nowhere To Hide. Owens headed to Nashville to record the album with acclaimed producer Bobby Blazier where he assembled an “A” team group of players including Chris Rodriguez, Phil Hughley, Tommy Sims, DeMarco Johnson, Gabe Klein, Craig Young and famed Muscle Shoals guitarist Will McFarlane among others. The material deals with the up and down doings of life and the ability to rise above the hard times. Owens knows this first hand as she took a decade off from her music career so she and her husband could raise their three daughters one of whom has a cognitive disability. Highlights among the eleven tracks on Nowhere To Hide include the high energy rocking title track “Nowhere To Hide”, the Saxy and soulful “Solid Ground”, the positive message tune “Roots”, the apologetic love song “Love You Better”, the slow blues break up song “Still In Pieces”, the sweet sound of “Shivers and Butterflies”, the sassy ode to her partner “My Man” and a couple of outstanding covers of Los Lobos’ “The Neighborhood” and a deeply personal run through Bob Dylan’s “Lord Protect My Child”. For more information about Ollee Owens and her latest release Nowhere To Hide visit www.olleeowens.com or go to www.facebook.com/OLLEEOWENS

Blues saxophonist Jimmy Carpenter has released a new album titled Just Got Started a twelve song mix of blues, soul and funk. The Las Vegas based artist brought along stand out producer and musician Kid Andersen and fellow musicians Jim Pugh, Derrick D’Mar Martin, Bobby Vega and Lisa “Little Baby” Andersen among others for these recording sessions. Carpenter’s smooth voice and outstanding Sax chops shines throughout Just Got Started especially on the breezy and laid back “I Only Gamble With My Heart”, the semi autobiographical title cut “(Feels like) I Just Got Started”, a reworking of Willie Dixon’s “My Babe”, the instrumental “Jimmy Shimmy”, a funky strutting cover of Allen Toussaint’s “Night People”, a cover of Otis Rush’s “Working Man”, “Leap Of Faith” with Lisa Andersen on vocals and a couple of tributes to his Saxophone hero King Curtis with the instrumental “Soul Theme” and the slow bluesy and jazzy “Midnight Blue” both featuring Curtis’ original bassist Jerry Jemmott. With his latest album Just Got Started this perennial blues award favorite feels that he is just getting started. To find out more out Jimmy Carpenter and his latest release just Got Started head over to www.jimmycarpenter.net or go to www.facebook.com/jimmycarpenteronsax

Roots and blues legend Eric Bibb has released a new album titled In The Real World featuring fifteen tracks of introspective lyrics wrapped in his comforting music style. Helping Bibb on the album among many others are Glen Scott who handles a large contingent of instruments and did the producing , arranging and mixing of the sessions and as a co writer with Bibb on nearly every track along with famed guitarist Robbie McIntosh of The Pretenders and Sir Paul McCartney who adds his tasty and thoughtful playing throughout. Highlights on In The Real World include the sweetly picked opening number “Take The Stage”, the Gospel vibe and powerful lyrics of “Everybody’s Got A Right”, the haunting “Make A Change”, the old time spiritual feel of “This River (Chains & Free)”, the boogie beat of “King of the Castle”, the beautiful letter in song to Miss Mavis Staples “Dear Mavis”, the celebratory swampy and funky number “Roll On Buddy”, the stark reminder to us all “Judgement Day” and a goose bump inducing duet with Lily James on the LP closer and bonus track “Victory Voices”. In The Real World is another fine addition to Eric Bibb’s already impressive body of work. Five decades in and this troubadour is showing no signs of slowing down. For more information about Eric Bibb and his latest release In The Real World visit his website www.ericbibb.com or go to www.facebook.com/EricBibbMusic

For four decades running Mitch Woods along with his long time band The Rocket 88’s have been one of the premier purveyors of jump and boogie style of blues that they affectionately call “rock-a-boogie”. As all bands were during the pandemic Woods and The 88’s were forced off the road so like a lot of bands did they headed to the studio (masked and inoculated) to re record with new arrangements some of their most popular songs. The results are Woods’ new album Happy Hour featuring thirteen tracks that capture the power of their live performances. Woods (piano/vocals) and The Rocket 88’s (Larry Vann (drums), Dave Somers (Saxophone) and Kedar Roy (bass) are joined by session ace Kid Andersen (guitar/engineer and mastering) for these recordings. Lots of great tracks to savor over on Happy Hour including the swinging jump blues lead off cut “Jukebox drive”, the pedal to the metal “Long, Lean and Lanky”, the sure to get you on the dance floor number “Boogie Woogie Bar-B-Q”, the slow blues “Cryin’ For My Baby”, and boogie rocker “Shakin’ the Shack”, the smoky late night jazz vibe of “Jump For Joy”, “Hattie Green” and “Mojo Mambo” both invoke the sounds of The Big Easy and the jump blues album closer “Solid Gold Cadillac”. Mitch Woods’ latest album Happy Hour is a feel good romp that is sure to get your personal happy hour started whenever and wherever you are. For more information about Mitch Woods and Happy Hour head over to www.mitchwoods.com or visit www.facebook.com/Mitchwoods88