Concert Review - By Bob Silvestri
bobsilvestri@bestofwny.com

     Buffalo Music Hall of Fame member (Class 2005) Willie Nile returned home to play a sold out show at The Tralf in Downtown Buffalo on March 5th 2011. Backed by the Brothers Band a collection of local musicians and relatives of Nile, the show was somewhat a pre release party for his upcoming disc The Innocent Ones. While the CD has already been released in Europe it will not be released for a couple of months stateside. The disc features the cut "One Guitar" that was released in Europe by The Alarm and has enjoyed a run up the charts. Nile's own version is also having some success over there as well. The version he performed with the Brothers Band on this night nearly blew the roof off the place. Nile has honed his stage performance to perfection over the last couple of years and a new found passion to his songwriting has him delivering his best work of a long storied career. Other standouts from the show include a rousing "You Gotta Be a Buddha (In A Place Like This)", "Cell Phones Ringing In The Pockets of the Dead", "Run", "Heaven Help The Lonely" with vocal help from Gary Zoldos and Don Tomasulo and "My Little Girl" which appears on the upcoming disc. Nile always picks a choice cover tune for the evening and tonight he pulled out the Who classic "Substitute" to the delight of the crowd. Nile also received an ovation when he hit the stage in a customized Sabres jersey during the encore.
     Opening the show with an impressive set of back porch blues were the duo of Niagara Falls natives Ron LaSalle and Frank Grisanti (BMHOF Class 2007). With LaSalle on vocals and acoustic guitar and Grisanti on electric guitar their set was the perfect accompaniment to the show. For more upcoming shows at the Tralf go to www.tralfmusichall.com for more on Willie Nile check out www.willienile.com