The Return of West Side Musical Notes

I used to have a blast when during our long walks, our beloved late dog, Walker Evans, and I witnessed some interesting musical activities on Buffalo's West Side. But last summer was spent getting over Val and my loss, and those posts (from a previous blog) ended for a while.

Fortunately, Harold and I have bee

n able to get out on some pretty serious travels around the West Side (Harold has a major walking motor), so it's time to start our musical walking blog observations again. Remember, Buffalo's West Side is an incredible melting pot of cultures brought here by rather recent immigrant populations, and has a very large Latino community.


About a week ago, Harold and I were walking on Chenango Street between Rhode Island and Massachusetts streets (just past a Buffalo Fire Department station) when we saw a man about age 25 with a guitar standing in front of three other same-age males sitting on a bench, with the middle guy holding a guitar and the other two guys intently watching. I could hear the first guitarist offer some instruction, including "after the first three, the fourth goes down here," and then he played what he was discussing, the full introduction to Heart's "Crazy on You."

Two days later, around the corner from that residence on Massachusetts Street, I could hear a full band rehearsing from an upstairs apartment/rehearsal space with a window open about halfway. It was loud without being overbearing, and as Harold and I closed in on the apartment, I recognized the song, Ozzy Osbourne's "No More Tears."

I didn't realize how popular hard rock and heavy metal still were on the West Side, and I hope to catch a wider variety of music there if/when the weather improves.