entertainment

The rock band Falling in Reverse headlined a night on Tuesday, supported by Jeris Johnson, Tech N9ne, Dance Gavin Dance, and Black Veil Brides.

Photos by Philip Casper

It's just a typical Prohibition-era night at Ruth's Speakeasy, where you can find the best moonshine and jazz singers in town before one of the patrons is murdered.

To solve this crime, the cast of Batavia Players needs your help.

"Murder at the Speakeasy" is an immersive and interactive murder mystery and scavenger hunt.

Audiences are encouraged to register in teams of up to four people each and dress in period-correct costumes.

Ruth's is a place with simple rules -- no business and no guns.  It is the haunt of gangsters, crooked cops, businessmen, and rising stars. The perfect environment for betrayal, vengeance, greed, and, ultimately, murder.

Who done it: the crooked police chief? The sultry jazz singer? A scorned woman?

You and your companions will have to figure it out.

You will be provided clue questions to ask the possible suspects and a map of all the local places the suspects hang out so you can track them down and find the clues.  

The adventure begins at check-in. Audience members will receive the secret password to gain entry to the Speakeasy.  Upon entry, they will meet the host of characters, and that's when the game begins. Sleuths must keep their eyes and ears open for any hints that might be dropped.  

The scene will unfold, the murder will happen, and then the questioning begins. Then the audience is released to follow the leads and track down the clues scattered throughout Batavia's local business community.  When the audience returns, the members will cast ballots for who they suspect is the likely killer before reentering the Speakeasy to see if they got the details right.

There are prizes supplied by local businesses.

Batavia Players encourage audience members to take pictures and post to social media but they ask, "please, however, at no time share the solution so the other groups can have the pleasure of solving the crime on their own."

The show is Saturday at 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. at Main St. 56 Theater in Downtown Batavia.

Tickets are $30 per person or $100 for a team of four people. For tickets, click here.

Photos by Howard Owens.

The Genesee Chorale is opening its 2024 Fall Season and is looking for a few good singers.

The Chorale held its opening rehearsal on Monday at St. James.

For more information on joining, click here.

Photos by Howard Owens.

On a cooler rainy September Friday night, it didn’t stop anyone from dancing and grooving to T-Pain, who opened for Pitbull at Darien Lake Amphitheater. 

A sold-out 22,000 plus crowd packed the venue to greatest hits by both performers including a few dressed up Pitbull outfits.

In two years, the Songbirds, a Fleetwood Mac tribute band, has gone from playing for a couple of dozen people at a block party in Batavia to headlining at some of Western New York's top music venues.

On Monday, they closed out, as headliners, the Oakfield Labor Daze Music & Food Festival, drawing, likely, in the area of hundreds of fans for a three-hour set of all the best of Fleetwood Mac along with some deep tracks.

Previously: It's more than just ‘Rumours’ that Songbirds pay tribute to Fleetwood Mac

Photos by Howard Owens.

After the parade, on a beautiful blue-sky Labor Day, the third and final day of the music portion of the Oakfield Labor Daze Music & Food Festival opened with power trio Salvatore, an Albion-based band, followed by Elvis impersonator Terry Buchwald. 

Photos by Howard Owens.

Sunday night's headliner, Nerds Gone Wild -- perhaps Western New York's most popular cover band -- thrilled all their fans who turned out in Triangle Park for their headlining performance on the second day of the Oakfield Labor Daze Music & Food Festival.

While waiting for the band make its grand entrance, one woman from Arizona approached a reporter and praised the festival. She couldn't believe all the music was free. And she loved all the food options. She said she extended her vacation an extra week just to see Nerds in Oakfield.

Photos by Howard Owens.

Hazzard County, a Buffalo-based country music band, got a late start due to heavy rain, lightning, and thunder but still put on an all-out performance for music fans Sunday in Oakfield.

Photos by Howard Owens.

The Eaglez, an Eagles tribute band, performed Sunday afternoon at the Oakfield Labor Daze Music and Food Festival.

The band's set was cut about 20 minutes short by a torrential downpour.

Photos by Howard Owens.

On Saturday at Labor Daze in Triangle Park in Oakfield, Mayday Buffalo was the afternoon band, and Dave Viterna Group was the headliner for the night.

The rest of this weekend's lineup:

On Sunday:

• 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.: Russ Peters Group
• 12:30 to 3:30 p.m., Eaglez tribute to The Eagles
• 3:30 to 6:30 p.m.: Hazzard County
• 6:30 to 9:30 p.m.: Nerds Gone Wild

On Monday:

• 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.: Salvatore
• 1 to 4 p.m.: Terry Buchwald tribute to Elvis
• 4 to 7 p.m.: Songbirds tribute to Fleetwood Mac

The Labor Daze Parade is at 10 a.m. on Monday

Photos by Howard Owens

Genesee Ted kicked off three days of live music in Oakfield for the Labor Daze Music & Food Festival.

Also on Saturday, Mayday from 4 to  7 p.m. and Dave Viterna Group from 7 to 10 p.m.

On Sunday:

• 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.: Russ Peters Group
• 12:30 to 3:30 p.m., Eaglez tribute to The Eagles
• 3:30 to 6:30 p.m.: Hazzard Country
• 6:30 to 9:30 p.m.: Nerds Gone Wild

On Monday:

• 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.: Salvatore
• 1 to 4 p.m.: Terry Buchwald tribute to Elvis
• 4 to 7 p.m.: Songbirds tribute to Fleetwood Mac

The Labor Daze Parade is at 10 a.m. on Monday

Photos by Howard Owens

One of Batavia's most accomplished bands, The Bluesway Band, packed the house on Friday in Jackson Square for a night of classic rock and blues-based rock.

Photos by Howard Owens

As part of the weekly summer concert series in Jackson Square, the OHMS band took to the stage Friday evening and drew a couple hundred people to downtown Batavia for an evening of entertainment.

The six-piece band, consisting of music artists from around Genesee County, was enjoyed by many followers dancing in their seat and around the venue.

Next up in the concert series from 7 to 9 p.m. is Old Hippies on Aug. 23, and it concludes with the Bluesway Band on Aug. 30.

It was a big night at Batavia Downs on Friday for fans of masterful lead singers.

Teo hitmaker from the 70s and 80s took the stage in separate sets. 

Jason Scheff, former lead singer of Chicago performed first, followed by Tommy DeCarlo, former lead singer of Boston.

It made for a summer night for some of classic rocks biggest hits. 

Five bands and punk rock fans gathered at Pavilion #2 in the Genesee County Park & Forest on Sunday for the Second Annual Punk Picnic, which featured five bands from Genesee County and Buffalo.

The bands were Privatized Air, Cowboy Vampires, Election Day, Space Cowboys, and Bastard Bastard Bastard.

Previously: 2nd Annual Punk Rock Picnic offers venue for music fans to hear original local music

Southern rock band 38 Special, as they did in 2022, once again packed the house at Batavia Downs on Friday evening.

Continuing the Friday night concert series in downtown Batavia was the Free Beer band that performed for a good crowd to captivate some music lovers for family and friends in Jackson Square.

When you find there isn't much of a punk rock scene in your hometown, you create your own. That's the DIY ethic of the punk movement, after all.

That's the inspiration behind the second annual Punk Rock Picnic on Sunday in Genesee County Park & Forest.

"We come from Batavia, and we don't really fit in the Rochester scene or the Buffalo scene," said Ronald Ratulowski, one of the organizers of the picnic. "I'm old enough to know we're not going to create a scene in Batavia so this our scene."

There will be five bands playing on Sunday, the two Ratulowski plays in, Cowboy Vampires and Election Day, plus two bands from Buffalo, Space Cowboys and Bastard Bastard Bastard, and a fifth band, Privatized Air.

"We've played with the bands in Buffalo and liked them and wanted them to join our party," Ratulowski said.

The picnic starts at 11 a.m. in Pavilion 2, with the first band taking the stage at 1 p.m.  Each band will play an hour-long set.

Ratulowski and fellow Cowboy Vampire Chris Humel worked together to organize the event.

There aren't many venues in Batavia that book bands playing original music so this is a chance for people to come out to the park and hear local bands playing their own songs, Ratulowski said.

"They can hear music they might not otherwise hear," Ratulowski said.

Submitted photos from 2023.

A young rock star -- shades of Elvis Presley -- is about to enter the Army after being drafted, and his manager needs to cash in on him one more time so he can get out of debt, return to college to become an English teacher and marry his sweetheart.

That story, set to song, is the plot of the classic musical Bye Bye Birdie, which the cast of Batavia Players will present this weekend at 56 Main Street Theater in Downtown Batavia.

It's the story of Albert Peterson, a mild-mannered young man with a talent for writing hit songs but none of the guile of Tom Parker, who has helped Conrad Birdie achieve stardom.  His girlfriend, Rose Alvarez, wants Albert to exit the music business and return to his initial passion, writing, and become the English teacher and all the stability that represents, as he originally planned. 

Albert is distressed when Birdie is drafted, but Rose sees this turn of events as a golden opportunity. She encourages Albert to write a hit song, "The Last Kiss," and get Birdie on national TV kissing one of his fan club members goodbye.

Hilarity and entertainment ensue.

The musical is set in the early 1960s, with Batavia Players' sets and costumes being period-perfect.

Showtimes are Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m. For more information and tickets, visit bataviaplayers.org.

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.