Mark Gage splices prog into techno
To paraphrase the late, great Charles Bukowski's attitude about cops, it's not that Mark Gage doesn't like guitars, but he just feels better when they're not around. Oh, Gage defends what he's done to the guitars on his latest album, Sonic Residue From Vapourspace. ''You may not be hearing things that sound like guitars,'' he says. ''But they're definitely there.'' Yes, some have survived. Others have been pushed through electronic filters so that they sound like keyboards. FULL STORY...

Club Watch: Cafe Cibon
"Club Watch" gives you the lowdown on area nightlife. We look at people and places that make up Rochester's entertainment scene, and offer guidance as to clientele, drink prices, loudness, smoke, hook-up factors, etc. This week's feature: Cafe Cibon. FULL STORY...

Motion in poetry
Rochester's open mike poetry scene is flourishing with poets who have a lot to say. But who is saying it and how they are saying it has been evolving. ''Performance is a big element of poetry, and that's the biggest change that has occurred in Rochester,'' says Norm Davis, 67. ''I think it's a big gain.''Davis, a Webster resident, is often referred to as the godfather of poetry. The retired school psychologist is the organizer of the Pure Kona Poetry series, editor of Hazmat Review and host of Wide Open Mike with Norm Davis at Writers & Books. FULL STORY...

A year of concert reviews
'' 'My band tells me I've earned the right to sit if I wanna,' B.B. King says. '' 'And I wanna!' Get him a recliner if he wants one. Let him put his feet up. Stick an end table at his elbow and let him set his drinks there without using a coaster, if he wishes. Because it's B.B. King, and when he sings 'The Thrill is Gone' in that big, meaty voice of his, it sounds like a huge, wild animal bellowing across the countryside.'' FULL STORY...

St. Paul Street
The Nathan Heleine Quartet plays jazz on a recent Saturday at Caffe dell' Arte. The coffee bar is the newest eatery on St. Paul Street, one of several businesses reshaping the area into an attraction. It's a Saturday night, and a white stretch limo pulls up to Industry, a new dance club on St. Paul Street. Eight women -- all celebrating a wedding coming up the next weekend -- spill out of the car's open doors like spawning salmon making their way upstream. FULL STORY...

Jeff Spevak in the wee small hours
As Sinatra once sang, ''My Kinda Town, Rochester Is.'' Well, that song was kind of a regional release. Not a lot of people bought it. But my town has potential. To prove it, I'll be your tour guide to some of the cool places infested by my own personal Rat Pack, places where you'll find action and attitude on a weekday night. And, as Sinatra also sang, we'll be going till ''the wee small hours.'' FULL STORY...