Gotta love them early shows...especially when you're a music fan with a short attention span. Saturday night at 7 p.m. yielded a modest crowd at The Club @ Water Street for Jon Dee Graham and The Silos. The Silos were powerful as hell, riding the rail between barroom rock and atmospheric alt-country (damned if I don't come up with a new genre each week...). The atmosphere came from Graham, who joined the band mid-set to play lead guitar. By rolling up the volume on his guitar after striking the strings, the notes seemed to materialize outta nowhere before cascading into

If this year's Music Fest actually gets off the ground it will in all probability be the last. With City Council slashing funds for the festival from $721, 750 to a paltry $250,000 the quality --- and diversity --- the MusicFest once provided will be gone. The event will be for one day only --- July 21 --- at Frontier Field.Music festivals do work in Rochester, obviously. But I feel this administration is clueless as to what works and how to go about getting it here. Mistake No. 1 was whittling it down from an all-around music festival to one featuring strictly urban music ---

Provided the weather cooperates, this year's Lilac Festival line-up should be fun. From quirky to country, from classic to swingin', Highland Park is gonna sound as good as it smells.Soul Coughing's Mike Doughty with The Push Stars' Chris Trapper plays May 11. New Orleans bluesy chanteuse Maria Muldauer will turn the place into an oasis (before midnight, though) on May 12. Zydeco wild man CJ Chenier will squeeze the box May 13. The Lilac Fest goes country May 14 with Sammy Kershaw. Folks can cut some rug --- or lawn in this case --- to the incredible swing of The

Urban Transit went suburban and played it slick and smooth at Six Pockets Saturday night. Despite falling snowflakes the size of manhole covers some folks managed to make it out. Urban Transit's main thrust is keyboardist Jon Tucker, who typically ads the B-3 cream to Steve Grills & The Roadmasters. So it was a pleasure to hear him roll through some piano-based stuff. The band played Steely Dan and Ramsey Lewis smooth with its supple tones and circular grooves, and stayed that course when dishing out the originals as well. The twin guitar attack --- including Promise's Adam Bradley ---

Pierre Dorge and the New Jungle Orchestra swung madly at The German House Theatre Monday night with Ellington elegance and Sun Ra psychosis. Dorge was pleasant and soft-spoken between tunes, yet his eyes danced excitedly as windows into his oddity. He hung back behind his guitar allowing the whole band plenty of shine time. The music was luxurious one minute --- just long enough for you to catch the groove and start snapping your fingers --- and angular and jittery the next. It was as if it was being played on the back of a flatbed truck that started out

I'm gonna Jimmy the Greek this one for y'all. Break Of Reality is gonna win a Grammy someday. Bank on it, sluggo. Often a glowing endorsement from me is the kiss of death, and frankly I don't cotton to the mainstream. But this band has something everyone needs: excitement, originality, and an undeniable intensity that louder, heavier bands only dream of. And it has bridged the classical/rock gap while other bands have fallen short, or horsed it into the boat with way too much bombastic pomp.The quartet's packed farewell show at Roberts Wesleyan College was breathtaking. The first set was

The kings of geek rock --- who can also throw down some mean honky tonk --- Ween will play Wednesday, June 13, at The Club @ Water Street, 204 North Water Street, 325-5600, 8 p.m., $25-$28, 16+

It was 1981 and I was 14 years old when the crowd began to roar as the lights began to dim. It was The Police on stage and it was my first concert. I have a patchy recollection of the set list and the impact it had on me --- the volume, the beat, the crowd --- just the intensity of it all. But it was my first time... and it changed my life.Years later I brought my 11-year-old brother Tommy to see The Ramones at The University of Rochester Palestra. Via my indoctrination and influence he was already a

The  CMAC season is out, with a few more dates still pending. Mark your calendar for:-Glenn Beck, June 15-Diana Krall w/Chris Botti, July 9-Clay Aiken, July 19-The Moody Blues, July 27-Allison Krauss & Union Station, August 3-Jeff Corwin, August 5-O.A.R., August 8