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Saturday was a cold night at the Rapids Theatre but somehow hot as Popa Chubby closed out a 2 ½ year run at the Falls showhouse for Anita West brought the first Blues show to the theater with Coco Montoya on Oct. 8, 2021.
It was a rocking show that night, and everyone West promoted since, but the theater lacked the vital energy it would take to make things viable.
Most of the time, it was unheated. The bar was cash only. The crowd was great.
It was much the same for Walter Trout. Kingfish Ingram brought down the house. So did Albert Cummings, Ronnie Baker Brooks and others.
Back in 2021 I wrote in the Gazette about West bringing the Blues to the Theater.
There were some struggles however. Canadian fans who attended a lot of Anita’s shows back at the Tralf were somehow hesitant to visit the desolate shell of what was once a vibrant Main Street Niagara Falls. Ditto people from WNY who hesitate to cross the Grand Island Bridges.
In a nutshell, it’s a branding problem perpetuated by the media. The TV stations and metro daily are all here in a hurry for a fire, shooting or spectacular car crash at the Rainbow Bridge. They don’t much care about Stanford University offering classes at Niagara Falls High School or the Firefighters telethon.
Meanwhile, leave our region and tell people you are from Buffalo. You’ll hear the same response: “Did the snow melt yet? Are the Bills ever gonna win a Super Bowl.”
Then tell someone when you visit California you are from Niagara Falls. There face lights up. “I remember visiting the Maid of the Mist.” They think it’s Disney.
Unfortunately, for Anita’s shows, it was the hesitant people she had to attract and it wasn’t easy. Some shows, like Kingfish, rocked out.
Others, like Popa Chubby did OK selling reserved seats and tables but general admission tickets would almost never fill the place. When you put 400 people in an 1,800 seat theater there is no way to overcome the emptiness.
Still, every act that played warmed the place. Chubby slayed Saturday it with Hendrix, “Hey Joe” and “Bold as Love.” He also hit on the “Love Theme from Godfather” and “Somewhere over the Rainbow.” His birth name is Ted Horowitz but you may as well call him Ted Shredd if Ragan's partner wouldn't object.
The Rainbow rendition was a spectacular instrumental with Chubby giving great voice on his vintage Stratocaster with wicked use of the whammy bar.
Maria Aurigema opened for Chubby and was spectacular with her bluesy hard-rock trio.
So where’s it going from here? There is one show on the Rapids docket, December 15, heavy metal. The Website is down. Anita has moved on the Samuel’s Grande Manor in Clarence where she will host Jason Ricci and the Bad Kind with Hayden Fogel Band in March. Get tickets here. https://www.outhousetickets.com/Event/22901-Jason_Ricci_and_the_Bad_Kind_with_opening_guest_The_Hayden_Fogle_Band/
Current theater manager Anthony Marsocci and his wife Stephanie come from Rochester for events but who knows if they will stay around.
The theater itself, spectacularly restored more than a decade ago, is in receivership with management overseen by an attorney. Maintenance has been mostly deferred. The last owner of record, John Hutchins, who was in attendance at some of the early blues shows but none lately, awaits disposition of Payroll Protection Plan loan fraud charges in federal court, along with his bookkeeper.
Property taxes are said to be in deep arrears but whether the asset is seized to satisfy a federal judgment, or by the city through foreclosure, is uncertain.
In March, when the covid moratorium of foreclosures lifts, it’s thought that among the first properties to be addressed will be the Blue Cardinal holdings across the street from the theater with a deep-pocketed developer already eying the Jenss Building.
Within the last year, Live Nation reportedly scouted the Rapid. The evil corporate promoter has been snatching similarly sized venues nationwide. At first it seems bad – no one wants those onerous fees from Ticketmaster and the likes. On second thought, however, imagine the economic impact of a few shows selling 1,000 seats monthly. It might be the juice the Rapids needs to revitalize the whole neighborhood.
