Hoochenanny Day 2

We loved Modest Mouse but then we expected to. What surprised me was the chance to be front row through the encore. We all float on. Me too.

Another great surprise was The Bird and the Beard, a husband and wife fronted jazz quartet based out of San Diego and East Otto.

How that came to be was an intriguing story. John Hasz (the beard) and Cat Curry Hasz (the bird) were losing their minds during covid, looking for real estate in places where you could buy a home cheaply.

They landed in East Otto, Cattaraugus County, invested and came here not knowing about the music scene. Hand meet glove. They have opened a couple times since for Uncle Ben’s Remedy, they know Leroy Townes, Folk Faces and more.

“People talk about the Seattle music scene but we had never heard about Western New York. It is amazing,” Jon said. The Beard and the Bird will play the Lewiston Jazz Festival on July 29.

Preceeding them on stage was another fun Americana band Drew Kiddoo. Karina Rykman hit us hard with fun pop and even threw in a Paul McCartney cover.

 As serendipity happens, their drummer is Danusia Beatz of Niagara Falls, dedicated as a mother to feel guilty about leaving her children for the day, dedicated as a musician to go be the engine driving the rhythm to an appreciative audience.

In hindsight, I feel good about our decision to choose Hoochenanny over Borderlands.

That said, the police presence was overkill. Perinton EMS I get. But a half dozen sheriffs and two separate security companies? That’s overkill.

What was also remarkable about the security companies was “Feel Safe Security” was staffed with Black people wearing blue shirts. They were searching bags, guiding people and watching over things.

“Patriot Security” was staffed with White people wearing shirts the color of a MAGA hat. One I spoke to told me they were retired law enforcement and each company was doing a different job.

The redshirts were “looking over the crowd," one told me.  "The other company was handling intake and entry.”

After looking at the red shirts and making a conclusion about what they represented (the need for paranoia at a woke music festival) I approached a blue shirt.

“What’s it take for a white person to get a blue shirt,” I asked. “I don't know. They all packing,” she said. She was a guard from the city jail.

“They told me I needed to work naked,” (without a gun) she said. “I ain’t doing that.”

I did not see a firearm on her person but I am sure she had a concealed carry permit and trusted she was armed to protect us in case the red shirts started shooting. I pointed out to her I never saw the Redshirts do any work. They were standing around and talking while Black people did the work.  Red vs. Blue. The symbolism was ineffable.