Roger Daltrey Entertains At Freebie Show At OLG Stage
6/14/2024 - Niagara Falls, Canada - Today, we were North of the Border in Niagara Falls, Canada to attend a comp show at the OLG Stage at Fallsview Casino to see the legendary Who lead singer Roger Daltrey perform. We headed up early to insure we could get our comp tickets as we drove up the night before to see Randy Bachman and were shutout as no more tickets were available for that show. So today, we got to Fallsview Casino Box Office early and we secured our tickets for this show. The tickets were up high right stage but again they were free and the OLG Stage has good views from almost everywhere, a really nice venue. There was an opening act tonight it was KT Tunstall who performed a good short set. Roger Daltrey followed soon after her and the eighty year-old put on a really entertaining show. He opened with a cover of Pete Townshend's Let My Love Open The Door with Pete's brother Simon Townshend playing lead guitar in Roger's band on this night. Roger played plenty of Who classics including The Kids Are Alright, Another Tricky Day and Squeeze Box to name a few. The eighty year olds voice was pretty solid and his band was good. He entertained the crowd with amusing stories and had a hilarious battle with a chair causing him to false start on the beginning of Who Are You. After disposing of the chair, he went on to do an excellent cover of Who Are You. He did a nice cover of Creedence Clearwater Revival's Have You Ever Seen The Rain? He finished the show with Baba O'Riley. Again a really good show and Roger showed he can still entertain an audience. A great freebie show at a nice venue, thanks Deb and Fallsview for the comp.Slideshow[]
Toronto Trip For Blue Jays And Neil Young At Budweiser Stage
Exploring London Town & Jeff Beck Tribute Night One At RAH
5/20/2024 - Toronto, Canada - I took today off to head North of the border to Toronto, Canada for a day of entertaiment in the big city which would include the afternoon Toronto Blue Jays game at Rogers Centre and Neil Young & Crazy Horse performing in the evening at Budweiser Stage. It was a nice warm day for a drive and I made it into the heart of the city with little traffic on this Canadian holiday of Victoria Day. I parked at Budweiser Stage and walked to the Rogers Centre on this perfect afternoon to watch the Toronto Blue Jays take on the Chicago White Sox. The dome was open on this hot day and baked the fans as they watched the Blue Jays dispose of the Sox by a score of 9-3. I walked back to the Budweiser Stage and picked up a cheap shirt outside the venue then headed into venue. I had a good ticket about 20 rows back right stage. This show was a sellout. The thunderstorms in the area delayed the start of this show by at least a half hour until they passed. I have no idea who or what the opening band was and was happy their set was short. Neil Young & Crazy Horse hit the stage at around 8:50 and played a great set of a little of everything. They opened with a ten minute jam on Cortez The Killer followed by a good jam on Cinnamon Girl and then into a crowd pleasing Fuckin' Up. The band consisted of original drummer Ralph Molina and bassist Billy Talbot, and recently added rhythm guitarist Micah Nelson (son of Willie). They played other classics like Like A Hurricane, Down By The River and Love And Only Love. Neil came out for an acoustic set that opened with Comes A Time and then said it was 'nice to be back in Canada' leading into a great version of Heart Of Gold. They came out for the first encore of Hey Hey, My My, then Don't Be Denied and closed the show with Roll Another Number (For The Road). This was a great show that was not as tight or as intense as it could have been but it was still excellent. I was able to get out of the show in record time thanks to my front row parking. I got pulled over in NY but the nice sheriff did not give me any tickets and I still made it home in good time, even dodging all the deer. Another excellent Toronto adventure in the books, see you again real soon for TTB.Slideshow[]
5/22/2023 - London, England - Today, after getting some rest in, we began our first full day in London town. We were up early and had an excellent but pricy breakfast at our hotel, the Park Plaza Westminster Bridge London, also allowing us to take in the nice view of Big Ben and Parliament. After breakfast, we headed thru lovely St James's Park watching the Royal Guard march to Buckingham Palace and see the Changing of the Guard ceremony. After the ceremony, we walked thru Green Park and headed to Trafalgar Square and spent some time taking in the amazing artworks at The National Gallery. The National Gallery is a must do when in London and we saw fantastic paintings by famous artists like Monet, van Gogh, Rembrandt, Michelangelo, Raphael, Leonardo da Vinci and Renoir to name a few. We stopped back at the hotel and then hopped on the Tube at Westminster Station to South Kensington Station and walked up Exhibition Road on this gorgeous London day to Royal Albert Hall. This would be night one of the the Jeff Beck Tribute concert there featuring Eric Clapton and many friends paying tribute to Beck who passed away earlier this year. We arrived early as I had VIP access for this show and was able to attend a preshow party featuring excellent food, beverages and early entry into the Hall. Mike had to wait for general admission to get to his excellent seat but was fortunate to meet Clapton's bass player Nathan East before the show ! I met a couple nice people from England, a father and son who I ate and enjoyed drinks with, we shared great stories and met later at the break for more drinks. I headed to my seat in the Stalls which was awesome stage right. The show opened with Clapton and his band playing Blue Rainbow. They then covered some Yardbird's classics including Shapes of Things and Heart Full Of Soul. The first guest artist was Derek Trucks who came out and jammed on Little Brown Bird, then were joined by Susan Tedeschi for a great jam on The Sky Is Crying. Trucks did a fantastic solo cover of Goodbye Pork Pie Hat. Ronnie Wood was next to join for Beck's Balero. John McLaughlin joined Beck's Band for incredible covers of Stratus and You Know You Know. Imelda May performed Train Kept A Rollin' with Wood, Billy Gibbons, Kirk Hammett and Johnny Depp and Remember Walking In The Sand. Rod Stewart performed Rock Your Plimsoul and Gary Clark Jr rocked Cause We've Ended As Lovers. Everyone joined the finale of Going Down. A fantastic show that we get to do all over again tomorrow !Slideshow[]
Italy Adventure Ends With Train Trip To Explore Florence
John Mayer Opens SOB Rock Tour At MVP Arena in Albany
8/31/2022 - Florence, Italy - In a last minute booking the night before, we decided to spend today taking a day trip to Florence. The weather calling for lots of rain but we decided to give it a shot anyway. We had breakfast at Hotel Pasquale early and watched the rain pour down hoping it would stop, the staff at the hotel even gave me and umbrella to help our day succeed. The walk from the hotel to train station in Monterosso was rough with heavy downpours of rain but we caught our train from Monterosso to Pisa Centrale that took about an hour and forty-five minutes. Then train two from Pisa Centrale to Firenze Santa Maria Novella was another fifty minute train ride, getting us finally to beautiful Florence. The weather in Florence was absolutely fantastic and the rain held off the whole day while we explored. We explored the Basilica of Santa Maria Novella and were greated with a fantastic busker singing opera right in the Piazza di San Giovanni. We explored Florence taking in it's beauty of The Baptistery of St. John Battistero di San Giovanni, Piazza del Duomo and Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore. We walked the streets a bit picking up some food and seeing more sites of Florence, like Piazza della Repubblica, Fontana del Porcellino, Ponte Vecchio with nice views of the Arno river. I was able to get tickets to the Galleria Della Accademia to see Michelangelo's amazing David. Seeing the David up close was impressive and the gallery had many other interesting works including a musicical instrument museum with some five to six hundred year old instruments. We grabbed a couple burgers quick before catching the trains back, from Florence to Pisa to LaSpezia and finally to Monterosso. We were back late and grabbed a pizza from Lapos to go and headed back to the Hotel Pasquale to pack up to check out in the morning. In the morning, we had our final breakfast and said our sad goodbyes to the most gracious staff and rolled our luggage to the train station one last time. This time Monterosso to Milano Centrale to Milan Airport via the Malpensa Express to stay at the Sheraton Milan Malpensa Airport Hotel prior to our flight home the next day. The flight from Milan to Newark was no problem but the flight from Newark to Rochester was delayed multiple times making our travel brutal. We made it home finally, but will never travel thru Newark again, lesson learned. Another great adventure in the books.Slideshow[]
2/17/2022 - Albany, New York - Today, we took the day off and headed East down the NYS Thruway to downtown Albany, New York to see one of our favorite guitarists, John Mayer, open his 2022 SOB Rock Tour at the MVP Arena. We arrived late afternoon in Albany and parked in the ramp right next to the arena. We stopped to have some drinks and a decent dinner at Albany Stadium Restaurant and Bar which is attached to the arena. Mayer opened his last solo tour in Albany in 2017 and we were at that show also. We got in the line for entry to the show made it thru security and then had our tickets scanned to find out they were no longer valid and we had to go to the box office to get them replaced. We received tickets that were close to the other ones but not as good and we complained but to no avail. The show was not a sellout and we watched the opening act Alexander 23 perform for the first time ever. They did a decent set and were practically like watching a young Mayer. We decided after the opener to move to our original seats which were excellent. After a brief intermission and stage setup Mayer and his band hit the stage at 9PM to play two hour plus set. He opened the set with a new number Last Train home and played both old and new songs. He played classics like Who Says, Waiting On The World To Change and Slow Dancing In A Burning Room to name a few. He played several new songs including Shouldn't Matter But It Does and Wild Blue. His band was pretty tight and he closed the set with a jam filled Gravity. He came out for a two song encore that included Born and Raised and the finale of New Light. A good show but we felt he could have jammed more than he did. The trip home was difficult due to large amounts of snow but we made it back very late but unscathed, a good concert getaway.Slideshow[]
9/10/2019 - Varenna, Italy - We started the day with the delicious breakfast at the Hotel Du Lac in Bellagio which also provided excellent views of Lake Como. After breakfast it was down to the ferry dock right in front of the Hotel to get a couple Lake Como Mid Lake Passes which would allow us to ferry around the mid lake towns of Bellagio, Varenna and Mennaggio for the day. We started heading from Bellagio to the beautiful town of Varenna. The town of Varenna was without a doubt the prettiest of all the towns, with steep cobblestone streets and beautiful churches highlighted by the tower of the Chiesa di San Giorgio in the lovely Piazza San Giorgio and also the incredible frescoes found in the 11th century Chiesa di San Giovanni Battista. I took some nice drone footage of the town and we had a nice lunch at small place lake side. We hopped on the ferry and headed to our next destination on the mid lake tour the town of Mennagio. Mennagio was a nice little town that had a small casino that we stopped at with Deb winning a few euros. Mennagio had the nice shopping area in the Piazza Giuseppe Garibaldi and some nice churches of it's own like Parrocchia Santo Stefano and the Chiesa di Santa Marta. Mennagio also had a very nice lakefront area with great views of Lake Como. We ferried back to Varenna to take in more of what is now one of our favorite towns. We then finally headed back to Bellagio to take in a fantastic sunset from the top floor observation deck at our hotel The Hotel Du Lac. We concluded the day with a late night dinner at our favorite place the Pizzeria La Gratta. Another awesome day on Lake Como with more adventure to come.Slideshow[]
Gilmour At Radio City Music Hall Closes Out NYC Weekend
Blood, Sweat & Tears Play Free Show At Rochester Jazz Fest
4/10/2016 - New York, New York - Today was our last full day in New York City with the ultimate show tonight, David Gilmour performing at Radio City Music Hall. We started the day sleeping in a little bit because we needed to. We grabbed something quick for lunch since we missed breakfast and headed back to the Times Square area. We walked over to Rockefeller Center and decided to go to the Top of the Rock. Although a little cool it was clear skies and we took in some beautiful panoramic views of New York City. After Top of The Rock, we headed back to Times Square for a decent steak dinner with Michael at the Hard Rock Café. We stopped and checked out Mike's office and then headed back to the hotel to watch Justin Spieth's collapse at the end of the Masters. Concert time had come and we headed down Avenues of America to Radio City Music Hall. We arrived a little early for the show and large lines had already formed to get into the venue. We finally got in and managed to grab some concert shirts and headed to our seats about twenty rows back right center stage. They were pretty good seats for the pretty penny they cost. Radio City is a gorgeous venue and holds about 6000 and this show was sold out. Gilmour came out a little late and played a fantastic set. He opened with 5 A.M. and then went into Rattle That Lock. He played plenty of Pink Floyd in his first set including Wish You Were Here, Money and one of my favorites What Do You Want From Me. He finished the first set with High Hopes. The sound was excellent and his band was very tight. After the fifteen minute intermission he came out for the second set that was even better than the first with tunes like Shine On You Crazy Diamond, Fat Old Sun and closing with Run Like Hell. He came out and performed three encores including Time and the laser light filled Comfortably Numb. This was an absolutely fantastic show and a great finish to the NYC weekend. After the show, we headed back to Times Square for some late night photo ops. The next day we were up early for breakfast at the hotel, then back to Sam Ash for a quick jam, then finally on to Penn Station to catch the train back to Rochester. A most excellent weekend was had....Slideshow[]
6/20/2015 - Rochester, New York - Today we headed back to downtown Rochester, New York for the second night in a row to take part in the Xerox Rochester International Jazz Festival. Tonight's performer the horn filled classic sounds of the band Blood, Sweat and Tears. The band was joined by Bo Bice who sang lead vocals for the band. It was threatening rain but we were fortunate that the rains never came. We arrived early to get a good spot and enjoyed some delicious steak hogies from our favorite food vendor Bayou Billys. They performed a great set of their classic tunes and a few surprising covers. They opened the show with Lucretia MacEvil and played other classics like Go Down Gamblin, I Love You More Than You'll Ever Know and Hi De Ho. The band was fantastic and very tight. The horn section was great with several great solos added in. Bo Bice was adequate on vocals. They finished the show with encores of songs people thought were theirs but were not including Vehicle and Midnight Rider. This was another excellent show and it was free. Hopefully the jazz fest organizers will continue to bring great free acts like this.Slideshow[]
Aloha To Oahu The Hawaiian Adventure Ends - Part VII
Dom Cheers Sabres To 8-5 Victory Over Habs
4/21/2008 - Oahu, Hawaii - Our final day on Oahu started early with a final walk on Waikiki Beach. We left our suite at Resortquest Waikiki Beach Hotel and explored the east coast stopping at Hanauma Bay. We then journeyed west into Honolulu for lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe Honolulu. After lunch we took the drive up thru the rainforest up to Tantalus Lookout for spectacular views of Diamond Head, Punchbowl Cemetery and the city of Honolulu. We then headed northwest up to Nuuanu Pali Lookout for dramatic views of the northern coast. Finally a quick ride to the west coast of Oahu with a short stop at the Dole Plantation. Finally off to the airport where we were greated with a final rainbow on the way before the long plane ride from Oahu to Los Angeles, over the Rocky Mountains into Cincinati then finally back to Buffalo. A sad Aloha to Hawaii... Part 123456Slideshow[]
3/2/2007 - Buffalo, New York - Dom cheered the Buffalo Sabres to victory over the Montreal Canadians 8-5 at the HSBC Arena today. The evening included dinner at Dom's favorite pizza place, Pizza Hut, then onto the game where Dom continued his undefeated streak for Sabres games at HSBC. The Sabres and Canandians lit up the scoreboard for 13 goals with Buffalo's Mike Ryan scoring two goals. Dom whipped up a sign to support his team and although did not get seen on tv, it received many accolades from the fans. An awesome evening of hockey.Slideshow[]
Summers Officially Over Time To Go Back To School
Dominic Graduates from Kindergarden
9/6/2006 - Hilton, NY - How quickly the time goes by, today summer officially ended for the Florio kids and today was the first day back to school. Both kids were up early and dressed and ready well ahead of time, a miracle considering sleep habits during summer. Nicole finally can stop talking about her outfits and actually wear them. Dom is his usual happy self getting ready for the second grade. Both were happy to go back and hang with friends, how long will it last !Slideshow[]
6/16/2005 - Hilton, New York - Hilton Village Elementary was the backdrop for the 2005 Kindergarden Graduation Ceremony today. Dominic and his kindergarden classmates graduated in front of hundreds of friends and family. The kids sang a stirring rendition of Sinatra's New York New York to the new title First Grade First Grade. Dominic was happy to be moving on to 1st Grade but said he will miss his teacher, Miss Carbone. Congrats to Dom we are all proud of him! VideoSlideshow[]
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