entertainment

You could say that Don Antinore took his job seriously Saturday on School Street in Batavia.

He was one of three volunteer judges for the first-ever Italian Fest sauce contest. Antinore, Jay Steinbrenner and Paul Figlow carefully tasted, observed, and dripped each sauce off the spoon during their deliberations of the top three winners.

After they reviewed each type and style of sauce, the judges were ready with their selections. That is after they conferred with one another for several minutes. The Batavian remarked how soberly they were approaching the task.

Antinore, whose business card lists him as an American Academy of Chef's Culinary Hall of Famer, and an educator and coach for Hospitality Solutions, said they were giving the job due diligence for the eight contestants.

“We're doing this because these people took the time to make these sauces,” he said.

The contestants were mostly made up of home chefs with family recipes. The contest was a first for Stephanee Surabian of Batavia. She didn’t exactly have a choice in entering, she said.

“My kids decided to push me toward it,” she said, watching her three pots of varied sauces. “They think mom’s is the best.”

She had a pesto alla trapanese, made with tomatoes and freshly ground almonds; fra diavolo, whose name translates to the devil’s mouth, and includes a spicy concoction with red pepper and red chili flakes; and a parma rosa, featuring a creamy base of tomatoes with melted cheese.

Lucie Griffis of Le Roy entered her Nanny’s Italian sauce, made with canned tomatoes, sausage, pork, homemade meatballs and fresh basil. The secret to a good sauce? “Not burning your garlic and onion at the start,” she said, “is key.”

To her left was Ken Kline from Oakfield. His recipe is cooked down from fresh roma tomatoes for three days on low heat, he said. He uses fresh parsley, oregano, basil, Italian sausage, homemade meatballs, stew beef and hard-boiled eggs.

“It’s thick and not runny,” he said. “You gotta love the sauce, you gotta love the family recipe.”

The recipe comes out during special occasions and, at times, just when the mood strikes him and his family, Kline said. Handed down from great-grandma from Palermo, Sicily, it’s a favorite that depends heavily on fresh roma tomatoes, he said.

Home chef, but with a background of working in the family restaurant in Denver, Colo., Sam Prinzi of Batavia believed in slow-cooking his ingredients, many of which are home-grown in his Batavia yard.

“Slow cooking, good seasoning and cooking it down,” are keys to a winning sauce, he said. He spent 90 minutes preparing everything, and then letting it cook on low for three to four hours.

He had a display of fresh ingredients on his table: green peppers, tomatoes and garlic, with some potential accompaniments of crunchy breadsticks, a small loaf of bread and pasta.

The recipe came from his grandparents in Sicily, both who have passed away, leaving their grandson to take up the spoon and continue on with the family tradition.

Prinzi liked the event, and plans to come back next year, he said.

“They’ve got great potential if they just keep adding to it,” he said. “I think this is great for the community.”

The contest was put on a brief hold as former county manager Jay Gsell was making his way downtown with his big pot of sauce from yet another family recipe.

His wife Ann Marie and her mother, Fannie Varone, are die-hard Italians with a recipe to be proud of, he said. So proud, in fact, that his mom-in-law threatened to put the “evil eye” on him if he didn’t learn the concoction before moving with his wife out of state.

“It’s a staple, in a big pot,” he said. “We have it for one or two meals, and then freeze the rest. We call it gravy, not sauce.”

After all of the tastings and whispering amongst the three judges, it was time for the big announcement. But first, Antinore offered some tips for authentic Italian sauce: oregano doesn’t belong in an Italian kitchen, he said, suggesting instead to use rosemary; don’t use too much spice as to take away from the overall taste; and consider how much oil you use, and its source (cooking meat in the sauce, for example); and herbs are not spices, he said.

Third place went to Griffis, second to Gsell and first prize of $100 and an engraved wooden spoon went to Prinzi.

Photos by Howard Owens

Meanwhile, The Formula entertained with classic Italian songs to a mixed audience of standing and seated spectators, while others gravitated to the beer and wine tent or shopped vendors along Jackson Street.

The event was hosted by Batavia's Business Improvement District. BID Executive Director Shannon Maute said that, despite some competition from other events on the same day, "I felt it went pretty well." It drew more than 1,000 people, she said, and vendors "were happy and said they would love to come back next year."

Maute stressed the short lead time of having about four months to plan and pull this event together, when it typically takes a year to organize one. She was thankful to have the support that she had for the festival, she said.

"Events are a huge undertaking, and I am grateful for all the help and support from City Council, the city manager, my board, committee members and volunteers," she said. "I was very excited to bring this event to downtown. It was the first year, and we have some adjusting to do, and hope to grow it every year." 

Top photo: Judges Don Antinore, left, Jay Steinbrenner and Paul Figlow make their way through eight sauces to find the top three winners at Saturday's Italian Fest in downtown Batavia; Sam Prinzi won first place and the commemorative wooden spoon; Jay Gsell, second place, congratulates third and first place winners, Lucie Griffis and Sam Prinzi; visitors to the event on School, Center and Jackson streets.

Danielle Lumpkin was pleased with her booth on Jackson Street at Saturday’s Italian Festival in downtown Batavia.

Known as Mama Dee’z Kitchen, her family-run catering business sold out a few times of the featured rasta pasta, she said. Made with a flavorful spice-laced jerk chicken and a creamy, white Alfredo sauce, it seemed to be a hit at the Italian-themed event downtown.

Lumpkin has been catering for the last three years, and hopes to move into some space at Eli Fish Brewing Company on Main Street. The smaller “incubator-style” space would help the Batavia chef to move her company forward until she finds a larger spot, she said.

She is known for her sauces, she said, especially her chicken wings with homemade sauce. Lumpkin plans to also participate in a south side block party next month.  Her specialties are soul food and Caribbean flavors. She boasts “the best mac ’n’ cheese in town,” and serves breakfast, lunch and dinner items, from sauce-glazed barbecued chicken and ribs, pulled pork and taco dip, to jerk chicken, fish frys, glazed salmon, potato salad and seafood Alfredo sauce with pasta.

“I’ve been cooking for more than 10 years,” she said. “And I’ve had the LLC for three years. This is something that Batavia needs; there’s no home-cooked, southern comfort food that you can find like at Mama Dee’z.”

She thought this first-time event was a good first experience, with a nice turnout, she said.

“I look forward to it being bigger next year,” she said.

She encouraged folks to check out her Facebook site for catering options. Mama Dee’z was one of several food and craft vendors selling their wares. Many people walked around checking out items such as cigars, jewelry, artwork, assorted pastas and pizza, and sweet dessert treats.

The beer and wine tent had opened at 5 p.m. and was drawing an increasing crowd in Jackson Square as kids continued to play various games on School and Center streets and in the Square.

Photos: Danielle Lumpkin, owner of Mama Dee'z Kitchen, serves up some rasta pasta during Saturday's Italian Festival in Batavia. Photos by Joanne Beck. 

A legend of British rock, Dire Straits has sold over 120 million albums worldwide. Dire Straits Legacy brought back its iconic music Friday evening at Batavia Downs, performed by musicians who recorded and toured with Dire Straits more than 30 years ago.

Alan Clark was Dire Straits’ first keyboardist, Phil Palmer and Danny Cummings both recorded "On Every Street," Mel Collins on singles "Love Over Gold" and "Twisting by the Pool," and Jack Sonni on the international bestseller "Brothers in Arms." All have performed live with Dire Straits on multiple global tours.

Other DSL members include bassist Trevor Horn (The Buggles, Yes), one of the world’s greatest record producers, Primiano Di Biase, Europe’s most in-demand and sought-after keyboardist, and last but not least, frontman Marco Caviglia who is widely regarded as the world’s leading authority on Mark Knopfler’s unique guitar-playing style.

Drawing from six platinum albums, DSL’s incredible live show features all of the classic Dire Straits hits, including "Money for Nothing," "Sultans of Swing," "Romeo and Juliet," "Walk of Life," "Brothers in Arms," "Tunnel of Love," and many more.

Photos by Steve Ognibene

In its 25th year, Batavia Players’ Summer Youth Theater program returns from a pandemic year off with something spectacular to behold, Director Pat Burk says.

He chose the musical “Godspell” to give prominent and ample opportunity for the 15 youth actors to fully embrace their characters and bring the Gospel of Matthew to life in an atypically festive and colorful atmosphere.

“It’s about parables and things, and also excerpts from the Gospel according to Matthew. But you know, the whole premise of the show is just a very beautiful premise, and the show itself is physically gorgeous. I think people will be surprised at our setting this year … during Mardi Gras in New Orleans,” Burk said during an interview with The Batavian. “And that's another nice thing about the show, you can kind of put it into the setting you want it to be in. Originally it was in a junkyard in New York City. It was a bunch of homeless, kind of hippie vagrants, in the junkyard in New York City. We've changed that, and ours is very New Orleans, Mardi Gras-themed. and it is a very beautiful show. So I think people will enjoy it.”

The musical is a retelling of the Gospel of Matthew set in New Orleans during Mardi Gras. The disciples of Jesus spread his message of love and tolerance through the city streets as the time gets closer to Jesus's betrayal at the hands of Judas and his eventual crucifixion. Parables are interspersed with music set primarily to lyrics from traditional hymns, with the passion of Christ appearing briefly near the end of the show.

With its debut on Thursday, Summer Youth Theater’s production continues at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and at 2 p.m. Sunday at Batavia First Presbyterian Church, 300 East Main St., Batavia.

"Godspell" began as a project by drama students at Carnegie Mellon University and evolved from off-off-Broadway to being rescored for an off-Broadway production, which became a long-running success.

Don’t let the actors’ ages, from 12 to 21, fool you; most are fairly well versed in theater and in working with Batavia Players, Burk said. There have been challenges, though, with the venue — First Presbyterian Church in Batavia. The widespread choreography and sets were too much for the Players’ makeshift stage while the new one is under construction, he said.

The troupe was invited to perform at the East Main Street church and accepted, meaning a complete transplanting of sets, the light and sound boards, costumes, props and stage setup, he said. They had to rent sound equipment, move and reset lights, and faced more challenges with designing a set for this particular show, he said, “which we want to really highlight the design and the costumes and the coloring, the colors involved in the show and how we're setting the show.”

“We had to bring in a bunch of really expert people to make that happen,” Burk said. “And I think people will be amazed. It's pretty expansive, and it's pretty impressive, actually.”

There also wasn’t room for the pit band that accompanies vocalists, he said. Their current, temporary digs consist of a small stage area inside Batavia City Centre until the theater construction is finished.

“Because the only shows that we do in there … we can have drums and guitars and bass and two pianos, and there's no room for that in our temporary space,” he said. “So the shows that we've done in there, if there is music, have either band recorded music that you purchase, and/or an individual piano. So, this show really requires a fuller pit, plus the choreography and dance numbers are, in our version, are fairly extensive, and they would not have worked in that space.”

That being said, the church performance space has worked out nicely for a breathtaking production that, contrary to what some people may think of biblical prose, is anything but boring, he said.

“It's absolutely gorgeous. And the music is amazing. Absolutely amazing, and it allows a lot of individual moments to shine within the show,” he said. “It's kind of an ensemble cast, which, there's obviously, one big important role. And then there's a bunch of ensemble roles, but they all have lines, they all have solos, they all have songs. It's also a good one to highlight the kids that are in it.”

"Godspell" takes Burk back — nearly 50 years — to when he was first cast in it at 16. He found it then — as he still does today — to be a “beautiful, beguiling, and bold” over-the-top celebration that was an immediate success amidst a swirl of controversy, he said.

“It certainly was not a traditional telling of biblical parables. What many did not realize at the time was that this musical was not about the life and times of Jesus, it was about how Jesus created this loving and caring

community from a wide array of people,” he said. “Instead of being the universal story of the life of Jesus, it used Jesus as a vessel for the story of how a community is created and how it can include all.”

Ticket information is available at showtix4u.com

Batavia Players' Summer Youth Theater cast readies for a debut of "Godspell" Thursday evening; Elise Baumer, Crystalina Baumer, Melania DeSa e Frias, Maia Zerillo and Jocelyn Coburn; front row featured actors Deacon Smith, Kai Hoag and Gabriel Burk Flanagan; Matthew Stevens as the lead of Jesus, with Samantha Jane Balbi, who is also the show choreographer; Matthew Stevens and Dorothy Sue Flanagan, the youngest member of the cast. Photos by Howard Owens.

Press release:

Batavia Downs Gaming & Hotel has announced that WBBZ’s popular show, Polka Buzz, will tape several shows inside the Park Place Room on Thursday, Aug. 25 at 7 p.m.  Local Polka Band, “The Buffalo Touch”, will perform that evening.

Tickets are $10 and can be purchased on the Batavia Downs official tickets website, BataviaConcerts.com now.   Tickets can also be purchased at the Lucky Treasures Gift Shop. Tickets can be redeemed for $10 in Free Play on the day of the show.

Those wishing to spend the night can take advantage of a $69 Hotel Special, which includes $40 in Free Play ($20 per person, based on double occupancy) and includes 2 tickets to the show!  Check out the Batavia Downs Facebook Page for info on booking a hotel room to receive these perks.

“Polka Buzz” celebrates Polka music as a recorded dance party program, featuring the top Polka Bands in the country.  Local Media Personality Ron Dombrowski hosts the show and brings his knowledge of Polka music to the television screen. Dombrowski has been broadcasting polka programs since 1979 on both radio and television.

“We are excited to once again bring Polka Buzz on the road for the summer,” said Dombrowski.  “We hope to see lots of our fellow Polka fans from Batavia, Buffalo, Rochester and the surrounding areas at our Batavia Downs Show!”

The Homestretch Grill, located adjacent to the Park Place Room, will feature food and drink for those attending the event.  Several specials including Polish Beer, Vodka and Food will be available.

“Hosting the Polka Buzz on site is something we’ve been looking to do for a long time, “said Scott Kiedrowski, Vice President of Operations.  “Hosting these unique, fun and affordable events is what sets Batavia Downs apart from other entertainment venues.”

Photo via TheBuffaloTouch.com

By L. Kent Wolgamott/Last Word Features

“Jukebox Charley” isn’t really Charley Crockett’s moniker. It’s the title of his newly released 11th album. But it’s a fair description of the man, who performs a jukebox full of songs, like the Johnny Paycheck-penned title cut, that brings classic country back to vivid life.

The fourth album in his “Lil’ G.L. Presents:” series is intentionally packed with Crockett’s versions of honky-tonk tunes that even the biggest vintage country fans won’t know.

“Folks nowadays don’t know any of the classic stuff at all,” Crockett said. “We really wanted to do some stuff those guys might not know. Not just to stump them. That’s the real thing. So why not put stuff people haven’t heard before?”

There’s a very personal reason why Crockett unearths obscure gems like Jerry Reed’s “Feel for You,” Willie Nelson’s “Home Motel,” George Jones’ “Out of Control” and Tom T. Hall’s “Lonely in Person” and “I Hope It Rains at My Funeral.”

“I’ve written a lot of songs," he said. “Sometimes I write good ones, sometimes I don’t. If I’ve got any chance of writing a good song, it’s because I’m learning these (classic) songs.”

Crocket brings his honky tonk sound to the Darien Lake Performing Arts Center on Sunday as part of the Outlaw Country Festival.

Another key influence, he said, is Bob Dylan.

“If you’re not looking at Dylan, you’re not thinking about songwriting,” Crockett said. “I know there’s a Grand Canyon for some folks between Bob Dylan and Tom T. Hall. I love Tom T. Hall. I recorded a couple of his songs on this (“Jukebox Charley”) album. The reality is if you took Tom T. Hall out of me, I’d still be good. But take Dylan out and I probably wouldn’t be doing it at all.”

Crockett, 38, began his music career at age 17, developing what he calls his “Gulf and Western” country sound as he hit the road with his pawn shop guitar, playing at first on the streets, then clubs and other venues while independently releasing 10 previous albums and overcoming open heart surgery in 2019 to correct a congenital defect.

Too independent, too country, and too distinctive for Nashville and country radio, Crockett won Emerging Act of the Year at the 2021 Americana Honors & Awards.

“For me, coming out of complete obscurity, digging a hole through the floor, if not for Americana, I don’t know where I’d be,” Crockett said.

Photo by Bobby Cochran.

ZZ Top’s “Raw” is as close to being an accidental album as it gets.

The album, which was released on July 22, is drawn from a session at Gruene Hall in New Braunfels, Texas in which singer/guitarist Billy Gibbons, bassist Dusty Hill, and drummer Frank Beard played versions of such familiar songs as “La Grange,” “Tush,” “Gimme All Your Lovin’” and “Legs” in the most live, spontaneous and basic setting possible.

The performances were filmed for use in the recent ZZ Top documentary celebrating the band’s 50-year history with its classic lineup, “That Little Ol’ Band from Texas.” That was supposed to be it, end of the story.

“The tunes on that occasion unfolded quite in the moment,” Gibbons said, recalling the session in a new e-mail interview. “Our director, Sam (Dunn), wanted a sequence where we played in the present day as a balance to the film’s historical narrative. We got in there and did what we did and later, much later, realized we had an album.” 

As Gibbons indicated, upon further review, the performances captured something worth hearing in its entirety – the unmistakable Texas blues-rock boogie of ZZ Top in its most authentic state. And the “Raw” album became a reality.

That authentic ZZ Top sound will be part of Sunday's Outlaw Country Festival on Sunday.

The album provides one of the last live documents of ZZ Top with Hill, who passed away in July 2021. A hip injury had prevented Hill from joining Gibbons and Beard for last summer’s tour, so long-time guitar tech Elwood Francis stepped in on bass. When Hill died, the band barely took time off before resuming the tour, knowing that’s what Hill would have wanted. 

Nevertheless, Hill’s death came as a shock.

“It was quite sudden, and we remained under the assumption he’d rally, recover and rejoin us,” Gibbons said. “We just had to deal with the reality of departure, and the quick turnaround helped reinforce “the show must go on” ethos. Our crew, our friends, fans, and followers have been a huge source of comfort.”

Now with Francis considered a long-term third member, Gibbons believes ZZ Top still has plenty to say musically. He’s hinted that an album of new material could happen.

“Elwood is certainly in with us for the long haul,” Gibbons said. “It’s still ZZ Top, not ZZ Top 2 or ZZ Top with an asterisk. The genuine article abides!”  

Photo courtesy of ZZ Top

Hip Hop entertainer Pitbull took to the stage last evening in front of a sold-out crowd of 22,000-plus fans at Darien Lake Performing Arts Center.

The laser light LED show and smoke billowing up from the stage were in beat to the rap star's hits like, "Don't Stop the Party," "Hey Baby (Drop It to the Floor)," "Hotel Room Service," plus many more.

Iggy Azalea opened for Pitbull.

Photos by Steve Ognibene

Batavia Downs saw record-breaking crowds tonight pack in to hear national recording artists .38 Special as part of its summer concert series.  Nearly 7,000 fans jammed into the sold-out venue last evening.

38 Special is an American rock band that was formed by Donnie Van Zant and Don Barnes in 1974 in Jacksonville, Florida.   

Lead Vocalist Don Barnes, led the southern rock 40-year-old band with famous hits like, “ Hold on Loosely," "Back where you belong," “Teacher, Teacher,” "You Keep Runnin’ Away,” “Somebody Like You” and “Caught up in You” and many, many more.

To view or purchase photos, click here.

Photos by Steve Ognibene

Families enjoy another Kids Day today with fun and entertainment at the Genesee County Fair.

To view or purchase photos, click here.

Photos by Steve Ognibene

In a do-it-yourself career that goes back about a decade, Jocelyn and Chris Arndt, who front the band Jocelyn & Chris, have never been ones to sit idle for long.

“We’re always racing ahead and looking for the next thing to do,” Jocelyn said in a late-July phone interview.

But a pandemic can stop just about anything. And that’s what happened in March 2020, just as this brother and sister from Fort Plain in upstate New York were finishing a new album planned for release ahead of a summer tour.

The band had seen their career gain momentum in 2019 when Jocelyn & Chris made their national television debut, performing the song “Outta My Head” on the “Today Show,” while the song “Kill in the Cure” charted on AAA radio.  So it wasn’t great timing to see a major tour get canceled, and the new album put on hold.

But the album, “Favorite Ghosts,” benefited from the pause. 

The Arndts, who write all of their songs together, re-examined their new songs and realized some weren’t everything they could be. And now that “Favorite Ghosts” is out, they feel things worked out for the better. 

“Honestly, I’m thankful for the album being the way it is,” said Chris, who joined his sister for the interview. “I’m more proud of it than anything else that we’ve ever made. But it’s a little bit funny to think about the fact that the version that the world almost got (two years ago) is so different from the version that the world ended up getting.”

The Arndt siblings are justifiably proud of “Favorite Ghosts.” They have three impressive previous full-length studio albums to their credit, and the new album is a particularly rich and varied effort. It ranges from the taut and catchy blues-tinged rock of “Sugar and Spice,” “Skeleton Key” and “Break Me Down” to the pop-rock of “Run Away,” the folk-inflected “So Far To Fly” to the downright delicate title track, showcasing Jocelyn’s powerhouse vocals and Chris’ tasteful guitar work along the way.

“Favorite Ghosts” will figure prominently into their July 30 show at Jam at the Ridge. They’re looking forward to their introduction to the venue. 

“We’ve been all over Western New York, around Lake Ontario and stuff,” Chris said. “I don’t think we’ve ever done Jam at the Ridge, though.”

“It seems like a cool thing they’ve got going on,” Jocelyn concurred.

The same could be said for Jocelyn & Chris.

For more information about the concert, go to https://www.jatrny.com/

Photo by Tina Pelech.

Many fair goers enjoyed last evening's parade at Genesee County Fairgrounds. 

Today is Kids Day and Emergency Responders Night

To view or purchase photos, click here.

Photos bys Steve Ognibene

Press release:

Kiss This! returns to the Jam At The Ridge stage in Le Roy on Friday at 4:00 PM.

If you love KISS, you'll love this show!  The Look.  The Feel.  The Sound.  They bring it all.

We're gonna Rock and Roll All Night!

Tickets are available at:

• $10 pre-sale tickets available at:  https://www.simpletix.com/e/kiss-this-wny-a-tribute-to-kiss-tickets-106678
• $15 cash at the door

Kids 17 and under are FREE with a ticketed adult

Easy parking right at the GATE (skip the North Road Parking and come right to the gate).

Special Guests performers: Bad Luck Band and JUDAH

Color Run, RC Racing, Pig Races and much more highlight Monday at Genesee County Fair.

The parade is featured this evening for events, starting at 6:30 pm. 

To view or purchase photos, click here.

Photos by Steve Ognibene

The 182nd Genesee County Fair kicked off Friday with the North American Six-Horse Classic Hitch Series Class. 

The Six-Horse Hitch Classic Series has reportedly become the most prestigious draft horse event on the continent. Thousands of spectators have cheered on the tremendous draft horse hitches at venues such as Toronto’s Royal Winter Fair, the Calgary Stampede, the Michiana Event Center, and the Eastern States Exposition in Massachusetts.

Six gleaming one-ton horses create a spectacle as they stomp into the arena as one, outfitted in patent leather and chrome harness, pulling the historically restored freight wagons. Crowds can literally feel the earth tremble as the massive hitches pass by.

Each year, six horse hitches across the United States and Canada compete at state and county fairs and agricultural exhibitions to accumulate points for the Classic Series.

Close to 200 hitches travel within their region and beyond, competing at nearly 80 qualifying shows throughout North America.

The competition builds to a climax at the end of the series when the five highest point hitches in each of three breed classifications are invited to compete for up to $100,000 in premiums for the Six-Horse Hitch Classic Series Finals.

This year Draft Horse Superintendents Dave Dermody and Mark Barie were able to secure 10 six-horse hitch teams. These teams will be performing two exciting competitions showcasing their gentle giants. Teams traveled this year from Indiana, Quebec, California, Wyoming, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Maine, and New York.

Pictured above is the winner of tonight’s North American six-horse hitch Classic, Jackson Fork Ranch Percherons LLC. from Little Jackson Hole, Wyo.  The driver was Reece Mengels.

For a complete fair schedule, click here.

Photos by Steve Ognibene.

Molly Hatchet, with decades of hits to choose from, played to a jam-packed crowd of over 6,000 on Friday evening at Batavia Downs Gaming.

In 2019 the band released a new digital single and lyric video for the track “Devil’s Canyon (live).” The track is taken from the band’s forthcoming live album “Battleground."

The Southern Rock combo was formed in 1971 and has gone through numerous lineup changes.  Lead singer John Galvin joined the band in 1984.

Photos by Steve Ognibene

Skillet doesn’t appear to be mellowing with age. Over a 15-year recording career that includes 10 previous studio albums, the Christian crossover band has firmly established their stylistic credentials within the metal/alternative rock universe.   

Eleven albums into a career that began in 1996, Skillet is back with the decidedly hard-hitting new album, “Dominion,” and songs like “Beyond Incredible,” “Surviving The Game” and the title track that mix thick guitars, aggressive beats and grimy industrial-ish tones sweetened with big melodic choruses. 

“I always laugh and tell people that as an artist I seem to have a really hard time knowing when something sounds different than the last record,” Skillet singer/guitarist John Cooper observed in a recent phone interview. “But my feeling is that this record is, it’s heavier...Some of that might be because of the Churko influence. That’s kind of what they do, isn’t it?”

The Churkos would be Kevin Churko, who produced and contributed to the songwriting on “Dominion,” and his brother, Kane Churko, who was also involved in the songwriting and production of the album.

“There’s something about Kevin’s production that’s just very big on the low end. It’s very, very punchy,” Cooper said of his producer, who has worked with Ozzy Osbourne, Five Finger Death Punch and Disturbed, among others. “He’s just a really, really great producer, and I’m a huge fan. So I was like ‘Kevin, do what you do. We want people to hear this music and feel like they’re coming out of the gate, coming out of the gate from pandemic and depression and sadness and despair, and they are coming out of the gates ready to take the world on. Whatever the world brings, they’re going to crush it. That’s what I want people to feel when they hear this music. And he’s like ‘Yup, I’m on it.’”

Skillet is taking that energy, spirit – and volume -- on the road, playing a variety of festival dates this summer, including Kingdom Bound 2022 at Darien Lake Amphitheatre on July 24.

“We’ll play a couple of new songs, and then, of course, you’ve got to play the songs that you know people are going to be really mad if you don’t play,” Cooper said.

Photo courtesy of Skillet

Morgan Griffin, with a blue and white design on her face and while clutching several plastic animal figures, was happy that she made a trip from Rochester to Batavia Saturday.

The 11-year-old  came with some family members to EverPresent Church’s Fun in the Son carnival. The event greeted visitors with a balloon arch at the entrance, and had several tents set up with games, food and drink, colorful bounce houses and a petting zoo with goats.

“I loved it,” Morgan said. “All the excitement and how nice the people are. They did a good job.”

Her family knows someone in the church and heard about the event, so they took a drive to check it out. Morgan visited every tent and won the toy animals as game prizes.

Much closer to the scene was April Allison. She lives nearby and happened to spot the activity in the City Centre parking lot.

“I was dropping my boyfriend off at work when I saw the balloons,” she said. “So we walked over here.”

Her daughter Adara, who’s going into the fourth grade at John Kennedy Intermediate, liked the bounce houses best. They were checking out the petting zoo after spending a couple of hours there.

Jill Turner of Batavia had seen an online post about the Nortons seeking vendors who might want to help out, so she responded. She has four miniature goats and offered a small petting zoo. They were enclosed in a mobile fence that opened for visiting children to pet and feed them.

“I thought it would be good to bring my goats and do a good deed,” she said.

The zoo was a popular spot. Several children and their parents stopped by, including Adara and her mom. They had seen most of the exhibits, but weren’t quite finished, Adara said just before suggesting the next booth to visit.

“Snowcones,” she said, as the sun beamed down in 80-degree weather.

Pastors Jason and Michelle Norton, leaders of the church, wanted the event to “be a blessing” for the community, and they felt it was a mission accomplished.

Jason worked the refreshment stand while Michelle made announcements from behind tables full of raffle gift baskets. It had been going very well, she said, and Jason had sold more than 150 hotdogs with about an hour remaining before closing time.

From the moment the official beginning hit — 11 a.m. — “we were a steady busy flow of families all the way ’til 3 p.m.,” Michelle said.

“From what we gathered, the children were super blessed; they were so excited and delighted with all the prizes they won, and I know the church family was thrilled to be able to serve our community,” she said. “People were asking us about our church, almost everyone that came had a chance to go through the church and we had well over 100 kids get their faces painted, along with hundreds winning multiple prizes.”

While one goal was to offer some fun entertainment for kids and families, the Nortons also wanted to introduce the church to the community, and vice versa. Jason estimated that "well over 500" people attended, and considered it a huge success.

Mary Hecht sat in the middle of all of the action as she sold tickets for the games and other activities. She’s been going to the church for several years, she said.

Everyone involved has been very pleased, she said.

“We’ve really been very busy; God really blessed us,” she said. “ We were all praying this morning before it started. This has been really nice for the community, it’s been really nice.”

The event was a success on so many levels, Michelle Norton said, including to serve as a fundraiser.

“We raised half the funds for a much-needed heating and air conditioning unit that we need to install, and we made some great connections and some more networking,” she said.  “Our plan is to do this annually. We are playing around with the idea of taking the Fourth of July the day that we have our festival, as long as GO ART! is not doing it anymore.”

The plan is to expand upon what they offered this year, she said, by adding carnival rides, vendors and possibly food trucks.

"We want to turn that parking lot into a full-fledged carnival with some live music, and I think it will happen by next year,” she said.

For previous coverage about the church, go to EverPresent

Top photo: The entrance to Fun in the Son at the City Centre parking lot next to event host EverPresent Church; Morgan Griffin, 11, of Rochester; Visitors at the petting zoo, provided by Jill Turner, center, and Pastor Michelle Norton making announcements during the event Saturday in Batavia.

Peter Noone's Herman's Hermits packed in the crowd for Rockin' the Downs tonight.

Photos courtesy Batavia Downs.

Last year, Thomas Rhett threw a bit of a stylistic curveball to fans with his album “Country Again: Side A,” which moved away from the pop elements and modern production that had been a big part of recent albums like “Center Point Road” (2019) and “Life Changes” (2017), and featured a more organic, more country and more relaxed sound.

But when Rhett tested songs from the album during an early 2021 run of shows at the famous club Billy Bob’s in Fort Worth, he felt the songs didn’t translate to the live stage the way he hoped.

This triggered a reaction as rejiggered his live show and as he and his songwriting collaborators got together to write during the 2021 tour, Rhett found he was in a different headspace than when he made “Country Again: Side A” during the pandemic.

“I think we just wanted to go in there with joy,” he said. “I wanted the recording process this time to not be so weighty and heavy and just have a blast doing it.”

Rhett headlines at Darien Lake Performing Arts Center on Friday.

The album that emerged, the recently released “Where We Started,” retains a few songs in the “Country Again: Side A” vein, but also should appeal to fans who like the poppier side of Rhett’s music.

“I kind of wanted to give the people who fell in love with ‘Life Changes’ and ‘Center Point Road’ a few songs that kind of reminded them of that,” Rhett said. “But I also wanted to give a lot of songs to people who really loved ‘Country Again Side A.’ There’s a little bit deeper of a piece of that on this record. I feel like as a whole, it’s one of the most well-rounded albums that we’ve gotten to make.”

A willingness to test musical boundaries without losing the country thread or accessibility of his music has made Rhett one of country’s top stars and most consistent hitmakers over the past decade, with six albums that have produced 19 No. 1 singles.

“This is for sure the longest show we’ve ever played,” Rhett said. “I think we have a 25-, 26-song set list this year, which I’m really excited about. There’s going to be something for everybody.” 

Photo by John Shearer.