Month: July 2017

The Italian Heritage Festival in Buffalo, NY typically draws tens of thousands of people, and The Chicago Authority was honored to be chosen to be the closing-day headliner. Although the threat of rain caused crowds to be somewhat smaller than previous years, the audience responded with incredible energy — especially when they demanded a double encore in the pouring rain!

We were also honored to be joined on stage by our close friend Ken Thomasula, who lent his terrific voice to Brand New Love Affair, Make Me Smile, and Colour My World. Great to have you on stage, Kenny!

Our view of the Dunkirk Harbor from the stage at the end of the pier. Hundreds of people turned out in questionable weather to hear the band, and the storm held off just long enough for us to finish the show. Fifteen minutes after we finished, the sky opened up and a torrential rain soaked the sound crew as they raced to protect their gear from the water.

Thanks to everyone who ignored the weather report to see our show. And this post wouldn’t be complete without a shout-out to our new friends Big Tone, a band from Dunkirk who opened the show. Great originals and tasty covers, guys!

It was one of those hot and humid western New York summer evenings. It was the Wednesday after Independence Day. People had been partying for a long 4-day weekend. We thought the crowd would be sparse.

Boy, were we wrong! The crowd packed the entire area all the way to the next street. Standing room only on the sidewalk across the bridge. And all along the banks of the Tonawanda side of the Erie Canal. We estimated about 4,000 friends and fans came out to end a 5-day weekend. The crowd response was overwhelming!