Syracuse in focus (SIF)

Miss Marie & Professor Louie (Center for the Arts, Homer, NY)

We visited the artsy, but reverent space known as the Center for the Arts in Homer for the first time on Friday. The Veterans Day tribute featuring Professor Louie & The Crowmatix was a blast. The Pride of Peekskill (aka The Professor) oversaw the wonderful performance either seated at the keys, and or flexing his shoulders to play his vintage accordion.  We particularly enjoyed his vocal chemistry with singer Miss Marie (pictured above).

The show featured a generous 2-hour plus performance, including tributes to Leonard Cohen and Buckwheat Zydeco. As an added bonus, we noticed some familiar faces in the horn section, and their intro paved the way for a truly sonic performance in the formerly sacred space.

Gary Burke

Gary Burke drummed up a fuss the entire night, including a great solo on the cut “Mr. Luck.”  Meanwhile guitarist John Planania put the crowd under his spell, especially on the Van Morrison hit “Domino.” Frank Campbell also kept things steady with his trusty bass and background vocals.

The venue featured a spacious lobby as well. The acoustics sometimes suffered from the vaulted ceiling, but there was not a bad seat in the house.  We found the post-it seat reservation system a pleasant dose of nonconformity.

Special thanks to Tom Honan and Live Space Entertainment for the invite.

National Anthem