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Donna the Buffalo News & Rumors

December 2006

Dave McCracken Sits In With DtB In Charlotte, NC
On Saturday, 12/30, keyboard player Dave McCracken joined Donna the Buffalo during the band's show at Amos's Southend in Charlotte, NC. McCracken, who filled in for Kathy Ziegler from late March through mid-April 2006 while she was on maternity leave, came out for Current Theme (McCracken on organ, Kathy on piano/clavinet), It Will Be Right (McCracken on clavinet, Kathy on organ), and Arrows Pointing Sideways (McCracken on organ, Kathy on piano/clavinet). In other news, this was an accordion-free show; Tara did not have her accordion or her usual fiddle for this gig, so she played an electric fiddle the band secured once they arrived in Charlotte. If anyone's got photos from this night, I'd love to post them, so send them my way: fans@donnafans.com.
(posted 12/31/06)

New Photos: Buffalo, NY 12/16/06
For the second of its two central New York "holiday" shows earlier this month, Donna the Buffalo returned to the Town Ballroom in Buffalo, NY, a venue they'd played in November 2005. The band ended the performance with a somewhat unusual encore: After playing Rock of Ages and the enjoyable and expected Jamestown Christmas, they went into a jam that sounded much like the Doors' The End, capped off by Kathy Z teasing the holiday classic Silent Night. Don't take my word for it--this show's already available on the Live Music Archive, so go have a listen for yourself. Many thank to Val Williams, who generously shares nine photos of DtB playing on 12/16/06 in Buffalo, NY. (posted 12/29/06)

Huntsville Show Has Been Postponed Until February
Donna the Buffalo's gig at the Crossroads Cafe in Huntville, AL, which originally was supposed to take place this Friday, 12/29, has been postponed until February 10. No word on the reason for the change, but the rescheduling saves the band hundreds of miles of travel in the days before the New Year's Eve show in FL, as now they no longer have to travel down to AL and then back up to NC on their way to the run of FL shows that begins on 12/31 in St. Petersburg. (posted 12/26/06)

Just Added: Photos From Johnson City, NY 12/15/06
Each December, Donna the Buffalo likes to perform at least a pair of shows within easy driving distance for the central New York state contingent of the Herd. This year, those shows took place on Friday, 12/15 at the Magic City Music Hall in Johnson City, NY, and Saturday, 12/16 at the Town Ballroom in Buffalo. Val Williams made the trek for both of the shows, and her 11 photos of DtB playing on 12/15/06 in Johnson City, NY reveal the band to be in particularly good spirits. As you might expect, the band typically picks this weekend to break out its two Christmas" songs; on this night, the encore was Nashville Christmas, followed by Jamestown Christmas in Buffalo the next night. Thanks for the photos, Val! (posted 12/23/06)

More Information Released About The DtB Cruise!
More information about Donna the Buffalo's cruise from Miami to the East Caribbean from 1/6/08 to 1/13/08 has been announced on Rhythms at Sea Cruises' web site, rhythmsatseacruises.com. This nice-looking site has the itinerary, booking information, cabin options and prices, an FAQ, and more. The on-sale date will be announced soon. Norwegian Cruise Lines has allotted only 350 cabins for this cruise, which means this event will likely sell out well in advance. (posted 12/23/06)

New Review: Troy, NY 12/9/06
On Saturday, 12/9/06, Donna the Buffalo returned to the reopened, and presumably under new management, Revolution Hall in Troy, NY, a venue where the band cranked out a pair of stellar shows in the Spring and Fall of 2005. First-time DonnaFans.com contributor Dan Smith was there, and his review of DtB's show in Troy, NY on 12/9/06 confirms that the band once again cranked it up for its Albany-area fans. Thanks for the review, Dan! If anyone's got photos from this show, send 'em in: fans@donnafans.com. (posted 12/20/06)

Donna The Buffalo To Cruise Again In 2008!
In January 2003, Donna the Buffalo played on a cruise that set sail from Florida. During the band's show on Friday, 12/15, in Johnson City, NY, Jeb said that they've decided to do it again. According to a different source, DtB will be onboard for week-long cruise to the Eastern Caribbean on the Norwegian Dawn that will Miami on 1/6/08 and sail to Samana (Dominican Republic), Tortola (British Virgin Islands), St Thomas (US Virgin Islands), and NCL's private island, Great Stirrup Cay (Bahamas). While the number of times the band will perform during this cruise hasn't been announced, you can expect at least five sets during the week. I'll post more details and a link as soon as they become available. (posted 12/16/06)

New Review: 12/8/06, New York, NY
Since I live in the New York metro area, you might think my opinion of any Donna the Buffalo show here might be a bit biased. After all, everybody everywhere likes to think that DtB plays best when they come to his or her hometown, right? But the simple fact is, NYC-area crowds produce an energy unlike that found anywhere else, and bands do tend to put out a little extra when they play here. Such was the case on a brutally cold December night, when Donna the Buffalo returned to the Bowery Ballroom. My review of DtB's show on 12/8/06 in New York, NY isn't exactly fodder for The New York Times, but it'll give at least some idea of how it went down. (posted 12/12/06)

First Photos:
New York, NY 12/8/06

After several years of seeing Donna the Buffalo at all of the New York City-area venues they've played, I've come to just one conclusion: They like The Bowery best. The band returned to this Lower East Side venue on Friday, 12/8/06. On a frigid night, DtB layed down a scorching set that was heavy on the band's uptempo rock and zydeco tunes, including Conscious Evolution, which uncharacteristically came early in the night, Hey Trudy, Blue Sky, These Are Better Days, Funky Side, and an absolutely incendiary Hot Tamale to conclude the two-song encore. Kathy Ziegler debuted her chopped Hammond B3 at this gig (see below). My buddy Bill will soon share some high-quality photos he took at this show; in the meantime, here's my five shots of DtB peforming on 12/9/06 at the Bowery in New York, NY. I'll post a review of this show within the next few days. (posted 12/9/06)

Kathy Ziegler Adds A Hammond B3
To Her Musical Arsenal

A day before it happened, MadTaper gave us the heads-up that Kathy Ziegler was going to be mixing things up instrument-wise. "News flash says Kathy's gonna be playin' a chopped Hammond B3 instead of the Lowery...first gig NYC," he wrote in a post to the Herd email list. "Chopped to save weight but according to sources who should know (those that hafta move it) it still comes in about 200. Should be fuller, heftier, more robust sound comin' out o' the Leslie." I was at the 12/8 show, and the Hammond sounded great. The bottom of the organ has been cut off and replaced with square frame steel tubing that appears to fold flat, making the instrument at least a little easier to transport. (posted 12/9/06)

More Photos From
Newport, KY 11/16/06

Gene Martin comes through with the third batch of photos from his recent four-night strings of shows. This time he's providing six shots of Donna the Buffalo performing on 11/16/06 at the Southgate House in Newport, KY. A few weeks ago Val Williams kindly shared five photos from the same show. Looks like it was a cool venue. Thanks for the photos, guys!
(posted 12/5/06)

Half-Price Tickets For New Year's Day Show In Tampa
If you're going to Donna the Buffalo's New Year's Eve show at the Coliseum in St. Petersburg, FL and are considering catching them the next day at Skipper's Smokehouse in Tampa, hold on to your NYE ticket stub. The regular price for the Skipper's show is $24, but if you wait to buy a ticket at the door and you show your ticket stub from the New Year's Eve show, it'll cost you only $12. A word to the wise: While last year's show New Year's Day show at Skipper's didn't sell out, previous years have (capacity 800). Advance tickets are available from WMNF by calling 813-238-8001 or visiting www.wmnf.org/events/ticketsales.php.
(posted 12/5/06)

Cool Music Video For
Deeds of the Few

Mike O'Connell of Haw River Films, who did the awesome Grassroots Stages documentary that chronicled the 2003 GrassRoots Festival, has teamed up with Donna the Buffalo to produced a music video for the DtB song Deeds of a Few. This video is currently on YouTube.com at www.youtube.com/watch?v=0TpG7xxr9_Y. The video features clips of the band performing the song interspersed with scenes of war, and of children playing. Mike explains how the video came to be: "Basically it came about last spring when Jeb called and we talked about doing a music video for the Life's A Ride record. The concept is the result of a 30-minute phone conversation, and it's basically all Jeb. He talked about the images that came to him regarding that song and I put it together as best I could. The performance is HD video shot during the Shakori Spring 2006 festival. The images of the children are 16mm film shot during the fall 2005 Shakori Festival and we finally got the money (thanks to Jordan) to process the film this summer for a TV ad we did for this fall's Shakori festival." Nice work, Mike!
(posted 12/1/06)


News & Rumors Archives

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