ELLICOTTVILLE ENTERTAINMENT (11/14/08)
Checking Out the Tunes and Other Stuff In Ellicottville
By Robby & Sherm Wilkens

Here we are about halfway through November. Holiday Valley has had its winter employee orientation functions and all is well for skiing to begin. I just hope we get started the Friday after Thanksgiving. We shall see. As for the music here in the village, we have another seven band and two D.J. week coming at us.

It all begins 9:00 PM tonight Friday November 14, 2008 with “Personable D.J. John Barry” doing his weekly gig LIVE from Balloons Sound Booth. Depending on the crowd John can be showing off his personality, spinning good danceable stuff or just playing background music. As always he will be in tune with the wishes of his audience. John’s music plus Balloons excellent menu, which is available till 10:00 PM, make Balloons a fun stop on Friday night. You should check it out for yourself.

The first band of this weekend will be “Straight Edge” 9:30 PM Friday in The Double Diamond. From my notes, this is a new group made up of members from “The John Doe Band” and “Two Hour Notice” both of these two groups were quite “High Energy Classic Rockers”. Therefore I will bet “Straight Edge” will be more of the same. I stopped in The Double Diamond on Tuesday only to find Brooks & Company reconstructing the east end of the bar area. The jukebox is being moved or eliminated, as is the waiter’s station in the bar area. Therefore, there will be more room for the bands to set up. This will add to the really neat ambiance that is The Double Diamond and make it even a more fun place to see live music and enjoy Noel’s really fine cooking. I encourage all to check out his fish fry this or any Friday evening.

Saturday the music starts at 5:00 PM in Balloons with “J.J. Moscato & Blue Avenue”. This is a new one for me. From the bands web site, “J J” is a keyboardist and “Blues Vocalist”. He has played in and around Buffalo for the past few years in some pretty good company. Including “Bittersweet Rose” and “The Mick Hayes Blues Band”. Blues you can feel appears to be what will happen this Saturday in Balloons. As always, Klinton and the rest of the Balloons Staff will be there for your food and beverage needs. Following “J.J. Moscato & Blue Avenue” “D.J. Chatty Frank Watson” will continue the festivities from Balloons Sound Booth. “Mr. Watson”, as always, is fun and around the bend. Therefore, if you wish, one can make a whole night of music and frolic along with excellent munchies in Balloons.

Back on Washington Street, at 9:00 PM Saturday “White Lighting” will be doing a gig in The Gin Mill. Ellicottville’s Freddie Joseph of “Kuk and Freddie” is the percussionist of this very up-beat group. Their music is “Classic Rock” with, like last week, a “Country Twist”. They are just plain fun for dancing or just listening. “White Lightning’s” music plus The Gin Mill’s menu, which is served till midnight, make for a fun stop this Saturday. Jeff, Tracie and the rest of The Gin Mill Good Guys will see to a fun time for all.

The last band of the weekend, “Victims Of Fate” will begin at 9:30 PM Saturday in The Double Diamond. This high-energy cover “Classic Rock Band” was here the Saturday before Halloween. Joey Gilroy and his group put on a very hard driving show that really gets the crowd going. With then expanded area that the bands now have, The Double Diamond is now even a better place to enjoy cold beverages, excellent food and some of the best LIVE music this village has to offer. With Tammy and Nick on bar duty, a good time is almost guaranteed this and every Saturday night.
After another quiet Sunday our wonderful regular weekly music will “Kick Off” a little earlier because of the Bills Monday Night Game. Starting at 6:00 PM, instead of 7:00 PM, Monday “The Blue Mule Band’ will “Kick Off” “Pasta and Blue Grass” in The Gin Mill. As most of you know, The Gin Mill offers an endless plate of spaghetti and garlic toast preceded by one of the best salads on this planet for only $5.95. With the order of two dinners there is an excellent wine special also available. “Blue Grass with Heart” by Gail, Doug and Bernie and an excellent spaghetti dinner plus The Bills on TV makes for a pretty good reason to enjoy The Three M’s (Monday, Music and a Meal) this Monday in The Gin Mill.

Also Monday beginning around 10:00 PM, MONDO MONDAY, Ellicottville’s only “All Original Music Experience” will commence in The Double Diamond. Mr. Jack Darvaset formally of “The Slide Guitar Ace Codine Trio” assures me this gig is much more than an experience. He feels it is a music “Extravaganza”. Having experienced this Double Diamond event quite often, I agree it is a “Extravaganzing Music Experience” that is well worth the effort to be part of. “Lil Joey” on spoons, “Brandon” on bass, “Frankie” on drums and some times “Fritz The Kat”, join Mr. DarVacette to create this really fun time every Monday night in The Double Diamond.

The final gig of the week, Wednesday, Wings, Wagner and Winston will take place, as it has for twenty-five years, 9:00 PM this Wednesday in The Gin Mill. Joe Wagner and John Winston create the “Folk to Southern Rock” acoustic music; The Gin Mill Good Guys create and serve their excellent thirty-five cent wings while Mr. Chorny does his thing from behind the bar creating one of the most fun music nights of the week. All I can say is for a fun time check out The Gin Mill this and every Wednesday night.