On Friday night I traveled out to Rochester, NY, to see the band Sirsy for the first time in about six months. They are hands down my favorite "local" band – I say local because they are based in Upstate NY (as am I), but they are a nationally touring band and have a dedicated following all over the country. I regularly see them in Central and Western NY when they're playing nearby, but as they've been away on tour for the last four months and had to cancel a number of shows before that due to sickness, it's been a bit of a dry spell for me.
I stumbled across Sirsy back in 2009, when they played a show at the Westcott Theater in Syracuse. The opening act was my brother's coworker's band. Sirsy was the headliner, and we stuck around to hear the first few songs they played. I was hooked immediately. (You can read more about that experience here.)
Back to the present, Mel and Rich – the people behind Sirsy – played a fun show at the Lovin' Cup on the campus of RIT last night. I've been to the venue a few times before, and it's kind of hit or miss. For example, this weird-ass band opened for Sirsy once when I saw them there back in 2010. Fortunately, a much better band, Virgo Heavy, opened last night.
Every show is unique: They make up the setlist on the spot, and as the night wears on they often switch things up in response to the crowd's (as well as shouted requests). The thing I love about Sirsy is that they play 95% of their own stuff, which has a huge range from straight up hard rock to bluesy jams to cerebral ballads. When they do covers, they really make them their own, and the selection is also just as varied. I've been to a lot of their shows over the last 8 years or so, and I've never heard the same sequence of songs twice.
Rich pondering his phone before the show
Anyway, if you've never seen or heard Sirsy, you should definitely check them out. They're in all the usual digital music stores, and you can see if they're coming to a place near you anytime soon on their tour page.
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