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Jeff Spevak previews The Rockin' Rochester Weekender

The Fleshtones
Yep Roc Records
The Fleshtones

The legacy of New York City’s CBGB and, here in Rochester, Scorgies, is being celebrated at The Rockin’ Rochester Weekender. Music with a sense of its own history as 14 bands gather on Friday and Saturday at Photo City Improv Comedy and Music, 543 Atlantic Ave. #2.

Friday night is a mix of national bands and locals. New York City’s The Fleshtones, longtime punks who knew well the iconic New York City club CBGB, and The Elevator Operators will be joined by Rochester’s Hi-Risers, Harmonica Lewinski, Aweful Kanawful, Dangerbyrd and Beef Gordon.

Saturday’s lineup includes two more New York City bands, Dirty Fences and the Brooklyn Bluebirds, as well as Montreal’s one-man band, Bloodshot Bill; the all-woman surf band from Toronto, The Surfrajettes; and Rochester’s The Fox Sisters, Televisionaries and The Low Spirits.

The Hi-Risers
Credit The Hi-Risers
The Hi-Risers

DJs will spin obscure, dance-crazy 45 rpm records late into the night, Sticky Lips BBQ will be on hand (with vegetarian options as well), and vendors will be out with wares appropriate to this retro-vibe night: Nostalgia Inc., Retro-Verte vintage clothing and jewelry and One Round Jack clothing inspired by the golden age of boxing.

The doors open at 6 p.m., it’s a 21-and-over show with your ID. Tickets ($45 plus service fee for a weekend pass, $25 plus the fee for a single-day ticket are available at rockinrochesterweekender.eventbrite.com. Admission is $30 at the door.

Jeff Spevak, a cultural arts contributor to WXXI, is a Rochester-based writer. His website is jeffspevak.com.

Jeff Spevak has been a Rochester arts reporter for nearly three decades, with seven first-place finishes in the Associated Press New York State Features Writing Awards while working for the Democrat and Chronicle.