Greetings fellow avid Addicted to Vinyl followers,

Raise your hand if you went to the Cracker show on Friday? Awesome, right? I haven’t been to a show that good in a long time. Killer set-list, though you already know that from reading Matt’s astute show review. At least partly because that show was so awesome, and also partly because Matt didn’t complain when I suggested a movie as the show of the week a couple weeks back, I’m really gonna push the envelope on this week’s endorsement.

This week, rather than suggest you hit up a particular gig at the Beachland or Grog or even Now That’s Class or the Winchester, I’m going to advise you to forgo concert entertainment. In fact, I’m going to advise you to leave the friendly confines of Cuyahoga County! Now don’t get me wrong, I am in LOVE with Cleveland, so this isn’t some back-handed “get out while you still can” endorsement. Instead, it is a sincere acknowledgment that while we might have the best city in America right here in Northeast Ohio, occasionally other cities do some cool stuff worth checking out, too.

And one of those cool things happens to be going down in Buffalo, NY, this weekend. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you … The National Buffalo Wing Festival. Buffalo wings have been the Cleveland Bachelor’s favorite food group since some time in my early high school days. I don’t remember how or when, exactly, I first tasted that spicy nectar but ever since it has been an addiction, and I have travelled the nation far and wide sampling wings and casting judgment. Once, during my years in Texas, I even hosted a buffalo wing tasting that featured submissions from nearly a dozen different eateries, both independent and chain. (For those interested, Buffalo Wild Wings won. My instinct is that if I held a similar challenge here, a big surprise winner would be Rally’s, though I’m always willing to try out any place you care to suggest.)

This weekend, I’m fulfilling a long-time dream by attending the Buffalo Wing Festival and I encourage you to make a similar trek. A mere three hours drive will find you in Buffalo, home of the Anchor Bar, where America first received the gift of wing. The festival itself takes place in Coca-Cola Field, where the Indians longtime (and now Mets) Triple-A affiliate, the Buffalo Bisons, play their home games. Baseball will be elsewhere, however, and instead the park will be filled with dozens of buffalo wing vendors, IFOCE-sanctioned competitive eating contests, a .5K race (no, the decimal was not a mistake – this race really is only about 1/3 of a mile), and a national sauce competition designed to determine the best wing in America.

Can you really beat that this weekend in Cleveland or anywhere else in America? No, you can’t. You just can’t.

So saddle up, grab a half-dozen CDs you’ve been meaning to listen to, get your best pal to chip in on a cheap hotel room and a box of Rolaids, and head on up to The Nickel City for some wing awesomeness. Your friends will be jealous, your memories will be wonderful, and I will love you forever. Or, at least two of the three things will happen. Though as another CB favorite said, “Two outta three ain’t bad…”

A couple of additional show picks from ATV:

Our good friends Pale Hollow are opening for Peter Frampton at Taste of Cleveland on Friday night. The Taste of Cleveland entertainment continues throughout the holiday weekend with Lita Ford on Saturday night (rawk!) and Billy Squier on Sunday night, featuring Cleveland locals View From Everest in the opening slot for that one. Taste of Cleveland wraps up on Monday with a triple threat of live entertainment designed to test the endurance of your liver and taste buds. Cowboy Mouth start things off with a special afternoon performance, followed by Michael Stanley and the Resonators with special guest The Jack Fords, later that same evening.

Todd Rundgren performs the classic Wizard LP in a pair of performances at the Akron Civic happening on Sunday and Monday (9/6 and 9/7.) The Sunday show is sold out, but you should be able to still snag tickets for the Monday evening performance.

Brian of Broken Headphones fame wants me to give you an early warning about the Those Darlins show happening on Wednesday, September 9th at The Spot, Case Western Reserve University style.

There you have it, folks – Check out the complete rundown from CB for the week ahead, right here!