Jeremy Porter Road Blog

Road Blog: Friday May 15, 2026 - Lockport, NY

Road Blog
May 15, 2026
Lockport, NY

We ventured out into the sunny and warming Niagara Falls, New York air and drove the van into the city for some lunch. Our pal from Buffalo Eric Weinholtz suggested a diner called The Starry Night Cafe which is set in a classroom of an old reclaimed/reconstituted high school turned art and community center, very similar to PARC in my town of Plymouth, Michigan. We got some soups and sandwiches that were amazing and had a nice long chat with one of the cooks, musician Joe Zarillo, about the current state of rock and roll and all the projects he has going on. Great dude, great food, great hangs!

From there we headed over the falls and found some parking in front of an Indian Restaurant that would come into play about an hour later. We walked down to the river and walked along the short path to the falls overlook. Sometimes when faced with the endless onslaught of tourist attractions, souvenir stores, and chain restaurants, you can forget how awesome something like Niagara Falls really is. It was crowded but not nearly so bad that you felt jammed together. There was plenty of open space to move around, get some photos, and take it in for a few moments. I’d been to the Canadian side with TrooperGirl22 before, but never to the US side, except the view from the bridge. They really are amazing.

Back on tourist-row the boys went for some shaved ice and ice cream and I popped into a souvenir shop to see what kind of garbage might call my name when I felt I little gurgle in the bottom of my belly. Without going into details, let’s just say I found myself engulfed in an unplanned MDI (Major Digestive Event) and had to duck into that Indian restaurant we parked by to use their facilities with little time to share. Poor folks didn’t know what to make of me but I flashed `em a smile and a wink as I headed back out into the street, damage done, no samosas to-go, thank you very much. The struggle is real out here, friends.

Back at the motel we had a couple hours of downtime. I grabbed a shower and little nappy, Troy called home and checked in, and Jacob worked on a couple bass lined he’d struggled with in Buffalo the night before. It was some needed chill-time, and we felt a bit refreshed as we hopped back into the van and headed over to Lockport.

Lockport is a small little city that sits on the Erie Canal and is known for a lock system that was used during the industrial age (and lesser now) to help material transport barges and boats navigate changes in sea levels without having to worry about foraging or rapids. We have the Soo Locks in Michigan, and it’s the same thing, on a smaller scale. We stopped in at Vinny's Vinyl Record Shop and thumbed through the bins for a bit. Met this dude Joey who plays in Handsome Jack and had a nice chat. I left with used Thin Lizzy and Whitesnake/David Coverdale albums, and they’re now selling a sealed copy of my Dynamite Alley record (GTG Records), so stop on in and grab it and support this cool store!

The reconnaissance we’d received about Hawley’s Grove was that it’s a cool bar, run by great people, but very small, so be prepared to pull the volume and show way back to accommodate the room. We were welcomed by the owners Ashley and Marc who were as friendly as can be. They showed us the lay of the land, where to stow our gear cases, when did we want dinner, and who needs a beer? The room was bigger than we’d expected, thankfully, and we got to loading in and setting up. There were photos of Detroit royalty Patti Smith, George Clinton, and Iggy Pop on the walls, and Motorhead playing on the juke box. We felt right at home,

Marc made an amazing pot of shrimp-artichoke-feta spaghetti that I’ll be trying out on TrooperGirl22 at an upcoming #whiskeywednesday back home. We had to supply our own PA and do our own sound, so set-up was longer than expected, and we got down to business around 8:15pm.

A small crowd gathered in the band room and a few others watched from the bar as we fumbled our way through the first couple songs. Our road PA, tested at length at home, was cutting in and out, and we couldn’t figure out why. We swapped out a mic cable, then Marc and Jake made some adjustments, and we finally unplugged our monitor and it started working good, so we were finally in business. We found our groove pretty quickly after that, and played much better than we did the night before in Buffalo. Rounds of drinks were coming over from the bar, people were digging the originals and the covers we’d throw in every few songs. We did “All I Can Do” by The Cars and this dude was blown away, because he’s a huge Cars fan and no one really does that song, so we did “Let’s Go” for him next, but still, we stuck mostly to our own stuff, as we do, and it resonated every bit as well.

We took a short break, said hello to my pals Geoff and Darin, who’d made the trek up from Buffalo (as huge Sabers fans, they couldn’t make it Thursday or tonight). Great guys and great getting caught up. Darin requested “Consolation Wife,” actually meaning “Consolation Prize” and we laughed and he reminded me that last time I played in Buffalo he asked me if it was “wife” or “prize” or do I change them around, and I said it’s “prize,” but maybe I should change them around! I vaguely remembered that conversation from 70 shows ago! Anyhow, they came all the way up from Buffalo, we hadn’t played the song in 3 years, and Troy had never even heard it, but what the hell. So we sort of fumbled our way through it and tried to give Troy some queues and it actually went ok considering all all that. Darin was grateful and it was a fun little improvised mess.

We wrapped up a little after 11, got one more round from our wonderful bartender Kristina, chatted it up with Geoff, Darin, Marc, Ashley, and the locals, loaded out and headed back to our dive motel with sober Troy at the wheel. It was a fun, loose, rowdy night of rock and roll, and we heard several times that they “just don’t get stuff like this around here very often.” We were glad to be that, and can’t wait to come back!

Back at the motel we had a nightcap and watched some South Park before crashing out around 2am. The boys are sleeping and I’m on my 3rd lobby coffee and already have the shakes that go with them. Today we check out of this dump motel, that’s actually served us pretty well if I’m being honest, and head to Youngstown, New York, which is a short drive North I think. We’re playing The Ontario House aka "Stone Jug" and every person we’ve met has told us it’s an awesome place and to be prepared for a great time. We’re up against the Sabres again, and that’s unfortunate, but what ya’ gonna do? Eric Wienholtz and his trio are doing the afternoon slot around 3:30 and our intention is to get over there in time to catch as much of that as we can before we play from 8-11, on the outside stage, supposedly.

Huge thanks to everyone in Lockport for a really fun night! We needed it after the debacle in Buffalo. We’ll see ya tonight in Youngstown! xx