USA (Part 3: Buffalo) by Sasha Koushk-Jalali
Monday 20th October
The group’s second ever visit to Schenectady — our phonetically challenging friend nestled in leafy upstate NY — had been nostalgic and brilliant. With the beautiful resonance of Union Chapel pleasantly lingering in our ears, it was time to embark on the near 300-mile drive west to our next touring stop: Buffalo, NY.
I took the helm of the battle bus for this mission, learning the US Highway Code one infraction at a time.
Creator of the world-famous Buffalo sauce, and member of the English language’s most bizarre yet grammatically correct sentence, ‘Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo’ — erm, Buffalo welcomed us warmly. Within a few minutes’ walk of the hotel we found an Irish bar and world-class steakhouse. This was a promising start.
Whilst the rest of the group went out to rehydrate at the Irish bar, I headed to the hotel-recommended parking lot to stow the battle bus overnight. I did eventually manage this — though not before discovering that the van was not compatible with the car park’s height limit.
With the battle bus parked (on the street), I joined the group for undoubtedly the finest steak experience of my life. Wine was quaffed, and porterhouse steaks were devoured. It was glorious. Well done, America: you have completed steak.
Tuesday 21st October
Fed, watered and rested we woke up in Buffalo ready for our fourth concert of the tour.
Spirits were high during the sound check, as we enjoyed the lush acoustic of Kleinhans Music Hall. This energy flowed into an expertly delivered pre-concert talk (bravo Dan & Pete!), and culminated in a suitably rousing concert. Our intercontinental French–American programme was going down very well with the audiences!
After carrying our instruments and slightly bruised chops back to the hotel, we headed out in search of medicinal cocktails, buffalo wings, and local beer, all of which I’m happy to report we found. In a major plot twist, the Buffalo wings weren’t all that good.
Wednesday 22nd October
Buffalo is a stone’s throw from Niagara Falls, so we made the most of our morning off by driving out to the US side of the famous waterfall.
TL;DR: it’s very big and really wet.
We bought a group trip on a boat to see the falls up close, which included a ‘free’, bright-pink poncho. As you might imagine, these proved essential — though rather difficult to wear effectively.
The Falls lie astride the US–Canadian border, and for a brief moment on the boat trip we crossed into Canada. Unable to contain his excitement, our resident Canadian Dan West can be seen here engaging his patriotism.
Wet through, cold, hungry, but content, we headed off for a warming lunch at a local restaurant. The French onion soup was the star of the show.
With our bellies full, and our clothes roughly 3% drier than they were at the start of the meal, we headed off to the airport for our next assignment: Texas, The Lone Star State ⭐️
