"Two Steps Forward, One Step Back"

This year, Buffalo became home to two new nightclubs: La Boom and The Sphere.

The doors to a Main Street party favorite for UB students have finally reopened after much delay. Formerly "Cloud 9," the refurbished "La Boom" boasts a new VIP section and fully stocked bathrooms that no longer flood. Most importantly, the pungent smell of vomit has dissipated significantly.

"(La Boom) is a completely different place now," Susan Scotto, a junior communication major and club employee, said. "The owners put a lot of money into it and hope to make a new name for the place, free of the stigma attached to its location."

Sphere owner Joe Guagliardo spoke about opening his high-class entertainment venue:

"This theater chose me," Guagliardo said. "I felt an amazing force that wanted me to have this place. I fell in love with it and believed in it from the start."

The Sphere has hosted many musical acts since opening, including the Vines, the Music, and TRUSTcompany, and presented "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" on April 27.

Soundlab, Buffalo's only experimental music venue, was forced to close its doors this month.

Soundlab, a non-profit cultural space that has been hosting innovative performances for over a year, was prematurely forced to close its doors to the public on April 13, 2003, due, indirectly, to the new and harsh codes being enforced by the government following nightclub fires in Rhode Island and Chicago.

"An average show hosts about 60 to 100 people with a ton of space to spare, therefore very few shows would have been impacted by a new capacity requirement," said Soundlab Director Craig Reynolds.

Fans of the venue will be glad to know that all is not necessarily lost for Soundlab. Although the closing was very sudden and unexpected, Reynolds said Soundlab is going to look for a new space over the summer and hopefully move in by next spring.

"As the Pearl Street venue for Soundlab is laid to rest, so is a very wonderful moment in Buffalo experimental music," said John Long, a graduate English literature and media studies student, and employee of Soundlab. "Fortunately, the curators of Soundlab are looking for a new space. If this happens, I hope more people will go out of their way and out of their normal bar or weekend habits."

-Information compiled from articles by Nora Hasson and Sarah Dye