Tom Weber Films and PACA invite you to a unique film/music event, featuring the exciting documentary BFLO PNK 1.0 with live music by legendary Buffalo band THE VORES and Erie's own UNORDAINED featuring Burny White.

Cleveland has the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame; Erie has its own vibrant music scene. Buffalo? Gateway to Niagara Falls.

Music fans in Erie are curiously myopic when it comes the nearest big city to our east. But, in the not too distant past, there was a spontaneous explosion of live original music in the Queen City much like the one that happened here.

Whether it was the cold winters, the collapse of industry, the onslaught of Reaganism, the coming of age of the late Baby Boomers, the availability of cheap recording technology, or just something in the Lake Erie water, Buffalo in the late '70s and early '80s was a fertile breeding ground for great music.

The Vores, the Jumpers, Mark Freeland, the Enemies, Lip Service, the Good, Pauline & the Perils, Davy & the Crocketts, the George, Paper Faces, were among the legions of unique, high-energy bands that burst forth in Buffalo during that time, embodying the do-it-yourself, minimalist ethos of punk rock.

Longtime journalist Elmer Ploetz, a follower of the Buffalo punk scene since the earliest days, has captured the power and excitement of the era in a documentary, BFLO PNK 1.0. Through live performances, archival footage, interviews, posters and photos, Ploetz weaves a rich tapestry that evokes the vitality of this musical era.

Fans of the X-Whites, Tripod Jimmie, the Wiggling Judys, the Dogs, the Poster Children, Generic Beat, the KGBeats, the Rayguns and other Erie bands of the same period will not want to miss the only Erie area screening of this fast-paced and entertaining film. It will take place Friday, March 22, at Erie's newest performing arts center, PACA, 1505 State St. Filmmaker Elmer Ploetz will be on hand to introduce the film and answer questions; copies will be available.

But that's not all. In addition to the film, we'll be bringing one of those great Buffalo bands -- THE VORES -- for their first ever appearance in Erie. The Vores came out of Buffalo's punk/new wave/no wave scene with a sound reminiscent of underground bands like Television, Pere Ubu and James Chance and the Contortions.

The Vores released a series of 7" singles including the sensational "Love Canal," and made many trips to New York City to play at CBGB's, Max's Kansas City, Maxwell's and other East Coast punk shrines.

They disbanded in the early Eighties, but came back in 2004 with the self-produced album Moment of Uncertainty. Bandleader and main vocalist Biff Henrich will be joined on stage by original bassist Gary Nickard as well as Dave Meinzer (guitar), Patrick Heyden (drums), and Cathy Carfagna (keyboards).

Meinzer was leader of Davy and the Crocketts, another Buffalo band featured in Ploetz's film.

This is a homecoming of sorts for Henrich, who grew up in Millcreek, and to mark the occasion we're also featuring UNORDAINED, a high-energy Erie band led by Henrich's brother -- known to Erie fans as guitarist Burny White (X-Whites, Squares, Drossells).

Get tickets now for this once-in-a-lifetime show! This is the second in a series of film-and-music events at PACA that combine new works by grassroots indie filmmakers and live performances by unique musical artists. The series is curated by Tom Weber, an Erie native and independent filmmaker based in Pittsburgh.