The Music is Art Festival is not what it was in 2003 — a few bands playing on one tiny stage in the old Chameleon West parking lot to a crowd made up of a few who were there just for the music and most who wandered over from the neighboring Allentown Art Festival. My parents humored me and sat on one of those cement things at the top of a parking spot while I watched a short set by Klear, a band that is no longer together but still near and dear to my heart.

After seven years, a few venue changes (do we really need to rehash that art v. music battle that left the festival stranded at the Erie County Fair?) and a date change, the Music is Art Festival is so much more. Art, dance, music and children’s activities combine in a way no one probably imagined they would back in 2003 in that parking lot.

It’s been a few years since I’ve been able to attend — four, actually; that college thing sort of got in the way — so I am wicked excited that this year I’m not only going to the festival, I’m covering it for the website. I’m excited to see how the festival events play out across the grounds of the Albright-Knox. I’m excited to remember how great the local entertainment scene in Buffalo is — because, you’ve got to hand it to us, we’ve got some pretty kick-ass, creative people around here.

The bands I saw there in the early years may or may not still be around — I particularly remember getting a photo with the lead singer of Seven Day Faith one year, having a cool conversation with the guys in Ghostrunner another, and an acid trip of a set by Anal Pudding yet another time — but a whole new crop of musicians, artists and dancers await.

So, you tell me — whose set should I check out? Who should I try and talk to? What do you want me to report back about? I’ll try and cover as much as I can through Twitter, photos, video and some posts back here after it’s all said and done (sung and danced? Bad pun).

And by the way — it’s good to be back! Life’s been busy this summer, and full of plenty of changes. But I’ve missed this site. I promise not to go missing again.