Parousia played in a popular Irish pub known locally as “Tell It To Mc Ginty’s” on Seneca Street several times in 1979 (July 6 and 7, 1979 and August 18, 1979). It was a smaller neighborhood bar, not really known for live music, located South of Downtown Buffalo.
More known for its biker clientele, there was lots of drinking… and anger. I think Parousia’s loud and lively brand of rock and roll may have been a little too much at times for the local patrons.
They didn’t mind the harder-edges numbers like Cat Scratch Fever, Train Kept a Rollin’ and Free Bird but not so much for the School, The Portrait, Sing Child Sing or original songs like Malmedy and You Got Me all Crazy.
More Sex, Drugs and Violence at Tell It To McGinty’s Bar – 770 Seneca St. Buffalo NY
Parousia – Exploiting Kim Watts good looks to draw attention away from the ugly mugs of Patt Connolly, Barry Cannizzaro, Garth Huels, Robert Lowden, Gerry Cannizzaro and Dave Maltbie
Buffalo Evening News ‘Gusto’ Listing- Parousia at ‘Tell it to McGinty’s’ Pub July 6th-7th 1979
Early Parousia logo and sticker
First Parousia Bumper Sticker
But hey, we rolled with it and we did have fun and received a good reception from some of the people we pulled in, but live music didn’t really continue in that bar for long.
I remember the stage was long and narrow and ran the entire length of the side wall of the back room. About eight to ten feet across from us was the wall that led out into an alley where all kinds of nefarious activities ensued, thank-god.
Having that wall so close to us reflected the music right back at us making our performance extra loud. As a 19 year old guitarist, that was fine with me, but I would be slightly deaf the next day. Oh, well, a small price to pay to rock and roll.