Terminal B music pavilion opens on Outer Harbor: ‘This looks fantastic’

After more than two years in the making, the first permanent, open-air music pavilion opened inside the metal frame of what was once the Terminal B warehouse, with Lake Erie gleaming in the background. Many among the enthusiastic, sold-out crowd on hand to see pop singer Chappell Roan said the 8-acre, $13 million summer music venue hit all the right notes. 

“You go to other cities and they have nice concert venues around the waterfront, and that was always lacking here,” said Dave Sable of Williamsville, sitting on a grassy slope. “This looks fantastic.”

“It’s great,” said Akasya Crosier of Buffalo, standing to the left of the stage as Roan and her four-piece, all-woman band went on at dusk with her song “Femininomenon.”  “I feel like I can see from any angle, which is rare in an outdoor venue.”

Be Our Guest, the Rich Products subsidiary, had the site ready as premium ticket holders were let in at 4:30 p.m. and concertgoers with general admission tickets entered at 6 p.m.

The grounds were landscaped, rows of picnic tables were in place, concession stands and three bars well stocked and eight food trucks ready and open for business. The main parking lot by Terminal A, which holds about 900 cars, was blacktopped and striped in the past few weeks, to go with the approximately 800 parking spots up and down Fuhrmann Boulevard.

“The parking and getting in was super easy,” said Callie Muench, eating pesto grilled cheese from the Cheesy Chick food truck after driving in with friends from Skaneateles. “I like the layout, and that the eating area and the food trucks are really near the stage.”

“We usually go to CMAC because we’re from Rochester, but CMAC doesn’t have all the food trucks and the Adirondack chairs,” said Shayna Munyon, referring to the Constellation Brands-Marvin Sands Performing Arts Center outside Canandaigua. “The chairs are what really won me over.”

Roan performed following three short drag shows by local entertainers. Her popularity has soared in the past three months after opening for Olivia Rodrigo from February to early April, performing an NPR “Tiny Desk” concert in March and at Coachella last month. After Roan’s show at the Town Ballroom sold out in presale, it was moved to the larger venue. 

Artie Kwitchoff, whose Funtime Presents with partner Donny Kutzbach books both venues in association with John Peters of MassConcerts, was thrilled by how well things appeared to be going for the first concert.

“It’s our new boutique music pavilion on the waterfront,” Kwitchoff said. “If you want to chill and get on the hill and throw a blanket down, great. If you want to be 15 feet from the stage, go have at it.”

Kwitchoff said attendance is being capped at 6,000 people this season, but that will be re-evaluated in the future.

“We want to stick with 6,000 for the first summer and get everything down,” he said. “Right now, we feel parking won’t be an issue, with lots of free parking that’s unheard of in today’s world.”

Long lines to enter the venue was an issue he said could be addressed with earlier entrance times. Adding video screens was another consideration.

“We will make production adjustments as we move forward,” he said.

Waterfront shows have long history

Regularly scheduled summer concerts in Buffalo began in July 1987 in a parking lot at Chippewa and Main streets, where Fountain Plaza is now.

Lafayette Square became the home base the following year for free Thursday at the Square concerts. Local acts often opened for national headliners in a compressed space shared by thousands, with Metro Rail moving along the tracks behind the stage.

Leon Russell, Pat Benatar, the Lowest of the Low, George Clinton and Jakob Dylan were among acts who performed there.  

The concert series moved to Canalside in summer 2011. In 2017, Canalside Live! introduced an admission fee and VIP ticketing. In 2019, in what turned out to be the last year of the series, programming ceased being weekly or primarily on Thursdays.

Alice Cooper, Nas, Elvis Costello, Vanilla Ice, Salt-N-Pepa and Public Enemy were among the acts that played Canalside.

For decades, concerts were also held periodically at the Outer Harbor on temporary stages, with Buddy Guy, the Black Keys, Vanilla Fudge and Jefferson Starship among the acts who played there. 

The plan to create a permanent music pavilion and event space – expected to include charity races, the GoBike fundraiser SkyRide and possibly the Irish Festival – was met with opposition by Our Outer Harbor, which wants the 208 acres reserved for passive recreation and fears the negative impact on the environment of a noisy attraction drawing thousands of people.

The Outer Harbor is the western gateway to an area on the Niagara River corridor that in 1996 was designated as a “globally significant” Important Bird Area and is home to Times Beach Nature Preserve, which attracts migratory birds.

Those concerns grew louder when Erie Canal Harbor Development Corp., in December 2021, gave the green light for excavators and bulldozers to clear cottonwoods, black locusts and other trees and shrubs to make way for the music pavilion. That came two weeks after the State Supreme Court dismissed a lawsuit seeking to halt the project.

Kathryn Wolf, a landscape architect who helped develop the site plan, said it was infested with invasive species and “biologically bankrupt.” The group Our Outer Harbor disagreed.

“The ECHDC Grinch stole Christmas,” said Margaret Wooster, a member of the group. “They don’t have a clue about the regenerative coastal ecosystem they are dealing with on the Outer Harbor.”

The waterfront agency planted 178 trees, 195 shrubs, 365 perennials and meadow mixes to regenerate the area, as well as plants in deer-exclusion zones.

“ECHDC is thrilled to kick off this Memorial Day weekend by hosting our first concert at the new Terminal B Events Center,” said Mark Wendel, the agency’s executive director. “The restoration is a great example of Gov. (Kathy) Hochul’s focus on providing the public unique experiences along the waterfront. We look forward to the public’s embrace of this new area for a variety of events and spectacular views.”

Lauren Ford, Be Our Guest’s general manager, hopes concertgoers consider ride-sharing, the bike ferry that runs between Canalside and the Outer Harbor, Reddy Bikeshare and use of the bike parking valet by the main entrance.

Premium seating to the right of the stage, and general admission tickets offering festival seating, must be purchased through SeeTickets at OuterHarborLive.com. Only credit and debit cards can be used on-site for transactions. Folding chairs and outside food or beverages are not permitted. 

The next concert in what’s currently a 15-concert season is Brothers Osborne on June 14.

A number of people said the venue exceeded expectations and planned to come back.

“The location by the water is super beautiful,” Buffalo resident Taylor Naeye said.