Preview

Tonight: The Public Presents

January 23, 2015

Kind of a slow night in Buffalo for music (unless you can still tolerate jam), so if you want to get your fix in, The Public will be throwing its first monthly showcase at Nietzsche’s to go along with the paper’s re-occurring Public School dance showcases across the street at Hardware. Headlining the evening, which is coined as “The Public Presents…,” will be buzzing Buffalo synth-pop act, Humble Braggers, fronted by Tom Burtless. The group dropped a couple solid EPs over the course of 2014, one that included a stellar cover of Drake’s “Hold On, We’re Going Home” (listen below), so keep a look out for them tonight. Rounding out the eclectic bill will be local MC Mic Excel, electronic artist JeffRepeater, and Essential Vitamins Crew ring leader, Cove. Music kicks off this evening at 10pm with a cover of $5. Photo Credit – Brett Mikoll

Tonight: Genocide Pact

January 22, 2015

Whoa. Genocide Pact is heavy. Like, brain crushingly heavy. If your thing is old school death metal (ala low-end, riff bludgeoning), you’d best be advised to get to Mohawk tonight to check em out. I probably listened to “Despotism” off their bandcamp 5x trying to figure out how they got down to such a low register. There’s some cool locals to round the bill out too – Junk Drawer, Cal Dripkin and Armageddon – a beautiful sweaty mix of heavy. thrash, groove, and thunder, all at your fingertips. $7 for 7pm.

Tonight: Bill Nehill Tape Release Show

January 21, 2015

Bill Nehill should be no stranger to anyone who grew up in the Buffalo independent music scene. For years, he was Mohawk Place’s resident bartender, and, along with Pete, Marty and a slew of others, was one of the faces of our favorite neighborhood haunt. He’s also a fantastic musician and songwriter. Whether performing solo or with Magi Chippie, or anyone else for that matter, Bill speaks truth through his music, evoking the very real sense that he’s been there and lived it. Tonight, Bill would like you to join him for the release of Forward to Ministry Autumn, his new cassette tape. In his own words, Ministry is “six songs written in a hypomanic spree early in the summer and recorded on a September morning in a grey grain silo with one mic.” This couldn’t take place anywhere BUT Mohawk (7pm) and features some other familiar faces in Matthew[...]

Tonight: Jeremy Jermaine Jerome

January 18, 2015

The theme of tonight’s show is expect the unexpected, and with Buffalo’s favorite avant-garde artist, Jeremy Jermaine Jerome (performing as just ending now), you should expect more than just name confusion. The show, held at Babeville’s Asbury Hall, will be known, for this one magical night, as the lyrics labyrinth. No word on whether there will be an actual labyrinth, or if David Bowie and/or Jennifer Connelly and her majestic eyebrows are dropping by, but according to the event page, there will be surprise appearances. For just $10, you get an intimate evening with just ending now as he adapt his upcoming album, self (destructive), into a theater-worthy display known as the missing link. Conducted by the multi-talented Art Lakewood, who will be blurring the lines of fantasy in ways Robin Thicke can only dream about, the show is truly art coming to life in provocative and evocative ways. Have[...]

Tonight: The Soft Love

January 17, 2015

What the hell is The Soft Love? The band has no recorded material to its name, has never played a show (although that will end after tonight), and yet, at the time of this posting, has over 80 RSVPs to this evening’s event page. Well, we do know some info about the band. The four-piece is made up of members of the recently departed Son of the Sun and former Mohawk greats, The Thermidors, so the pedigree and benefit of the doubt is certainly on the band’s side. And according to member Jeremy Franklin, the quartet will be tapping into some of that darker garage sound ala Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, so he’s got me listening. You can find out what the hype is all about tonight at Nietzsche’s as The Soft Love will make its live debut supported by Rochester’s The Absolutes and DJ Lulu, so I suppose we can[...]

Tonight: Elliott Brood

January 17, 2015

The Sportsmen’s Tavern will be rocking tonight when Canadian band Elliott Brood takes the stage to wow concertgoers with the rootsy music upon which it’s built its reputation. Referred to in the past as “death country” or “frontier revival,” Elliott Brood’s music has oft-explored the pains of growing up and the universal discomforts of youth; today, fresh off the release of Work and Love, the band explores the nature of more-mature-but-just-as-painful lost loves, broken hearts, and the universal discomforts of being all grown up. Tickets were $14 in advance and $17 today at the door and are selling fast. Doors open at 7pm, with the show slated to start at 8pm.

Today: Cold Blood MMXV

January 17, 2015

Good fests come along once in a blue moon, and, with respect to our lovely little wintry wonderland, are somewhat of a anomaly here in the Queen City. Oh sure, you have your Veggie Fests and Decency Rallies, but Buffalo is a “what have you done for me lately” kinda place. We are blessed in that sense. Buffalo breeds the toughest and the most dedicated. Not quick to rest on their laurels, the movers and shakers of the scene embody the DIY ethic that has made punk and hardcore the most significant form of underground music in the last 30 years. Case in point: Cold Blood MMXV, a 17 band first-run fest featuring some of the best and most rippingest (fuck a vocab) in local punk and hardcore (and a bunch of out of towers too) brought to you by Josh Smith, owner of Black Dots and Melody Seymour from[...]

Tonight: Cage

January 16, 2015

The Studio at the Waiting Room is becoming the definitive place to see hip hop shows that not nearly enough of your friends are excited about. Tonight, it’s Cage: progressive rapper, founder/establisher of underground favorites  Smut Peddlers and The Weathermen, and (unsurprisingly) object of Shia LaBoeuf’s artistic boycrush affections. Cage (born Chris Palko), a part of the East Coast hip hop scene since the late 90s, has a body of work that spans over 20 years and 4 studio albums. His most recent effort, Kill the Architect, was released in late 2013. Openers include Buffalo artists Short Moscato and Tr38cho, along with the always intriguing Ceschi Ramos, who head south next week to kick off another tour, and  Weerd Science. The act-packed show is 16+ with ID, and tickets are available at the door for $15. Doors for the event, hosted by rapper on the rise Chuckie Campbell, are at 7pm.

Tonight: Eliot Lipp

January 14, 2015

With the seemingly countless number of artists incorporating some form of electronic music into their sound, the challenge of creating a concise, unique style while still maintaining an ear for pop accessibility is as important as ever. Brooklyn-based producer Eliot Lipp has built his career around an inclusive approach to songwriting, incorporating elements of funk, electro, hip-hop, indie rock, soul, acid house, and various other dance genres into his tracks. As an avid analogue synth enthusiast and noted crate digger, Lipp incorporates a wide array of samples into his work along with his original sounds. Since debuting his first LP, S/T, on Eastern Developments back in 2004, the producer has continued to grow as an artist, releasing six full lengths, the latest of which was released in 2012, titled Shark Wolf Rabbit Snake. Tonight, Eliot Lipp will perform at Buffalo Iron Works along with local live electronic band Sonder. Doors open at 8pm, show starts[...]

Tonight: CAGES

January 10, 2015

“Vivipary” is the name of both CAGES‘ new album and a biological condition. Vivipary, because I am sure you wondering, means “development of the embryo inside the body of the mother, eventually leading to live birth.” Thanks, Wikipedia. I could clumsily try to walk you through how that process is mirrored on CAGES’ Vivipary, but I’d rather just ask you to sit with the image: the embryo growing inside the body, morphing from a distended hunk of cells into a semi-translucent thing with eyes into a fetus as alien as it is human which is finally, agonizingly brought into into a cruel and arbitrary world, a crying hunk of flesh covered in the primal slime and detritus of birth (and that’s if the embryo is lucky!). To me, that’s not a bad analogy for CAGES’ music. It’s beautiful and powerful in the terrifying, inhuman way that nature is. It pertains[...]

Tonight: Tribute to the Legendary Lance Diamond

January 9, 2015

My beginnings of seeing live music (and drinking while seeing said live music) will forever be intrinsically linked to the music and performances of Lance Diamond, and I doubt I am alone in this sentiment. While it was easy for me to get behind his James Brown-style groove mastery, almost all Buffalonians had a reason to see a Lance Diamond show, regardless of musical preference. The soul genre has always reached a higher level of expression from Lance, and his energy was infectious. His interactions with the crowd, especially one full of ladies, was always pure entertainment, and made the Elmwood Lounge (now Milkie’s) a spot of local heritage and funk for all our city to enjoy. And I haven’t even mentioned the costume changes! It would be admirable enough to wear sequined attire night after night, year after year, through all our Buffalo winters, but to also costume change,[...]

Tonight: The Silks

January 9, 2015

Here’s the key to being a cool rock’n’roll band: Authenticity. Real deal, tried and true grit, spunk and ‘tude. You can have the riffs, the looks…even the swagger can be faked. But Authenticity is something that can only be felt. The Silks are as true as it gets. Heavy, soulful, boogie-in-the-heels rock that harkens back to the days when rock’n’roll was the coolest thing on the planet. A true mish-mash of Mountain thunder, ZZ sleaze, and Hooker-blues, the Silks feel right…and that’s a cool thing. Along for the ride tonight our Silky Rhode Islanders are accompanied by Buffalo’s own kings of groove, Second Trip and Lockport Boogie-merchants, Handsome Jack. $5 to swing at where else? The ‘Hawk.

Tonight: Andy Pothier CD Release

January 8, 2015

I thought about writing a little blurb describing Andy Pothier, but I think he said it best himself. Referencing his new album, In Headlights, Pothier states, “Some of the records that mean the most to me have very little to them – the goal was something very minimal and subtle and I like to think that with In Headlights it’s in the same vein.” He’s pretty dead on – I’d recommend Andy Pothier to fans of Bright Eyes, Bon Iver, or even Modern Baseball. He’ll be bolstered tonight by two other solo acts, Sonny Baker and Damian (the latter clinched the top spot on our Best Songs of 2014 list), as well as The Observers and Tapered Creek. This show most definitely has a Mohawk Place vibe – doors are at 8:00pm. [soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/173079134″ params=”color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false” width=”100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]

Tonight: Rachel Ries

January 6, 2015

Tonight, take refuge from this frigid January at Mohawk Place (8pm, $5) for a night of warm melodies performed Rachel Ries with local openers Tiny Rhymes and Wolf. Ries’ music mixes folk with something more expansive, reflective of her rural background (Ries is the daughter of Mennonite missionaries and grew up in South Dakota) and current urban home base (Brooklyn). Her songs are earnest and searching. On the Buffalo end of things, we have Tiny Rhymes and Wolf both playing  stripped down versions of their work. All in all this is a great opportunity to catch some great music and emerge from your usual January hibernation before it even starts. The best way to forget how cold it is it is to ignore it completely right? And if that isn’t enough, there will be jam for sale at Ries’ merch table. So, you can do some grocery shopping while you[...]

Tonight: Kharlos

January 3, 2015

For a while, Kharlos was a pretty tight lipped secret. After the intense word-of-mouth from their first show, we were very curious about their sound which was being described as “awesome” and “sick.” The band is not really into the social media game, preferring the music to speak for itself. Regardless of their internet presence, Kharlos is composed of the guitarists/singer from defunct (?) grunge-act, Merchants (Ben Maries and Steve Gordon), along with Space Wolves/The Hamiltones drummer, Chris Scamurra. Fans of Diarrhea Planet, Wavves, and Bass Drum of Death should consider themselves Kharlos fans. Also on the bill is Poindexter, a band that could have easily been on Kung-Fu in the late 90’s, and rock and roll vets, The Good. Doors are at 8pm with a $5 cover. Did I mention this is at Mohawk Place? It’s at Mohawk Place.