Preview

Tonight: Sugar City’s Two Part Opening Party

August 15, 2014

After many months of hard work, delays, and headaches, Sugar City is ready to open the doors of their new home to the public.  It’s been over two years since the DIY collective has had a venue to call their own.  Located at 1239 Niagara St, directly across from the recently opened Resurgence Brewing Company, Sugar City can be seen as the next step in a sort of revival of Niagara St. The venue is far from finished, but is at a point where events that have been scheduled are able to take place. Members will continue to work over the next several weeks/months in order to get the space into full working order. Tonight’s events begin with open gallery hours from 6pm-8pm. The gallery walls will be adorned with Illustrations and prints by Screaming Females singer/guitarist Marissa Paternoster. There is no charge from 6pm-8pm. From 8pm-11pm, live music will[...]

Tonight: Lydia Loveless

August 15, 2014

The name Lydia Loveless may not ring a bell, even though it should. The alt-country goddess hailing from Columbus, Ohio has been churning out recordings like it’s her job since she was fifteen. Loveless (who is no relation to Nashville great Patty Loveless) was born with the music business pumping through her veins. Herfather owned and operated a country music venue in her hometown, which Loveless remembers fondly. “There were always musicians around from a very early age for me, and I think that’s one of the reasons why it’s ingrained,” she says. Loveless has also built a reputation for herself, due to the subject manner of her material Song subjects have ranged from a stalker who resembles Steve Earle to one about Jeffrey Dahmer. “Sometimes I try to re-examine certain situations I’ve experienced or read about, not necessarily for a song, but just to think about it from a[...]

Tonight: Moby

August 14, 2014

Born Richard Melville Hall, Harlem-born electronic musician Moby is one of the leading artists responsible for bringing underground sounds like house, techno, and electronica to a larger audience, when his 1999 album Play broke through and eventually became the best selling album of it’s genre. With a career that spans 13 studio albums and nearly 25 years as well as sounds as diverse as hardcore punk, trance, breakbeat, and ambient, the artist has become an icon not only for his musical legacy, but for his animal rights activism and establishment of the Area:One festival which created a blueprint for the eclectic style of dance music festivals that currently reign supreme. Tonight, Moby closes out the Thursday concert series at Canalside along with an opening set from local dance music veteran DJ Xotec. After releasing his latest LP, Innocents, last July to favorable reviews, it was clear that the musician had not lost[...]

Tonight: Newish Star, Difficult Night, and more

August 14, 2014

Unfortunately, New Jersey’s Brick Mower could not make it to this wonderful showcase at one of our favorite local record stores, Spiral Scratch… But there is some good news. On the bright side, tonight’s show is now free! Newish Star and Difficult Night, acts that both contain was distinct, yet different 90s influences, round out tonight’s impressive local bill, with a debut performance from Technochronic and an opening set by Space is Haunted. Doors are at 6:00pm tonight and music will start promptly at 7:00pm.

Tonight: Beekeepers

August 14, 2014

Carnival Night by Shaken Stylus means that there will be balloons, silly string, kazoos and beach balls at an undisclosed location tonight. It means late evening fire hooping by Kayla Hoop. It also means four fine musicals, Beekeepers (Detroit) and Skirts (Rochester), along with locals Copy Manager and False Paul. It’s been a chilly, gray, rainy and dreary week, so a carnival sounds pretty alright to me. Beekeepers is a great fit for the theme, too. Their music is sometimes boppy, sometimes jazzy, sometimes dark and usually fun in the eccentric and unsettling way that a carnival can be. Skirts, meanwhile, are a bunch of blurs, blending the lo-fi vocal hooks of the Marked Men with surf rock, the Cure and the ever-present influence of the 90s. These songs will be fun to stomp around to, but produced differently, could have also showed up at a killer prom scene in[...]

Tonight: Alan Evan’s Playonbrother

August 13, 2014

Come check out some interstellar, funkalicious grooves as supplied by Playonbrother tonight at Larkinville, USA. In this melting pot of soul-steeped talent, band-leader (and Buffalo’s own) Alan Evans exhibits the visionary freedom to do more than lay down his traditionally explosive backdrop of drum work—though you can damn well bet he does. In the studio, he demonstrates a variety of instrumental talent, taking guitar, bass, and even mic in hand. He envisions, he records, he mixes, he produces. And perhaps most remarkably, he is able to bring his broad range of talents into the live arena under an umbrella of direction that successfully blends a fiery fusion of Scofield-inspired guitar licks (Danny Mayer) with whirling strokes of organ meanderings (Kris Yunker) as they tactfully improvise their way in and out of focus. It’s an electric wall of funk-rock clamor, one that screams a skill and style to easily separate itself[...]

Tonight: Edgefest

August 10, 2014

In case you somehow haven’t heard by now, today is the day that Edgefest rolls through town. It’s hard to ignore such a prime opportunity to people watch at one of the most “accessible” shows of the summer… but enough about that. We here at buffaBLOG are here to bring you information about music, so here goes: Pentimento are the opening act tonight, and for good reason. Often compared to co-headliners Brand New, Pentimento are one of Buffalo’s strongest musical exports now. With a new wave of hardworking bands riding the resurgence of punk and emo, Pentimento are enjoying the benefits that come from several successful tours and the hype from their latest EP Inside the Sea. The Sheila Divine are an alt-rock band from Boston. They have a philosophy of following something called “the three b’s” – Boston, Buffalo, and Belgium. Having been a cult band here in Buffalo[...]

Today: Buffalo DIY Fest II

August 9, 2014

The Buffalo DIY Fest returns to Buffalo River Fest Park today, making this year two for the do-it-yourself oriented music and arts festival. The festivities start at 4pm, and feature a wide array of things to look forward to, including live music, art vendors, and food trucks. buffaBLOG got to pick the brain of festival organizer Cam Rogers, who answered a few questions we had about the event and the DIY community. buffaBLOG: So what exactly is DIY fest? Cam Rogers: To me, the DIY Fest is a gathering of people to celebrate the DIY spirit and culture in Buffalo. It involves people that make things, whether that is art, crafts, metals, paints, music, or noise, and celebrates creation. bB: What inspired you to organize the festival? CR: I guess what inspired me to organize the festival was the desire to bring people together. It’s tough to bring all the[...]

Today: Vaggie Fest – Day 3

August 9, 2014

If by this point, you’re all Vaggied out, I can only ask you to take heart and soldier on, because this is the big one. Day three of Vaggie Fest is an all-day affair, featuring 13 bands that you are lucky enough to catch for just ten bucks over at Ocean Garden Oriental Foods (right next door to Sugar City). Let me start with the bad news: Pleasure Leftists can’t make it. If you’ve caught them before, then you know that this is a real loss. But they’ll be back soon. Now, the good news: the show is still awesome without them. Five out-of-towners, eight locals. If you’re the thrifty type, I guess it’s worth mentioning that you’re paying just over 75 cents a band (but that feels crass to mention, like informing your dinner guests about the price of each plate). The lineup is: Green Dreams (Rochester, imagine if The[...]

Tonight: Girl Talk

August 8, 2014

Tonight, Pittsburgh mash-up guru, Girl Talk (aka Gregg Gillis), brings his brilliant dance party back to Buffalo for a highly anticipated show at Canalside. A party for the body and the mind, Gillis creates a full on sensory overload experience that also manages to simultaneously stimulate the brain with thought provoking and frequently hilarious mash-ups while driving crowds positively insane with delight. Tickets are $15 for the rabble and $55 for the hoi poloi, and if you missed it here’s Vanessa Lyne’s interview with the man himself. If you manager to arrive at Canalside early, make sure to catch the urban surf vibes of The Get Money Squad. The buzzing, Buffalo act, comprised of members of Network, recently released their debut EP, Nothing’s Wrong, capturing our album of the week honors. Music kicks off at 7pm.

Tonight: Boris

August 8, 2014

It’s not often that an experimental, Japanese metal trio receive the kind of hype that Boris has been showered with. After all, they are decidedly rock (in decidedly un-rockist times) and the words “experimental” and “trio” in the rock idiom are usually attached to bands like YES, a decent act if you like watching paint dry or think jazz fusion is “pretty cool maaaaaaaan”. Fortunately, Boris is not that kind of band. What they ARE is a blistering amalgamation of pyschedelia, ambience, pop and metal riffage rolled into one six-legged package. With influences as deep as Nick Cave, Venom, Sleep, and Nick Drake, one can see how good taste in music often translates to good taste in songwriting. Bonus points for naming your band after a Melvins song. It’s been five long years since Boris returned to Buffalo. Tonight they will be blowing eardrums (literally: earplugs advised) at the same[...]

Tonight: Humminbird

August 7, 2014

Rock on down to Electric Avenue tonight to catch the avant-garde folk of Chicago’s Humminbird. Normally featuring the ethereal vocals of Muyassar Kurdi and the decisive finger picking of Matthew Schneider on guitar, Kurdi will ride solo this evening with a sound taking on a novelty that almost seems  to come straight off of one of your parent’s old 45’s. Also taking the stage will be Buffalo folk-rockers Difficult Night, as well as the experimental lounge beats of Different Planets. Doors at 10pm.

Tonight: Rough Francis

August 7, 2014

Burlington, Vermont isn’t a place that makes you think of punk rock. Visions of Canadian borders, beautiful open skies, hiking, babbling brooks that just won’t shut up, and green pastures, maybe. But punk rock? No. Never. However, if your father and uncles made up the legendary proto-punk band, Death, you’d probably start a punk band in a Florida retirement community if you really had to. Burlington’s the Hackney brothers, who together make up more than half of Rough Francis, weren’t even aware of their father and uncles’ exploits when they first formed. After a few tribute shows, Rough Francis began writing their own music, and the rest was history. As the saying goes, “before there was punk, there was a band called Death. And before we knew of the band called Death, there was Rough Francis.” Tonight, Rough Francis descends on Buffalo, taking the stage at Nietzsche’s with Bloody Hollies,[...]

Tonight: Vaggie Fest – Day 1

August 7, 2014

So in case you have been living underneath a rock, or in a sinkhole, you probably already know that there is a ‘lady band’ fest going on this weekend, under the very fitting title of Vaggie Fest. Instead of a single day festival, which for the past three years has been happening at the Polish Library on the East Side of Buffalo, year five of Vaggie Fest will be expanded to three days. Day one starts this evening at Broadway Joe’s as part of their Punk N Tots series, returning to Joe’s again tomorrow night, followed by the festival concluding at Ocean Garden Oriental Foods on Saturday afternoon over on Niagara Street. Tonight at Broadway Joe’s, three day passes will be available for $20 (or $7 if you can only make tonight), which will get you a cool handmade ticket and a shiny bracelet if you so choose to indulge[...]

Tonight: Ghost Dads

August 6, 2014

Get your dancing shoes ready for some weirdly awesome punk rock. Tonight at 6pm, a smattering of bands will take the stage at Spiral Scratch Records, ranging from surf-jam to hardcore, in support of Pennsylvania’s Ghost Dads. Hailing from Kutztown, Ghost Dads bring the funk to punk music, most recently in their newest EP, Next to the Water Heater. Dream Journal plays out exactly as their name suggests, with stream-of-consciousness lyrical imagery alongside a backdrop of punk-infused power chords. Taking a bit of a sidestep from the rest, Aaron & the Burrs are an instrumental surf rock revival band with a jazzy flair. These guys groove hard, so expect plenty of dance-friendly extended guitar jams. Kharlos (feat. members of Merchants and Space Wolves) will also be playing their first show tonight, so be sure to give them plenty of love as well. $5 at the door, beer and vegan cookies included.