Photos

Tyler, The Creator & Vince Staples at the Main Street Armory (02/21/18)

February 28, 2018

Last week, Vince Staples and Tyler, the Creator rolled through Rochester for an unforgettable show. Energy levels were maxed out from start to finish, with a quick DJ set to kick things off by Odd Future affiliate, Taco. Vince Staples’ high octane set touched on all of his major projects, and he did not disappoint, taking no time to mess around.  Based off of the reaction when the curtain dropped on Tyler though, it sounded like nothing could have prepared the audience for his set. Tyler performed tracks from all of his major albums, but mainly focused on his fantastic 2017 release, titled Flower Boy. The album’s mature sound translated perfectly to the big stage, not a single person in the crowd looked disappointed whether he was playing older or newer tracks, just further proving the fact that Tyler is here to stay. Check out some photos from the night below, shot by blog photographer,[...]

Circa Survive at the Main Street Armory (12/01/17)

December 5, 2017

This past Friday, Circa Survive brought an insane tour package to the Main Street Armory in Rochester.  We sent our photographer down the 90 to catch some of the action.  The massive venue did not deter the bands nor the passionate fans from giving it their all.  Balance and Composure kicked things off, followed by instrumental prog/math rock act Chon.  Things started to get a little crazy after Thrice went on, in a good way.  The madness was only amplified into Circa Survive’s set, as both bands are known for having exceptionally passionate fans.  Check out some photos from the show below, shot by blog photographer, Brendan O’Connor. Balance and Composure Chon Thrice Circa Survive

Five Most Anticipated Acts of Pitchfork Festival: Sunday

July 13, 2017

buffaBLOG is elated to announce that we will be covering the Pitchfork Music Festival for the third year in a row. The festival takes place at Union Park in Chicago, and we are sending blog photographer, Brendan O’Connor, to capture all of the action. The festival will take place July 14th through July 16th and will be headlined by LCD Soundsystem, A Tribe Called Quest, and Solange, with dozens of other amazing performers sprinkled across the weekend.  In anticipation of the festival, here are the five acts we are most excited to see on Sunday.  You can check out Brendan’s photos from last year HERE, HERE, and HERE. Pinegrove @ the Blue Stage, 5:15pm While I’m really upset about the overlap with RIDE, I’m gonna have to pick Pinegrove. Over the past years, this bands popularity level has blasted off, due to their newest LP, Cardinal. They have a wildly unique sound, something really special.[...]

Five Most Anticipated Acts of Pitchfork Festival: Saturday

July 12, 2017

buffaBLOG is elated to announce that we will be covering the Pitchfork Music Festival for the third year in a row. The festival takes place at Union Park in Chicago, and we are sending blog photographer, Brendan O’Connor, to capture all of the action. The festival will take place July 14th through July 16th and will be headlined by LCD Soundsystem, A Tribe Called Quest, and Solange, with dozens of other amazing performers sprinkled across the weekend.  In anticipation of the festival, here are the five acts we are most excited to see on Saturday.  You can check out Brendan’s photos from last year HERE, HERE, and HERE. Jeff Rosenstock @ the Red Stage, 1:45pm God damn this band is fun. While I am honestly a little surprised that they are playing Pitchfork Fest, I am still super excited. I’ve seen Jeff a few times in the past, and his live shows are always exceedingly energetic.[...]

Five Most Anticipated Acts of Pitchfork Festival: Friday

July 11, 2017

buffaBLOG is elated to announce that we will be covering the Pitchfork Music Festival for the third year in a row. The festival takes place at Union Park in Chicago, and we are sending blog photographer, Brendan O’Connor, to capture all of the action. The festival will take place July 14th through July 16th and will be headlined by LCD Soundsystem, A Tribe Called Quest, and Solange, with dozens of other amazing performers sprinkled across the weekend.  In anticipation of the festival, here are the five acts we are most excited to see on Friday.  You can check out Brendan’s photos from last year HERE, HERE, and HERE. Priests @ the Green Stage, 1:45pm Priests played their only Buffalo show back in 2014 at the Glitterbox, and anyone in attendance at that show knows why they made this list. The post punk act just released an album, titled Nothing Feels Natural, this year, and[...]

Five Most Anticipated Acts of Pitchfork Festival: Sunday

July 14, 2016

Last year was my first ever Pitchfork Festival experience, and let me tell you, it’s something I’ll never forget.  The bands, the food, the city, and just the overall vibe of the festival, all come together to make one of my favorite music festivals – period.  The Chicago-based music festival boasts phenomenal lineups year after year, and 2016’s lineup is no different. As part of buffaBLOG’s coverage leading up to the festival this weekend, I will be highlighting my five most anticipated acts of each day of the festival.  You can check out last years photos here, here, and here. Porches at Red Stage (1:45pm) I almost immediately fell in love with Porches after hearing their 2013 record, Slow Dance in the Cosmos.  While their newest record, Pool, is a serious departure from their previous sound, it is something incredibly unique.  After last minute trip to Toronto  to see this band[...]

Five Most Anticipated Acts of Pitchfork Festival: Saturday

July 13, 2016

Last year was my first ever Pitchfork Festival experience, and let me tell you, it’s something I’ll never forget.  The bands, the food, the city, and just the overall vibe of the festival, all come together to make one of my favorite music festivals – period.  The Chicago-based music festival boasts phenomenal lineups year after year, and 2016’s lineup is no different. As part of buffaBLOG’s coverage leading up to the festival this weekend, I will be highlighting my five most anticipated acts of each day of the festival.  You can check out last years photos here, here, and here. Royal Headache @ Blue Stage (2:45pm) This band is easily one of my most anticipated of the entire festival.  The punk / garage rock act from Australia released a new record in 2015, titled High which topped my top the list of my favorite albums last year. The band seems to[...]

Five Most Anticipated Acts of Pitchfork Festival: Friday

July 12, 2016

Last year was my first ever Pitchfork Festival experience, and let me tell you, it’s something I’ll never forget.  The bands, the food, the city, and just the overall vibe of the festival, all come together to make one of my favorite music festivals – period.  The Chicago-based music festival boasts phenomenal lineups year after year, and 2016’s lineup is no different. As part of buffaBLOG’s coverage leading up to the festival this weekend, I will be highlighting my five most anticipated acts of each day of the festival.  You can check out last years photos here, here, and here. Julia Holter @ Green Stage (4:35pm)  Julia Holter’s 2015 album, Have You In My Wilderness, was almost immediately met with critical acclaim.  Her transition away from her more experimental ambient work and into a more art / baroque pop style was met with open arms.  I can’t wait to see how[...]

Tonight: Unearth

March 18, 2016

In the metalcore sphere, bands are a dime a dozen. One here, one there; most of whom are indecipherable from one another. Formula;  intro, fast part, chorus, fast part, scream, breakdown to fade. Unearth, pioneers of the movement and stylistic shred wizards are the exception to that rule. Since their inception in the late 90’s they have continually upped the game with a series of transcendent hardcore-influenced metal albums, equal parts mosh and melody. Nobody can rip a lead quite like Buz, or Ken for that matter. And nobody wails quite like Trevor. Ear shredding vocals, thunderous breakdowns and traces of tasty Pantera-like groove, make Unearth one of the most dynamic and interesting bands in the genre today. Still riding high off of their excellent 2014 release, Watchers of Rule, Unearth will be calling Montage Music Hall in Rochester home, if just for the night (doors at 7:30, $20). Also[...]

The Front Bottoms

October 22, 2015

The Front Bottoms carry the unique ability to put listeners through the emotional wringer and have them come out on the other side embracing a limitlessly carefree attitude. Through charm, wit, innuendo, pointed imagery and melodies that nest themselves neatly in your ears for a seemingly infinite amount of time, this four piece has been able to use that ability to develop into a captivating indie-pop force. The band’s recent full length release, Back On Top, is somewhat of a power statement. It’s undoubtedly different than previous releases but it still retains the same characteristics mentioned above. Even people who initially expressed reservation toward the album have come to love it in some way — in almost an exclusive, “this album was written for me” type of way. Tunes like “West Virginia” and “Cough It Out” showcase the creative risks the band is taking instrumentally and melodically, but there’s still this inherent somber hopefulness[...]

The Ongoing Concept and ’68

October 1, 2015

Tonight, Norma Jean are celebrating the 10 year anniversary of the group’s landmark album O’God the Aftermath at the California Brew House in Rochester (402 W. Ridge Rd). To say the album was pivotal in the metalcore landscape would be an understatement. Norma Jean were some of the innovators in a field wrought with imitators, and their impact is felt all over today’s modern metal scene. I’d rather talk about two brilliant and vastly under appreciated bands that will be opening the show, though: The Ongoing Concept and ’68. Former Chariot and Norma Jean frontman, Josh Scogin, has teamed up with Michael McClellan to present a beautifully disjointed rock-hardcore hybrid in ’68. Picture pure-gravel vocals over discordant, violent riffage, and sinewy guitar lines. This here is music that is loose, blue-sy, soulful, and ferocious, all at once. ’68 display a kind of raw aggression that is missing from heavier music these days. And[...]

The War on Drugs

June 8, 2015

After releasing one of 2014’s finest records in Lost in the Dream, Philadelphia’s The War on Drugs has extended its victory lap into the summer with a return engagement to the WNY area, this time at Rochester’s Water Street Music Hall. The hazy heartland rockers showed up on nearly every best of lists last year, hit the late night circuit hard, and with festival season upon us, tonight’s gig at Water Street should be a nice test run before the group hits Bonaroo later this week. Tickets are still available to purchase for $26 online and most likely at the door, which is set to open at 7pm, as well. New Jersey rockers, The Everyman, are set to open.