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Future Islands at Mr. Smalls (8/8/14)

August 11, 2014

This past weekend a couple of minor (okay, very minor) Buffalo imports hit up the Steel City as part of the Quad City Blogger Tour while one of Pittsburgh’s best-bred acts, the splice king Girl Talk, invaded Canalside. Hitching a ride with Buffalo Eats, a couple of us buffaBLOGGERS took full advantage of the wonderful accommodations that our host city, and more specifically the staff at Visit Pittsburgh, supplied. Between exploring some Pittsburgh attractions (the museum of megalomaniacal Andy Warhol may have been our favorite), and a lot of good eating and drinking (did I mention we traveled with Buffalo Eats?), we somehow managed to make a musical weekend out of it. Friday night in Millvale, about a ten minute drive across one of Pitt’s many bridges, we hit up Mr. Smalls for a sold-out performance from Baltimore’s Future Islands. It’s a super-quick ride over the river from downtown Pittsburgh[...]

Future Islands

August 8, 2014

A about a month or so ago, we were reached out to by Visit Pittsburgh, the Steel City’s travel bureau, inviting us down to the city this weekend for something called a Quad City Blogger Tour. Bloggers from Buffalo, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, and Columbus – the Quad Cities – were invited to check out the city, and write about their experiences. Seemed easy enough. Our long time blog buddies, Buffalo Eats, were also asked to come so we decided to make a road trip out of it. With Donnie and Ali (the Buffalo Eats crew) on hand, food and drink will be a flowin all weekend, but we needed some music hook for our writing. Lucky for us, one of 2014’s buzz bands, Future Islands, will be playing at Mr. Smalls this evening, so that helps us out quite a bit. The Baltimore based, post-punk/new wave act blew up this year[...]

Tonight: Queens of the Stone Age w/Brody Dalle

July 18, 2014

It’s safe to say that 2013 was THE year for Queens of the Stone Age. Not only was their …Like Clockwork album wildly received by fans, it was their most critically acclaimed album to date; a perfect blend of sleaze, longing, grit and desperation. All the puzzle pieces fit on this one, and many fans of the band count it among their best. Since that time Queens have been touring in support of Clockwork, continuing to build their rep as one of rock’n’roll’s premier live acts. Tonight, along with QOTSA, is Brody Dalle, Australian singer-songwriter, formerly of the Distillers and Spinnerette. Dalle has been at this game a number of years first as the snarly punk rocker vocalist in popular Hell-Cat band the Distillers, then incorporating indie sounds into her repertoire to develop a fuller, more unique sound, first with Spinnerette and now on her first solo release; 2014’s Diploid Love.[...]

Pitchfork Music Festival – Five Acts to Watch on Sunday

July 17, 2014

For the second time, buffaBLOG has been given the opportunity to attend and cover Pitchfork’s annual festival in the heart of Chicago. This year, we will be sending buffaBLOG writers Michael Moretti and Alyssa Gottlieb to preview, cover, and review the festival to clue some of us in as to what to expect or in many cases, what we are missing out on. Each day, the two will preview five acts to make sure you are in attendance for.  It would be easy and obvious to say “You need to check out Beck,” or “Make sure you don’t miss Neutral Milk Hotel,” but the writers will focus on the lesser known bands to check out and pay attention to.  Here are Friday’s and Saturday’s recommendations in case you missed it.  Speedy Ortiz (1pm, Blue Stage) Northampton, Massachusetts  based quartet, Speedy Ortiz, are another one of the many buzzed about newcomers playing the festival this year.[...]

Pitchfork Music Festival – Five Acts to Watch on Saturday

July 15, 2014

For the second time, buffaBLOG has been given the opportunity to attend and cover Pitchfork’s annual festival in the heart of Chicago. This year, we will be sending buffaBLOG writers Michael Moretti and Alyssa Gottlieb to preview, cover, and review the festival to clue some of us in as to what to expect or in many cases, what we are missing out on. Each day, the two will preview five acts to make sure you are in attendance for.  It would be easy and obvious to say “You need to check out Beck,” or “Make sure you don’t miss Neutral Milk Hotel,” but the writers will focus on the lesser known bands to check out and pay attention to.  Here are Friday’s recommendations in case you missed it.  The Range (4:45pm, Blue Stage) The Range (aka James Hinton) may be on your radar already thanks to clutch opening slots for CHVRCHES and[...]

Pitchfork Music Festival – Five Acts to Watch on Friday

July 13, 2014

For the second time, buffaBLOG has been given the opportunity to attend and cover Pitchfork’s annual festival in the heart of Chicago. This year, we will be sending buffaBLOG writers Michael Moretti and Alyssa Gottlieb to preview, cover, and review the festival to clue some of us in as to what to expect or in many cases, what we are missing out on. Each day, the two will preview five acts to make sure you are in attendance for.  It would be easy and obvious to say “You need to check out Beck,” or “Make sure you don’t miss Neutral Milk Hotel,” but the writers will focus on the lesser known bands to check out and pay attention to. Friday, July 18 Hundred Waters (3:30pm, Red Stage) Gainesville, Florida’s Hundred Waters exploded onto the blogosphere with their 2012 critically acclaimed self-titled debut.  Best described as a mix between Four Tet, Bjork, and[...]

Black Sabbath

April 11, 2014

Even with a garden of plenty unfolding this spring in formerly sleepy old Buffalo, when a legendary band like Birmingham UK’s Black Sabbath plays nearby Hamilton Ontario, that’s worth a road trip. Featuring 3/4’s of the classic Sabbath line up – Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, and Geezer Butler sans Bill Ward – this is the band that recorded Sabbath’s first eight studio albums from 1970 to 1978, and created heavy metal on their uber-masterworks Black Sabbath, Paranoid, Masters Of Reality, Vol. 4, and Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, one of the best runs (1970-1973) is rock history. Indeed, tonight will be a night for worship. With his distinctive caterwaul still intact, Ozzy still has it, especially paired again with musical soulmate Iommi, whose darkly psychedelic guitar will always meld perfectly and beautifully with former reality TV star and magnificent shambling mockery of humanity Osbourne, whose  vocal prowess shined on their latest effort,[...]