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Tonight: Plack Blague

October 11, 2015

Get your treats and beats tonight at Sugar City featuring six acts with at least two collabos. With a headliner like Plack Blague, who sports song titles like “Sarcastically Erect” and “Disco for Satan, you literally cannot go wrong. This is probably the best gay industrial noise out of Lincoln, Nebraska. Streetcleaver from Jamestown sounds like if Death Grips played through a bad connection, while Gainsville rap Brrat Boys and Big Whatever will join Baltimore rapper Height. Local beats by UBV-76 and a collaboration from local usuals Jack Topht and Fleshtrade will round out the bill. Music begins 6pm at Sugar City. Bring $8 to help out the touring bands. Leather Band by Plack Blague

Tonight: What the Beck

October 10, 2015

After performing to packed crowds at Nietzsche’s, What the Beck, the pun-ey tribute group to alt-rock’s favorite genre-bender, is performing at the Tralf tonight. While Beck songs normally dabble in rock, alternative, funk, west coast folk, hip hop, country, and latin music – in other words, pretty much everything – the group itself is a 10-piece big band. It’s a welcome reimagining of one of rock’s most fluid and experimental song-writers. In fact, it’s surprising Beck himself hasn’t tried big band renditions of his own songs, given his flair for reinvention and bold, difficult performances. As an added bonus, the opener will be local cover group Pockets, performing the music of Modest Mouse. It goes practically without saying that the indie-rock darlings, headed by the always frenetic and sarcastic Isaac Brock, are great local favorites, purportedly selling out their April show at Babeville within minutes. Doors will open at 8pm,[...]

Tonight: Blitzen Trapper

October 10, 2015

Portland roots rockers Blitzen Trapper make a welcome return to Buffalo tonight at the Town Ballroom along with Jesse Malin. After excellent shows at the Mohawk and Tralf over the years, the PAC-NW country/folk rock five piece will be bringing songs off their most recent release All Across This Land, a return to form that finds the band refocusing themselves on their sound after the progressive yet somewhat unsatisfying VII, while the acclaimed singer songwriter and man of the people Jesse Malin will be celebrating the release of of 2015, Outsiders, which just dropped  yesterday. This will be a celebration of the best kinds of American music: raw, soulful, exuberant, inclusive, joyfully real, and a really good time. Tickets are still available for $16. Doors open at 7pm while the show starts at 8pm.

Tonight: Joywave

October 9, 2015

The series of great shows making their way to Buffalo this fall continues tonight as local heroes return for another glorious homecoming. It was just a little over a year ago that Rochester’s Joywave were just starting to make small waves outside of the Western New York music scene but little beyond that. Then came their breakthrough single, “Tongues.” The song almost immediately begun rotation on alternative radio around the country, and the band’s sudden popularity even scored their debut album a spot on the Top 40 charts and catapulted them to appearances on late night shows such as Jimmy Kimmel and Seth Meyers. Joywave now returns to the music scene that birthed them with their collection of infectious synthpop jams. If the band’s live show is nearly as high-energy and fun as their record, then tonight’s show show should be nothing short of an absolute blast. But while Joywave might be riding the[...]

Tonight: Eskimeaux

October 9, 2015

Eskimeaux is conscientious music for the attentive listener. Started as a solo effort by Gabrielle Smith, the project has recently evolved into a four piece outfit on the road. The band’s latest full length release, O.K., has been held in high regard by major publications like Stereogum, Pitchfork, and NPR, to name a few. Stark honesty is littered throughout, but it’s dressed up in a silk case. The album really does a good job of taking a bare-boned look at what it’s like to feel scared, unsure and alone in a quiet, humble way. It also successfully breaks the mold of traditional, soft-toned indie singer-songwriter type music in terms of instrumentation. There’s a real clarity to the heavily layered songs, and one that brings the whole collection to a much more poppy level. It’s less lo-fi bedroom rock, more crystal clear, heartfelt stuff that’s carefully constructed. I have a hard time imagining Eskimeaux playing anywhere else in[...]

Tonight: Mac Miller

October 7, 2015

Coming off of last month’s release of his third studio album, GO:OD AM, Pittsburgh-born rapper Mac Miller has emerged as one of the leading figures in hip hop in recent years, collaborating with artists like Lil B, Ab-Soul, Chief Keef, Schoolboy Q, and Earl Sweatshirt. His recent work has found the MC working through his troubled past, resulting in clear artistic growth and some of the most infectious tracks of his career. Having managed to outgrow the “frat-rap” label of his early releases, Mac has found himself at the center of many discussions about the relationship between race and hip hop today and has remained an unpredictable artist capable of transcending stereotypes. Tonight, the rapper will perform to a sold-out Town Ballroom in Buffalo with support from Los Angeles rapper and Odd Future affiliate Domo Genesis along with quickly rising singer/rapper GoldLink, whose danceable, funky style draws from 90’s r&b as well as golden-era[...]

Tonight: Lydia

October 6, 2015

Yet again, another stacked indie/emo lineup will be hitting Waiting Room tonight. Indie veterans Lydia will be bringing their “Run Wild” tour to Buffalo in support of their new album of the same name. Support for the show includes Seahaven and Turnover, as well as the Technicolors. Both Seahaven and Turnover have recently changed their sounds from a more pop/punk related one to a far more distant and dreamy variety, and far more indie in nature. Tickets will be available at the door for $17, and doors are set to open at 7pm, with music starting at 7:20pm.  All ages are admitted, but under 16 need a guardian, as usual.

Tonight: Rochester Invasion Pt. 2

October 3, 2015

In what is shaping up to be one of the hottest weekends of local music since Herdfest, there exists a bill so Rochesterian, it just might work. Well—actually—it has worked already once before. Tonight, Nietzsche’s will host part two of our Rochester Invasion series, featuring more of the finest talent our neighboring city has to offer. Joining us tonight we have 60’s-tinged party-all-the-timers Harmonica Lewinski, tongue-in-cheek lounge crooners Passive Aggressives Anonymous, multiinstrumental virtuoso Sam Snyder (or OHS, his endearingly shortened project name), and stone-cold rock and rollers The Ginger Faye Bakers. Each of these four acts bring their very own compelling flavor to the table, so don’t miss out. Swing by after Porchfest, the party doesn’t start until 9pm. This lineup is stacked, so bring five bucks so we can get our Rochester friends home safe and sound after closing time.

Today: Buffalo Porchfest

October 3, 2015

Now that the hubbub from the Gates Circle hospital implosion (and all of the Facebook group notifications about it) is over, you can ready yourself for a musical explosion of sorts. This afternoon marks the 5th installment of the beloved bi-annual Porchfest music showcase and celebration, which is exactly what it sounds like. Around 52 bands are scheduled to play porch-side at various locations in the Elmwood Village this year. This includes bands like The Tins, Wolf, City Under Seige, Bagel Jesus, Wood Bois, and dozens more. Not only is this a great excuse to wander around, it’s an event that highlights both the variety of talent our music scene fosters and how rad the Buffalo community is for pulling something of this nature together in such an organized way. We rule. The whole fest starts around 1:00pm and you can view official times and schedules here or at http://buffaloporchfest.org/.[...]

Tonight: Kill The Noise

October 3, 2015

Tonight After Dark & Factory NightLife present Jake Stanczak, more formally known as Ewun or Kill The Noise. He returns to his hometown Rochester, N.Y. to rock the stage at Anthology. Kill The Noise kicked off his album tour Thursday night in Atlanta, making his hometown show the third stop. The release of his first album Occult Classic is set for Oct. 9 on OWLSA, the record label founded by Skrillex. The ten track album features artists like Dillon Francis, Tommy Trash and rock favorite, Awolnation. His innovation and unique sounds come from inspiration all over the musical charts. In a recent article published by Rolling Stone, Kill the Noise explains how Nine Inch Nails, a favorite of his, gave him the inspiration behind his album. Stanczak has won two MTV Music Video Awards, one in 2012 for his “Kill The Noise Part 1” video and the second in 2013 for his[...]

Tonight: Comfy

October 2, 2015

Yace Booking is having one hell of a weekend. After the “Golf Pop” extravaganza at Dreamland tonight, please head straight to Nietzsche’s for an incredible lineup showcasing Utica buzz-magnets Comfy. Comfy specializes in that special sort of self-deprecating indie rock; think a lo-fi version of Weezer’s Blue Album with all the shredding and ooh-oohs you can stomach. Support tonight comes from Modest Mousy newcomers Passed Out, Sonny Baker’s solo project, and the Geneseo-based Comfy contemporaries in Soft Cough. Doors are at 9pm, music starts at 10pm. Bring $5 and be sure to tip your bartender.

Tonight: Super American

October 1, 2015

Fresh super group Super American will take over Dreamland this evening. Equal parts defunct Thick Winter Blud (a name in and of itself a WKT reference) and I Can See Mountains, they are set to be your new favorite Buffalo Brand New worshipers as they celebrate the impending release of Golf Pop. These bros can be pop or glum and you never know which side you’re gonna get. If I believed in guilty pleasures (because why feel guilty about the things you like?) Well Kept Things’ pop punk would be mine. Along with Wild Things, the band is acting as support as Super American releases some tunes off a new album. Bring $5 to the doors of Dreamland at 7pm to hear what’s going on. Nevermind by Super American

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[...]

Tonight: Toro Y Moi

September 29, 2015

Often referred to as the father of the chillwave movement, Chaz Bundick, more commonly known by his stage name, Toro Y Moi, will perform at Waiting Room tonight. Since 2008, Bundick has released four albums, each drastically different in style, with inventiveness as their common thread. Bundick recently released What For? in April, revealing a completely new layer to this already multifaceted discography. Although Bundick protested in a 2013 Rolling Stone interview that his first album, Causers of This, “was not supposed to be played live,” his past performances prove otherwise. Despite his recent dabbling in the electronic disco rock genre, we can only hope that Bundick will play what initially made him so compelling — that unforgettable synthetic dream: chillwave. Opening for Bundick this evening will be arena pop act Astronauts, etc. Doors open at 7pm and tickets are still available for $22.

Tonight: Flux Pavilion

September 28, 2015

UK bass artist Josh Steele knows the essence of dubstep, and he will be taking the stage at Town Ballroom once again tonight on the Tesla tour along with 12th Planet and Diskord, hosted by MNM Presents. Much has changed since 2010, when his disharmonious edgy dubstep dropped live and ripped your ears off with a semblance of pleasure and confusion. Few major players can say they still stand in the darker, grimier, shut your eyes and let the music take you down the dark corridor category of electronic music. Flux Pavilion did then, and he still does now. His sound on “I Can’t Stop” perked the ears of generational culture diplomats Kanye West and Jay Z enough to feature on their album Watch the Throne, also having a special feature in the film The Great Gatsby. He’s headlined several UK and US tours, in addition to multiple festivals all over the world, including Glastonbury,[...]