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Tonight: Queen City Music Lottery

June 2, 2018

The Queen City Music Lottery, one of the wildest annual music showcases Buffalo’s got going is back for a fifth installment tonight at the Adam Mickiewicz Library and Dramatic Circle. Organized again by destiny and DIY arts collective Sugar City, the local musicians down for the adventure and previously grouped together by the hand of fate into The Final Countdowns, Solve For X, Party’s Over, Vincent & The Gallows, and Broski, have withstood ups and downs and the creative process, and they will be gathered together to show us all what they’ve come up with. Doors open at 8pm, show starts at 8:30pm, and cover is $5. Walk on the wild side, and see something shiny and brand new.

Tonight: Queen City Music Lottery #2 Showcase

June 6, 2015

The Queen City Music Lottery is an exciting experiment  that tests some of the myths we hang onto about bands, such as that they are made up of organically formed people who share deep personal bonds. Obviously, we know this isn’t actually the case but on some level, I think we unconsciously subscribe to this. This is why the Lottery sounds so intriguing. What happens if you assemble bands via lottery, what kind of random combinations of people does it create and what kind of music can they make in a short time? As I mentioned, the Queen City Music Lottery is Sugar City’s annual event where bands are assembled by drawing names out of a hat. These bands can be made up of long time musicians or people who have never picked up an instrument in their life, the bands are assembled and given a few months to coalesce.[...]

Queen City Music Lottery Band, HOTMediummild, Drops Debut Material

June 3, 2015

With 10 new Queen City Music Lottery bands set to make their live debuts this Saturday at Sugar City, a couple of bands have begun to leak their material to the interwebs. One of those bands, HOTMediummild, dropped a 4-track demo, the Mild EP, yesterday afternoon. Featuring Damian Weber (Difficult Night), Norelle Merlo of Mallwalkers and 2014 Lotto band, Scajaquada Creeps, and a very WHAM-like drum machine, HOTMediummild reminds us of Wesley Willis, Kimya Dawson, and Geneseo’s Slackjaw. HOTMediummild (band #8 if you have been following the QCML progress since the beginning) will kick of its set on Stage 2 right around 7pm Saturday night. Listen “Chess Club (I’ll Show You All),” the standout cut from the Mild EP, below so you have a favorite song to clap to.

Queen City Music Lottery Returns For Round Two

January 7, 2015

One of the more interesting projects that came out of the Buffalo music scene last year was the Queen City Music Lottery. A collaborative project headed by Sugar City and Peterwalkee Records, the lotto basically brought in local music vets and relative amateurs to make a cast of new musical acts. At the two drawings hosted early in 2014 at Spiral Scratch and Black Dots, participants threw their names in to a hat, were randomly selected, and basically, became a band. It didn’t matter what genre you came from, what instrument you may or may not have played, those four-five people were now a collective unit assigned to make music. It was pretty cool. Bands were asked to rehearse, put together a short set, and ultimately make their debuts later a couple months later at the Foundry. From punk to electro-dance to folk, there were some valient to great efforts[...]

Moverealfaststop at Allen Street Hardware

June 23, 2014

This past Friday night, local DIY collective, Sugar City, took over the front and back rooms of Hardware as a part of our Herd Fest weekend. Kicking things off in the back room was Moverealfaststop, a new(er) group that features members of Cross Stitch and Lesionread. A product of the Queen City Music Lottery, the frantic three-piece helped lay an energetic groundwork for what turned out to be one of the best showcases over the long weekend. You can watch a clip from the band’s set, complete with some special guest spoken word and a gnome, below.

Sugar City

June 17, 2014

Sugar City deserves a lot of credit for the ceaseless work they have done to provide an open and collaborative space for all types of art in Buffalo. Over 5 years old, the arts collective is responsible for fostering a significantly stronger community of artists, musicians, and community activists. Even after losing their original space in Allentown, the organization regrouped and continued their work, sure to go even further now that they have a new space on Niagara Street. Perhaps the key to their continued success is their commitment to  being inclusive, welcoming and offering space to anyone with an idea and the wherewithal to make it a reality. They cannot be thanked enough for making a lot of wonderful things, including last year’s amazing Metro wide art and music show a reality. So, of course we tapped them to organize a showcase. Sugar City will be taking Hardware over[...]

Tonight: Et al.

April 16, 2014

Baltimore’s Et al. will be touring through Spiral Scratch today, bringing their new-wavey guitar-driven pop along with them. In case you missed the Queen City Lottery Showcase, two of the bands have “made it” and are acting as support tonight. Nail School, featuring members of Space Wolves, Merchants, and JOHNS, and NELJÄ (who suggest they might be your favorite of the night) will be playing, as well as Deutscher Girls, who will probably be in drag. The show starts at 6:00pm and will feature free cookies, free beer, and plenty of sick vinyls to flip through while you enjoy some live music. A mere $5 will get you this fantastic experience.  

Tonight: Queen City Music Lottery Showcase

April 5, 2014

Tonight’s the night! One of the most novel ideas to come out of Buffalo’s music scene is the Queen City Music Lottery. With an initial showing of 62 members and 15 bands, it has proven to be a force to be reckoned with. Some bands have fallen along the way, but here is the most updated order for tonight: 1. RAINBOW TRASH (Stage One) 2. PLOSIVE (Stage Two) 3. MOVE REAL FAST; STOP(Stage One) 4. BEAST COAST(Stage Two) 5. NAIL SCHOOL (Stage One) 6. WALRUS AVULSION & THE NARWHALS(Stage Two) 7. SQUIRT (Stage One) 8. SCAJAQUADA CREEPS (Stage Two) 9. NELJÄ (Stage One) 10. PONYTAIL JASS (Stage Two) The show starts at 6:00 and is only $5.  It’s at the Foundry.  

Queen City Music Lottery Band, Nail School, Debuts First Song

April 4, 2014

On the eve of the Queen City Music Lottery Showcase, one of the randomly assembled acts, Nail School, has released its first track via bandcamp. Featuring members of JOHNS, Merchants, and Space Wolves, Nail School’s “Russian Bride” is a cut of dark, aggressive garage-punk that doesn’t sound too unlike some of singer John Toohill’s other projects, including the recently debuted Alpha Hopper. You can catch Nail School, along with Plosive, Move Real Fast Stop., and a handful of other brand new acts, tomorrow night at the Foundry (298 Northhampton St) starting at 6pm.