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Must See Shows (9/11/24-9/17/24)

Saturday, 9/14 @ 7pm Elemantra w/ Patchwork @ Black Dots The west side is set to host a double banger with locals Elemantra and Patchwork this Saturday night at one of Buffalo’s best record stores. The lineup consists of two locals at the top of Buffalo’s indie scene. Elemantra may be up your alley if you are a fan of a shoeagaze-y Mew meets Slowdive vibes, while Patchwork will impress followers of the 90’s college radio scene. Both bands are worth the field trip and it’s just $10 to support local artists.   Photo: Adam Parshall Monday, 9/16/24 @ 7pm Pile w/ Oceanator @ Buffalo Iron Works It’ll be a Monday night ripper with the return of Boston’s Pile to the 716. The heavy hitting act will be debuting at the highest capacity venue they’ve played in the city, coming a long way from the days of playing on Niagara[...]

Tonight: Beck

One of the summer’s most interesting outdoor amphitheater tours featuring some of indie rocks biggest bands rolls through WNY tonight when Darien Lake hosts Beck, Spoon, Cage The Elephant and Sunflower Bean.  At this point Beck and Spoon are straight up elder statesmen, with the legendary Angelino prepping his fourteenth… yes fourteenth album Hyperspace, while tasteful Austin TX indie stalwarts Spoon are back in the area after that now legendary 2015 Canalside show in support of their recently released their first best of album, appropriately titled Everything Hits At Once and 2018’s bright and shiny Colors. Bringing down the median age of the bill will be Bowling Green Kenturcky garage rock conceptualists Cage The Elephant, and breakout NYC glam rock darlings Sunflower Bean, whose sophomore album Twentytwo in Blue brought together sexy T-Rex riffs, Fleetwood Mac worthy melodies, and righteous Gen Z angst  to make one of the best and downright inspirational albums of 2018.[...]

Spoon at Canalside (6/25/15)

It goes without saying that there’s something exceptional about a band that’s been in the game for so long and still preserves a knack for consistency and relevance. In the case of Spoon, “in the game” translates to eight full length releases over the span of two decades, six singles peaking in the top 50 of US rock charts, music placement in over a dozen movies and television shows, and international tours galore. I imagine the band’s consistent success being attributed to the unique duality of their music. It has a classic rock ‘n’ roll feel to it and is poppy enough to reel in droves of both young and old. Spoon is like the quiet cool kid you knew from high school — somehow noticed by few and everyone at the same time — who undeniably wore his heart on his sleeve but disguised that sensitivity with a gritty[...]

Tonight: Spoon

Indie rock legends Spoon stop by Canalside tonight for the fourth week of free music down at the waterfront. In what is bound to be one of the highlights of the series, Britt Daniels and Jim Eno bring their nearly two-decade old band around for the first time in a long time. Spoon will no doubt be playing songs off of their most recent LP, 2014’s fantastic They Want My Soul. Also worth checking out before you head down to the harbor is the band’s cover of The Cramps’ “TV Set” that they recently performed on Conan (see below). July Talk will precede Spoon with Battle of the Jam Bands winner Tomorreaux kicking things off at 6PM. VIP passes are $40 as is the usual for these shows. For the rest of us, it’s free.

Staff Picks: Most Anticipated Shows of the Summer

The Public kind of beat us to the punch with its whole “Best Summer Ever” proclamation in this week’s issue, but we have to agree with the paper on this one, at least in a live music sense. Every year, the city’s summer music schedule seems to get better and busier, with bands coming to town they may have passed us for Toronto or Cleveland in the past. Between the revitalized Canalside schedule to the endless club shows that get announced on a seemingly daily basis,  this very well may be the best (music) summer ever. Below are a list of staff picks, selecting our most anticipated Buffalo shows of the season (Spoiler: a bunch of us are pretty hyped for Spoon). For more summer options, make sure to check out our events calendar here. Jon Krol Ceremony w/ Pity Sex at Mohawk Place (7/5/15) Anyone who’s ever seen Ceremony[...]

Thursday at Canalside Report Card

The announcement of the Thursday at Canalside series, now years away from the cesspool that was Layfette Square, is one of Buffalo’s true indicators that summer is pretty much here. And with that announcement, comes lots and lots of bitching, at least normally. My fellow buffaBLOGGER Cliff Parks once told me “if you like three of the Canalside acts, then it’s a good year.” And you know what? The guy is 100% correct. What people don’t realize is that this FREE lineup isn’t made for you, or your parents, or a fan of one particular genre, rather, it’s made for everyone, which means multiple genres/bands/sounds will be represented, some to the pleasure and some to the disdain of those looking to spend a nice Thursday evening down on the water front. As per tradition, I have compiled my Thursday at Canalside Report Card, and before I go any further, please take[...]

Spoon’s They Want My Soul

After reading a few advance reviews of Spoon’s new album, it’s become apparent that one of the main storylines writers have latched onto is how this is a relatively difficult album to write about. This seems to be for two reasons. First, because Spoon has so consistently been churning out excellent music over the past 15 years, there really isn’t much to say other than, “it’s another great Spoon album.” Second, Spoon has so consistently been churning out excellent music over the past 15 years, that so consistently sounds like nothing other than itself, (a sound which is notoriously difficult to describe – there are not that many adjectives akin to “sparse,” there are only so many ways to describe guitars that sound “angular”), there really isn’t much to say other than, “it sounds like a Spoon album.” Both of those things are most certainly true. This album sounds amazing,[...]