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Tonight: Take One Car

May 30, 2015

Sugar City is set to welcome Connecticut post-hardcore outfit, Take One Car, to the venue’s newly built stage early this evening. The band’s latest album, Everyone You Know is Here Right Now, was released early this spring through Broken World Media, and should appeal to fans of mewithoutYou or even The Slums if you want a local spin. Rounding out tonight’s bill are Steel City screamo act, Skull Kid, local emo group, Alleys, (set to take off on a new tour right around the corner), and the fresh Buffalo pop/punk trio, THICK WINTER BLUD. The all ages, substance free show will kick off around 7pm with a cover of $6 at the door.

Tonight: Downtown Boys

May 25, 2015

She’s brown, she’s smart, and she’s leading the saviors we didn’t know we’d been waiting for. This Memorial Day, get pummeled by a wave of political dance-punk from the Victoria Ruiz fronted Downtown Boys at Sugar City. The Providence based unit mixes punk and Spanish with jazzy sax parts to make a dance party that is also a learning experience. This is a band that gets back to punk’s political roots, a band that again makes punk a gateway to cultural and social consciousness. Downtown Boys has been around for a few years, but are creating a real buzz recently with the new album Full Communism that dropped this month, and I am excited about them. Downtown Boys is unstoppable. Green Dreams from Rochester and Buffalo’s own Boy Scouts are rounding out the show ($6, 6pm) with a lot of non-male representation, which is always best. Watch this must see[...]

Tonight: Full of Hell, The Body, Red Death, and more

May 14, 2015

Tonight at Sugar City, six bands – Full of Hell, the Body, Buffalo based Gas Chamber/Cages, UK bad boys The Flex, Red Death, and Black Houses – will be bringing a pulverizing bill of sludgy hardcore to the venue’s newly built stage. Red Death, members of DC’s finest, churns out brutal tracks of hardcore thrash metal along the lines of what has been coming out of the capital recently. And in personal experience, no Red Death set would be complete without frontman Chad Troncale‘s commentary about smoking weed and jerking off. Full of Hell (from everywhere–MD, PA, and currently, temporarily Buffalo) puts on a sick show. Their relentless grind and noise is cathartic and the Body is just as chaotic. Doors open at 5pm for this stacked line-up. Black Houses is scheduled to go on at 6:15. Cost is $10 to lose your hearing for the forceable future.

Five Questions with Kassie Carlson of Guerilla Toss

May 1, 2015

Editor’s Note: Local musician John Toohill (JOHNS, the Hamiltones, Alpha Hopper) will occasionally sit down with touring bands and ask them five questions. For his latest installment, he spoke with Kassie Carlson of Boston’s Guerilla Toss, set to play Buffalo Sunday night at Sugar City. John Toohill: Kassie! Hi! Sorry to start this interview so late. Irene and I were drumming up some good voodoo for the show this weekend while down in New Orleans. Which brings me to my first question: Do you believe in ghosts and have you seen some lately? Kassie Carlson: Of course I believe in ghosts. We saw a few when G-Toss was in Upstate NY recording. I guess it all started when we were practicing and I saw a white dog on the second floor. I didnt say anything until later and then Pete goes, “Oh yeah, I’ve seen that dog,” very nonchalantly. The next morning,[...]

Tonight: Difficult Night

April 30, 2015

Difficult Night will headline Sugar City tonight with special guests Newish Star and Facility Men.  If you haven’t heard the slacker vibes of Difficult Night, tonight is probably the night to see them. The line up is tight, and Difficult Night is easy on the ear to most listeners.  To that effect, the night is an all ages event, so bring the kid’s and give them exposure to some of the music Buffalo has to offer. The members of Sugar City would like all guests to know that their venue is both drug and alcohol free.  Anyone feeling a little parched is more than welcome to wet their whistle at Resurgence Brewery across the street.  The night will kick off at 7pm, and with only 3 bands shouldn’t go too late into the night.  There is no mention of a charge, but bring a few bucks just to be on[...]

Just Announced: Anklepants

April 28, 2015

The nearly year long Wonk Sesh series, presented by pop musician Lesionread, has always been known for its left-of-the-dial acts, but the for the series upcoming show, we clearly have a front runner for the strangest set yet. On June 28th at Sugar City, and presented by Squeaky Wheel, Wonk Sesh is proud to present Anklepants. Until I heard from Wonk Sesh curator, Shawn Lewis/Lesionread, I had no idea who/what Anklepants was, so let me let Reecard Farché ( the man behind Anklepants) explain it for himself: “Anklepants…is a one man mechanical faced sound creature from the depths of the the Australian übergründé. Anklepants is a perfect specimen. His eyes nose face and mouth are perfect. Anklepants is a live electronic music machine.” Ok, maybe that didn’t explain enough. Farché  was the set designer for Prometheus (that mask does look a little bit like the Space Jockey helmet), and when performing, uses a Wii-like controller attached to[...]

Tonight: Desmadrados Soldados De Ventura

April 17, 2015

Sugar City plays host to Manchester’s Desmadrados Soldados De Ventura tonight, joined by Flesh Trade, Cages and trio Baczkowksi/Abramson/Sack. Desmadrados Soldados De Ventura create huge walls of sound and fuzz that could properly be called “psychedelic.” I don’t mean the brand of psych-rock that entails putting on sunglasses and singing about ghosts on the beach, either. These are full-on improv freak outs with shades of bands like Can as well as modern counterparts like The Mars Volta. And they’ve been kind enough to bring these sounds all the way from the UK for the likes of us to indulge in. With support from Cages, Flesh Trade and Baczkowksi/Abramson/Sack, it should be a noisy, experimental, unhinged night over at Sugar City. Music starts at 8pm for $7. Facebook event here. Check out Desmadrados Soldados De Ventura below.

Tonight: Defiance, Ohio

March 16, 2015

Tonight is the night. The wait is over. No more weird smells at Ocean Gardens. Sugar City is fully repaired and ready for action. To open up the musical side of the new venue, the DIY collective is hosting its first legal show tonight with a lineup headlined by folk-punk veterans Defiance, Ohio, on the road for the first time in two years, along with the touring bands Purple 7 and High Dive. For local talent, Mallwalkers will be bringing the funk punk as always, and Softlines will be opening up the show. You will want to get there on time, not only to check out the local bands, but also because there are over 200 people RSVP’ed to this show on facebook and the venue may hit capacity. Doors open at 6pm, and music starts at 7pm sharp, and the show will be over by 10pm. Entry is $8[...]

Alex Berkley Premieres Annual “Fun-a-Day” Album, 28 Days of Fun: Shuffle

March 12, 2015

This being a music blog, my favorite project to look forward to during Sugar City’s annual Fun-a-Day exhibit (create something artistic for every day of the month) is the concept album from Alex Berkley. His first year album for Fun-a-Day, 28 Days of Fun, was a collection of songs, one recorded every day of the month: a simple, yet quality undertaking. For year two, he went more ambitious, recording a collection of diary-like entries chronicling the day to day life of the Elmwood Village every man for 28 Days of Fun: Sick of the Sound of My Voice. As for this year, his third musical installment for Fun-a-Day, the singer/songwriter put his iTunes on shuffle daily and proceeded to write a song, resulting in 28 Days of Fun: Shuffle. Some of the random songs that inspired the album were “Our Singer” by Pavement (Song 19: “Wings & Billy Madison”), “Jamming” by Bob[...]

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[...]

Tonight: Potty Mouth

September 13, 2014

This may be a bit last minute, but hey, it’s a punk show. Sugar City is hosting an eclectic mix of punk acts from all over the East Coast tonight, starting at 6pm. Potty Mouth, an all-female punk quartet from Northhampton, MA will be headlining tonight’s gig with touring support coming from DIY queercore charmers Aye Nako, of Brooklyn. Throw weirdo-punks Secret Tombs (Pittsburgh) into the mix, and it’s a party. Buffalo’s Softlines and Newish Star will be bringing the local support, making tonight’s Sugar City punk-stravaganza a total no-brainer. Bring a good attitude. Sugar City, 6pm, $7, Alcohol free. [soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/78871318″ params=”color=00aabb&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false” width=”100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]

Tonight: Ami Dang and Slag Ralden

September 9, 2014

Over the past couple of years, the Ami Dang has garnered acclaim for her own brand of sitar electronic, her seamless ability to blend exotic melodies with puncturing beats, on her facebook page, she fittingly characterizes the project as “music from everywhere and nowhere.” Slag Ralden, in similar vein, creates brooding and captivating textures and melodies that bare semblance to elements of pop music. Together they have embarked on a Northeast US and Canadian tour in collaboration of each other’s material and tonight presents itself as an opportunity to catch one of their first stops at our very own Sugar City (recently relocated to 1239 Niagara Street). If this hasn’t captured your attention, set to open are Buffalo gems Pam Swartz, Copy Manager, and Little Cake & Jack Topht. Doors open at 7pm. We’ll see ya there.

Hooray For Earth at Sugar City (8/20/14)

August 22, 2014

Wednesday night, New York City’s Hooray For Earth returned to Buffalo after a four year absence for a special yet sparsely attended show at the newly reopened Sugar City art space on Niagara Street. I don’t know exactly what happened that contributed to a show for an up and coming band being attended by 15 people, but that’s basically what ended up happening. That those 15 people were treated to a magnificently loud and blisteringly gorgeous performance is almost beside the point; Hooray For Earth made good on their promise to get here after cancelling in January of 2013, and I want to thank Hooray For Earth and opener Grooms for making the trip. It was one of those shows where the bands start early so they can get on their way to the next stop, hopefully with a bigger crowd. Grooms, a power trio from Brooklyn, started before the[...]

Tonight: Hooray For Earth

August 20, 2014

Originating as an alias for the home recordings of multi-instrumental Noel Heroux, New York-based experimental rock band Hooray For Earth have released five studio albums since 2008. Their most recent LP, Racy, was released back in July on Dovecote Records and includes the blissfully experimental single, “Keys,” and features an atmospheric pop-rock sound. The latest single from the album, “Say Enough,” had its’ video premiere on Stereogum earlier today. The clip follows the band’s tradition of pairing their work with equally experimental visuals. Tonight, the band plays Buffalo all-ages venue Sugar City in support of Racy. Doors open at 7pm. Show starts at 8pm.

Tonight: Sugar City’s Two Part Opening Party

August 15, 2014

After many months of hard work, delays, and headaches, Sugar City is ready to open the doors of their new home to the public.  It’s been over two years since the DIY collective has had a venue to call their own.  Located at 1239 Niagara St, directly across from the recently opened Resurgence Brewing Company, Sugar City can be seen as the next step in a sort of revival of Niagara St. The venue is far from finished, but is at a point where events that have been scheduled are able to take place. Members will continue to work over the next several weeks/months in order to get the space into full working order. Tonight’s events begin with open gallery hours from 6pm-8pm. The gallery walls will be adorned with Illustrations and prints by Screaming Females singer/guitarist Marissa Paternoster. There is no charge from 6pm-8pm. From 8pm-11pm, live music will[...]