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Tonight: The Leones 5th Annual Halloween Bash

Batavia psych rock gurus The Leones are back with their beloved Halloween show at the Mohawk with a psycho killer lineup featuring Aircraft, The Tins and Moody Cosmos. The spooky Samhein vibes will be in full effect, featuring intensely trippy jams all night long, tasteful Halloween holiday kitsch curated by Justin Bachulak, the choicest VHS horror in all their grainy, gory analog glory; and costumes are strongly encouraged. Doors are at 8pm and cover is $5 unless you bring a new Halloween costume (in the package) to donate to a worthy kid who deserves to enjoy the holiday too. Songs From The Canyon by The Leones

Tonight: Sons Of Luther Album Release Party

Tonight Mr. Goodbar is hosting a killer lineup of hot local bands headlined by The Sons Of Luther and featuring Deadwolf, The Leones and Cooler, giving you the perfect excuse to hang out with college kids on a Saturday night. The Sons Of Luther, the brainchild of musical polymath (and podcaster) Wren Werner, have been tastefully releasing some very tight modern rock singles over the past month and it all culminates with the release of their sophomore EP Do What You Can tonight when the full band bring it all together for your listening enjoyment. The beyond space-and-time psych rockers Deadwolf will be opening the show with  vibe heavy Batavia desert space rock outfit The Leones and Buffalo emo heroes Cooler. Doors are at 8pm and cover is $8. Do What You Can by Sons Of Luther

Tonight: The Demos

Spring is upon us (kind of), and there is no better way to both celebrate the warmer weather (sometimes) and clear your sinuses than to come out Nietzsche’s. This is a show you definitely do not want to miss. Even if dancing isn’t your thing, you will have fun you will have at this show. The Tins are sure to sonically bring the house down with their new-wave rock that features tight grooves, tasteful electronic percussion, nostalgic vocal effects, and truly amazing guitar shredding. Also on the bill is Rochester-grown The Demos, who will certainly have you dancing right out of your shoes with their upbeat, indie pop beats and catchy hooks that you’ll be humming for days. The Leones are also joining in on the festivities, and they’ll have you feeling melancholic with their dreamy guitar parts and distant psychedelic vocals. Don’t fret about feeling somber though, because they[...]

Tonight: The Leones

9th Ward at Babeville has a heavy duty lineup of local rock talent all about laying down serious vibes, featuring The Leones, The Shallows and First Ward. No strangers to that space, Justin Bachulak’s widescreen psych rock  project The Leones will be playing new material from their upcoming summer release that leans into dream pop territor. Expect some serious feels when Dustin Lau’s expansive guitar and the otherworldly rhythm section of Will Webb and Kevin Carney  interweaves with Bachaluk’s evocative synths and vocals, and the acoustic wonder of the room itself to possibly overwhelm the senses. Meanwhile, if you haven’t caught buzz band The Shallows yet you better rectify that before they take a bit of a break because the folk rock of Joe Myers with Emily Finlan and Andrew Kothen is intense, warm, and worth checking out now so you’ll be ready when they return. Opening the show will be epic and deeply[...]

Tonight: The Leones

Get in the haunting holiday spirit with The Leones as they host their second annual Halloween show tonight at Buffalo’s Mohawk Place. The Leones are a phantasmic piano-dream-rock act from Western, NY. Their spooky sound is the perfect score for a lonely midnight stroll down a foggy, shadowy road. Justin Bachulak’s ominous vocals and chilling keys are punctuated like a knife through a shower curtain by Dustin Lau’s ethereal guitar chords. These two will give you the willies and leave you looking over your shoulder on your way home tonight. Expect an eerie performance including ghastly new material. Hometown synth-pop four-piece, Humble Braggers, will also be stalking the stage. Reanimated by the release of their thrilling new EP, Cycle, Humble Braggers conjure spine-tingling dance tracks that could raise the dead. You might want to stretch beforehand because their exhilarating synths, punchy percussions and dazzling vocals will possess you to bust[...]

Tonight: The Leones

Local dream-pop outfit The Leones hit Babeville’s 9th Ward tonight. The group is still riding the wave of their 2017 release, Songs From a Canyon, which features lush synth soundscapes and haunting ambience. The four slot slot bill will include three other indie pop acts. Dreambeaches are a Buffalo-based baroque dance rock outfit, who’s garage surf rock-tinged second EP Disappearing Act was released last year. Also sharing the stage is Richmond, Virginia’s Minor Poet, the brainchild of singer-songwriter Andrew Carter, who specializes in lo-fi throwback pop rock. Local singer-songwriter Jacob Peter is a late addition to the lineup, replacing The Demos. The show begins at 8 with doors at 7. Tickets are $7 and can be purchased at the door. Songs From The Canyon by The Leones

Tonight: The Leones

Celebrate Halloween a few weeks early tonight at Mohawk Place with the haunting sounds of The Leones, who are bringing their ethereal, reverb-heavy tones to the venue for their second annual October showcase. Armed with new songs off their most recent album Songs From the Canyon, The Leones will be joined for the eerie evening by reformed experimental electro outfit Space Cubs, Brooklyn synth pop band Bottler (featuring former Sleepy Haha’s frontman Pat Butler) and new horror electronic act We’rewolves. in addition Mohawk will be outfitted with the finest Halloween decorations and horror movie VHS tapes to keep the holiday spirit throughout. Bring a new or gently used children’s Halloween costume to donate to Gateway Longview and get a Leones “Ghost in the City” American apparel tri-blend shirt with original art by Mickey Harmon of the Tift Row Houses on Allen St. and an album of your choice for only $10. Everything goes down[...]

Tonight: Herd Fest Day 3

Herd Fest Day 3 launches tonight and after catching so many acts the past two days and lack of sleep, my ability to craft creative introductions isn’t what it used to be. Mohawk Place kicks off the night with sets from plucky up-and-comers Johnny and the Man Kids, new rock act The Gennies, Brooklyn indie band Kissing is a Crime, pop act Suburbs, fun indie outfit Gillian, and rounded out by alt-rockers Younger Then. $7 cover with doors at 7pm. Milkie’s also kicks off early at 7pm with sets from synth-pop act Small Smalls, pop-punkers Dead Lounge, bluesy alt rockers White Shade, post-emo outfit Into the Wake, and rounded out by noisey punk act Filthy Gorgeous. $7 cover. DBGB’s is set to have one of the biggest shows of the festival, with Made Violent headlining with support from buzzing newcomers Ugly Sun and a recently subbed Super American. $5 cover with doors[...]

The Leones – Songs From The Canyon

With a turbulent spring doggedly holding out like that one lingering party guest against the full bloom of summer in Buffalo, Songs From The Canyon from ambitious Batavia psych rockers The Leones  arrived right on time last week with a clutch of spacious, heady jams ideal for Album of the Week… and for getting wasted around summer bonfires or driving in the desert or along the 90 at night with the windows/top down. Lovers of hazy, reverb drenched California rock will get a genuine thrill with Songs From The Canyon. Tom Burtless from Humble Braggers guests on the majestic album opener “Coast,” a plaintive country rock ballad journey that’s always in motion, while “Dealer” digs deep with a swirling, introspective piano and aching vocal harmonies before the high flying yet reassuring release of “Home.” There’s a nice War On Drugs vibe sure, but there’s also a real Laurel Canyon thing[...]

Tonight: The Leones

Tonight Batavia based psych rockers The Leones celebrate the release of their latest release, Songs From The Canyon at the Ninth Ward at Babeville with the busy as hell Humble Braggers and art rock outfit Parade Chic. Fans of vintage synths, spacious jams, and songs that conjure sensations of a beating sun over the low desert and yearning freedom won’t want to miss this one. Doors are at 8pm and cover is $5. Songs From The Canyon by The Leones

Japanese Breakfast at Mohawk Place (4/23/17)

Japanese Breakfast’s dreamy indie-pop was met with rapturous acclaim at Mohawk Place on Sunday, April 23rd, at the band’s first live appearance in Buffalo. Equal parts shimmering and sinister, Michelle Zauner’s emotive songs express both harrowing loss and radiant joy over a bed of gossamer guitars and transcendent pop hooks. Supporting Japanese Breakfast that night was Rebecca Ryskalczyk, a singer-songwriter specializing in spartan guitar confessionals, and local act The Leones, a ghostly psych-rock quartet with a penchant for darkness. Check out the photos below. The Leones Rebecca Ryskalczyk Japanese Breakfast  

Tonight: The Leones

Tonight Buffalo ghost rockers The Leones will be headlining a tight lineup of local bands at the 9th Ward at Babeville including Sonny Baker and Chevron Bloom that looks like a can’t miss show in the making. Fresh off their excellent album Ghost In The City, Leones fans can expect more synth heavy explorations into ghostly horror, along with new music from their upcoming album of a more psychedelic and spaced out variety, which is always good when heard in an acoustically perfect room such as the always exquisite 9th Ward . Joining them will be Sonny Baker and a special solo acoustic set and the very vibe heavy garage rockers Chevron Bloom. Cover is $7 and doors open at 7pm. See you there.

The Leones Share Two New Christmas Songs

The Leones just released a beautifully melancholic new Christmas single that’s sure to fall on the “love” side of your love/hate relationship with Christmas songs. Featuring a sleeve by local artist Mickey Harmon, “Ghosts Of Christmas” b/w “Blue Christmas” is a festival of naked emotion; “Ghosts Of Christmas” floats on cloud of piano and sweet reverb to us from out of the Rust Belt void, while “Blue Christmas” is an achingly bittersweet ode to the Everly Brothers, Phil Spector, and the mighty Roy Orbison. “Ghosts Of Christmas” can be found on bandcamp and purchased for $2, an ideal way to support local music and art, and wallow in all of your feels.

The Leones – Ghost in the City

Like something out of retro Gotham comes Ghost in the City, a melancholic gaze into the haunted homes of the album. For the most part, this gaze sets its eyes on love despite the album’s eerie, mysterious lyrical settings buttressed by the deep instrumentals. Ghost in the City tells it’s tall tales in Kurt Vile-style: The songs are usually five-and-a-half minutes or more. The men of The Leones, Justin Bachulak and Dustin Lau, used their indigo pallor to create something of wondrous quality. “Where I Want You” begins with brilliant retro synth that seems straight from the late Castlevania projects. A solid folk voice masked in some reverb joins the composition. The song talks of a girl named Anne. All she could do was “fold,” yet the main character (who seems creepy) sought her out for some reason. The guitar augments the final minute or so of the song, adding[...]

Tonight: The Leones

Tonight Buffalo’s Leones celebrate the release of their Halloween album Ghost In The City at the Mohawk with Twin Speak, Orations, and Award Show. Bold and ambitious, Ghost In The City features excellent atmosphere, vocals reminiscent of Richard Ashcroft, and some serious class. Utica psychedelic doom rockers Twin Speak will opening the show with Buffalo goth romantics Orations, Award Show, a lo-fi acoustic bedroom folk project from Jesse Kaufman and Nate Ward, and 80’s horror movies on VHS in between sets. The bands request donations of Halloween masks and child friendly costumes to benefit underprivileged children through the NPO Gateway Longview, which serves 3600 children throughout Western New York. Doors are 7:30pm, show starts at 8pm, and cover is $5. Fire Walk With Me by The Leonesr