Latest Posts

Just Announced: Mac DeMarco

April 22, 2015

After a sold yet, yet unexpected solo show last summer at the Tralf Music Hall, indie rock class clown, Mac DeMarco, will make a return appearance later this summer, hopefully with band in tow, to the downtown venue on Sunday, August 16th. Earlier this morning, both Rolling Stone and Stereogum announced DeMarco’s MASSIVE tour, which kicks off tonight in Portland, as well as a new “mini album” titled Another One, set to drop sometime this summer. On-sale dates and prices were not available at the time of this writing, so keep an eye out. Photo by Candace Camuglia

Tonight: Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad

April 11, 2015

To the uninformed, Giant Panda Guerrilla Dub Squad is Rochester’s premier dub reggae crew. That may sound like a particularly narrow and unessential niche to reign over, but the decade-old quintet is, in fact, one of the most popular and skillful live acts to emerge from The Flower City in recent years. With their mix of chill Caribbean rhythms, spaced-out soundscapes, and heavy low-end sounds, it’s easy to see why the band is so well loved by everyone from dub fanatics (as in the sub-genre of reggae, which is a world apart from the EDM atrocity that is dubstep) to college-aged stoners and reggae aficionados. Though Giant Panda has only put out a handful of studio LPs since their 2004 formation, the group has nursed a sizable and much-deserved cult following due mainly to the strength of their live shows. You can hear tons of their performances for free, and[...]

Willie Watson

April 8, 2015

The first time you hear Willie Watson’s music, you’ll probably think he hails from high up in the Adirondacks or low down in the Mississippi Delta. But he’s actually from Watkins Glen, NY, just a short jaunt across the Finger Lakes from our fair city. Tonight, we get the chance to support “local” talent as he as he opens for The Wood Brothers at the Tralf Music Hall. Willie Watson began his career busking on the streets of North Carolina with Old Crow Medicine Show. In 2011, over a decade later, Watson packed up his guitar and his high, lonesome harmonies and embarked on a solo career that saw the release of his first album, Folk Singer Vol. 1, in 2014. Since then, he has performed at South by Southwest, become a staple of outdoor music festivals, and traveled the country with other folk acts. Watson names Bob Dylan and[...]

Just Announced: Strand of Oaks

April 2, 2015

One of 2014’s best success stories came from Timothy Showalter’s Strand of Oaks project. Last summer, the Philadelphia rocker released his acclaimed new album, the emotionally raw Heal, which was anchored by the blistering lead single, “Goshen 97” and the devastatingly nostalgic nod to Song: Ohio’s Jason Molina on “JM.” In leaving some of his folk roots behind, Heal would go on to find itself on countless year end lists and put Showalter under an unexpected spotlight. To keep the momentum going, Showalter will take Strand of Oaks on a summer tour in support of Heal, which will include a stop in Buffalo on Saturday, July 25th at the Tralf Music Hall Tickets will go on sale this Friday, Apri 3rd at noon, for $10.

Just Announced: Great Lake Swimmers

March 10, 2015

The next couple months should be a formidable stretch for Buffalo folk fans. Horse Feathers and Shakey Graves will run through town within a two day period at the end of this month. And now, on Saturday, May 16th, Great Lake Swimmers are set to make a stop in Buffalo at the Tralf Music Hall. The Canadian folk outfit will be on the road in support of its forthcoming album, A Forrest of Arms, due out this April. Tickets go on sale this Friday, March 13th, for $14 in advance/$16 at the door.

Just Announced: Horse Feathers

January 22, 2015

One of modern folk music’s most underrated and consistent acts, Horse Feathers, will return to Buffalo on Sunday, March 29th with an intimate engagement at the Tralf Music Hall. The Portland based band debuted in 2006 with its stunning debut effort, Words are Dead, and have been putting out quality album after album over the years. Horse Features will be on tour in support of its newest album, So It Is With Us. I remember catching the band a few years back in the Babeville basement and the performance still gives me the chills thinking about it. Tickets are currently on sale for $13 in advance, $15 day of.

Tonight: This Will Destroy You

October 29, 2014

The Tralf, of all places, has been the host to some pretty great post-rock shows over the last few years. From Explosions in the Sky and Mogwai (maybe the loudest show I have ever attended) to the brain crushing Swans shows this year and last, the Main Street venue is becoming one of the go-to spots for deafening, slow building, and you guessed it, epic instrumentals. The tradition continues this evening with San Marcos, TX outfit, This Will Destroy You. The band name itself is quite the threat to audience members’ ear drums. Since forming in 2005, the band has released a steady output of material with its most recent being this summer’s Another Language. Check out the album’s first devastating single, “Dustism,” below before heading down tonight. Doors open this evening at 7pm. Tickets are available at the door for $15. Furture Death and Silent Land Time Machine will[...]

Know Your Opener: King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard

October 19, 2014

It’s not every day that us Buffalonians are privileged to see musical acts from other continents, but if you’re planning on hitting up the White Fence show tonight at the Tralf, you would be so lucky. Opening for the psychedelic singer-songwriter is a grand seven-piece from Melbourne, Australia—meet King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard. The band’s sound is, for a lack of better word, tremendous, walking heavy-footed on the border of neo-psychedelia and garage rock. Not only do King Gizzard’s songs easily draw comparisons to 1960’s psychedelic bands such as The Yardbirds and The Beatles, but do so without beating the genre like a dead horse. The songs are fresh, fuzzy, lush, and fun, all the while maintaining that 60’s vibe that gives King Gizzard their flavor. A lot of their songs have an unbridled energy to them (think The Hives), and if their live show is anything like the[...]

Keller Williams

September 16, 2014

It’s Friday, September 12th, which means Keller Williams’ show at the Tralf is exactly one week away. I sat down to call him on one of those typical, overcast Buffalo mornings of early fall. You know, where the chill makes it hard to get out of bed, and you realize how much you’re still holding on to summer. It’s his second day at the much warmer Utopiafest in south-central Texas, and he’s getting ready to play a set with Grateful Grass, one of the many side projects in which he currently dabbles. They just released their second of two live albums in August—a fundraising initiative to benefit the REX Foundation, a non-profit started by the Grateful Dead. Appropriately, it’s titled DOS. buffaBLOG: Last time I saw you was at Summer Camp in May with More Than a Little. How’s your summer been? Keller Williams: It’s been super fun. It kind of[...]

Just Announced: Stars

August 12, 2014

Toronto romantics, Stars, will return to Buffalo this fall to play to another full house of wide-eyed dreamers. After playing the Tralf last year, the long time indie-pop act, which is one of the many off shoots of Broken Social Scene and the Arts & Crafts Collective, is set to return to the Main Street venue on Sunday, November 23rd. The five piece just announced their latest album, No One is Lost (10/14), the follow up to 2012’s The North, and as of yesterday, the album’s first single, “From The Night,” is currently streaming online (and also below). Tickets go on sale this Friday, August 15th, for $20.

Mac DeMarco at the Tralf Music Hall (7/18/14)

July 21, 2014

Before Friday, I had no idea how to describe Mac DeMarco. Well, I still don’t. It suffices to say that the guy is a complete anomaly; his music obviously speaks to people if his draw at Friday’s show at the Tralf is of any consideration. The place was packed with DeMarco look-alikes—a throng of carefree kids embracing the “I don’t give a shit” lifestyle. Unfortunately DeMarco was void of any backing musicians that night, but he was somehow still able to transform the packed venue into a wild party with just a guitar and his arsenal of caustic little anecdotes. Mac DeMarco is the party. I guess I can describe him after all. Opening support came from local electro whizkid Shawn Lewis of Lesionread, who got things started with his eclectic mix of experimental electronica. The music, comparable to that of Death Grips or Flying Lotus, certainly had a few[...]

Tonight: Mac DeMarco

July 18, 2014

Mac DeMarco gets called a slacker a lot, but that’s only half the story. He reminds me of this kid I went to high school with: let’s call him Mike. Mike, I imagine, was a precocious little youngster, and very bright. Rolling with ease right over the kindergarten curriculum, it didn’t take long for lil’ Mike to get tracked into the gifted program. The gifted program was not much more than a get-out-of-jail-free card. Gifted students, it was assumed, didn’t have much to gain by attending regular classes. Give them a place to go that’s free of structured drudgery and their little minds would flourish all on their own. Mike, bless him, was gifted enough to see not only the pointlessness of his general education classes, but the pointlessness of signing up for field trips and academic triathalons and all the other carrots that the gifted program offered. And, given[...]