Latest Posts

Tonight: Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad

October 29, 2015

Fresh off the May release of their fifth studio album Bright Days, Rochester’s favorite live reggae jam band, Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad will be returning to Buffalo’s The Tralf tonight. While Bright Days was mostly an exercise in finely crafted, laid-back roots-rock, the band’s usual live sound is a funky, low-end heavy mix of jam-band rock and dub reggae. It’ll be anybody’s guess which style they decide to bring to tonight’s show. My hope is a little of both. Bright Days is an amazingly natural-sounding, with the Eagles-esque soft rock of tunes like “Trust In Time” and the country ballad “Humboldt County Gold.” You’d think they took more influence from the Band than the Wailers. Still, it’s things like the electronic-tinged reggae rhythms of “Missing You More,” the funky wah wah bass of “Love You More” and the 420-friendly lyrics of “Mr. Cop” that the band is best known for. Opening[...]

Tonight: What the Beck

October 10, 2015

After performing to packed crowds at Nietzsche’s, What the Beck, the pun-ey tribute group to alt-rock’s favorite genre-bender, is performing at the Tralf tonight. While Beck songs normally dabble in rock, alternative, funk, west coast folk, hip hop, country, and latin music – in other words, pretty much everything – the group itself is a 10-piece big band. It’s a welcome reimagining of one of rock’s most fluid and experimental song-writers. In fact, it’s surprising Beck himself hasn’t tried big band renditions of his own songs, given his flair for reinvention and bold, difficult performances. As an added bonus, the opener will be local cover group Pockets, performing the music of Modest Mouse. It goes practically without saying that the indie-rock darlings, headed by the always frenetic and sarcastic Isaac Brock, are great local favorites, purportedly selling out their April show at Babeville within minutes. Doors will open at 8pm,[...]

Music is Art Readies for Year 13

September 11, 2015

A stage devoted to beat poets. An elaborate performance artist who adorned her set-piece in shiny blank CDs. A guitar-maker whose primary material is old cigar boxes. A bearded bluegrass quartet performing not 100 yards from an EDM DJ. These are just a few of the sights and sounds that I recall from past incarnations of Music is Art – Buffalo’s 12-year-old celebration of everything music and art, including many acts that creatively meld visual and sonic forms of expression. This means the festival is appropriately varied (as you have surely already inferred), with more than 100 artists taking six band stages, six DJ stages and two dance stages. Hell, there’s even a stage for the children – the Kid’s Village Stage. And while the festival may lack the big-name appeal of the other music fest taking place Saturday – Edgefest, at Canalside – there is no better time to check[...]

Tonight: Incubus & Deftones

August 2, 2015

These days, the so-called nu metal movement of the late 90s and early Aughts – spawning such atrocities as Papa Roach, Kid Rock and Linkin Park, to name a few – is typically dismissed with the contempt and scorn it so rightfully deserves. But, as is the case with most fad sub-genres, it also spawned a handful of artists who are actually worth your time and money. Chief among these nu-metal diamonds in the rough was the Sacramento art-metal quintet the Deftones. While their contemporaries have mostly fallen by the wayside, finally succumbing to years critical panning and godawful records, the Deftones have remained popular and even acclaimed, buoyed largely by their varied influences, adventurous experimentation and flair for juxtaposing beautiful, serene moments with vicious screaming and chainsaw riffage. You could make the same case for the alt/funk rockers Incubus, who while best known for their 2000 rock ballad “Drive,”[...]