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Tonight: Tiny Moving Parts

May 31, 2016

Tonight, Waiting Room once again proves it is the place to be for staked emo gigs as Minnesota’s Tiny Moving Parts will be making yet another stop in Buffalo,  this time in support of their newest release, Celebrate.  Also making a repeat stop will be indie-emo act Prawn, along with Nashville’s Free Throw. Tonight is the night to get sad. Doors open at 6:30pm with a showtime of 7pm, and local act Alleys will be kicking the show off. Tickets are only 14 bucks at the door.

Tonight: Drug Party Tapes 5 Year Anniversary Show

May 27, 2016

Over the course of the past five years, local DIY cassette label, Drug Party Tapes, has put out some absolutely essential releases from some incredible Buffalo bands.  In celebration of the first five, an all local show for the ages will be happening at Mohawk Place tonight, exclusively featuring bands somehow affiliated with the label.   All in attendance will be treated to sets from Scajaquada Creeps, Space is Haunted, Hot Tip, Mallwalkers, Big Suze, and the Utah Jazz.  This gig is stacked from start to end, so you’ll want to be on time for this one. Doors are set to open at 8pm, and music will probably kick off shortly after.  For only five bucks, this is a dream gig. As an added bonus, if you’re under 18, you get in for free if you bring along a legal guardian.

Tonight: A Giant Dog

May 22, 2016

Following the release of their newest album, Pile, Austin, TX based rock band, A Giant Dog will be making a stop at the Mohawk Place tonight.  On their major label debut on Merge Records, A Giant Dog finds the perfect balance of good old loud, aggressive, hard rock, but with stellar, meaningful lyrics to boot. After spinning the record a handful of times, there’s no doubt in my mind that they are going to put on a straight up boisterous live set. Kicking things off on the local side of things will be Uniform OPR and JOHNS.  Doors are set to open at 7pm with a showtime of 8pm, and it’s only five bucks.

Tonight: Lazlo Hollyfeld Performs Radiohead’s In Rainbows

May 20, 2016

It’s been good times/bad times lately for local Radiohead fans: good times because the legendary UK art rockers just released their 9th studio album A Moon Shaped Pool, bad times because as of right now the band hasn’t scheduled a show for Toronto, depriving us for now of our customary pilgrimage up the QEW to see them. Hopefully that will change; hopefully Radiohead isn’t put off from playing Toronto after that regrettable stage collapse five years ago. In any case the new album is great (and their darkest record to date), and Lazlo Hollyfeld and friends from Applennium will be all we need, with a special performance of the band’s 2007 classic In Rainbows tonight at Buffalo Iron Works. Unlike the album, the performance will not be  “pay what you will” (a strategy that only works for Radiohead… the brilliant buggers) and will instead feature an entirely reasonable $7 cover. Chameleon Project opens[...]

Tonight: Old 97’s

May 15, 2016

Tonight Buffalo gets a visit from original 90’s alt rock stalwarts Old 97’s when they play the Tralf with Heartless Bastards and BJ Barham. Gritty yet lyrical country rockers Old 97’s hail from Dallas and are essentially the last men standing of that still vital musical movement, still going strong and touring behind their most recent album Most Messed Up.Opening will be Austin-based garage rockers Heartless Bastards, promoting their fifth album, last year’s Restless Ones, along with American Aquarium frontman BJ Barham. Tickets are $24 with doors opening at 7pm.

Protomaryr at Pitchfork Festival 2015 shot by Brendan O'Connor

Tonight: Protomartyr

May 10, 2016

Following Sunday’s stellar Sunflower Bean show, the Mohawk Place is once again the place to be tonight.  Detroit post punk act Protomartyr will be headlining a stacked bill, still on tour in support of their well received 2015 album, The Agent Intellect.   Also on the bill is be another dark post punk act, Psychic Teens, from Philidelphia, who have a brand new record, NERVE, to be released in three days. The local situation is no joke either,  with both Gun Candy and Facility Men will be playing opening sets.  Doors are set to open at 7pm, with a showtime of 8pm.  Tickets are only 12 bucks at the door.

Tonight: Sunflower Bean

May 8, 2016

If you can clear out some free time on your mother’s day, head down to Mohawk Place tonight for a short but sweet show.  New York City’s buzziest act, Sunflower Bean, will be in town in support of their debut record, Human Ceremony.   Coming from someone who has seen the band once before,  this is a live set you won’t want to miss.  The songs really manage to come alive in a way that the recordings just don’t do justice.  We had a chance to chat with with Nick Kivlen of the band about their new record, their tour, and much more, and you can click here to check that out as well. Kicking things off will be Buffalo’s own Get Money Squad, and doors are set to open at 6:30pm, with a show time of 7pm.  Tickets are available at the door for only 12 bucks.

Tonight: Chain & the Gang

May 8, 2016

Some might call them the last great rock and roll band. Some might call them gritty punx. Either way, Dischord record’s band Chain & the Gang are here to bring some tongue-in-cheek (or is it?) punk rock to Buffalo tonight. This particular show has an incredible staff of backing bands. Enjoy some punk-funk from Mallwalkers, some very dark indie rock from JOHNS, improv madness from Much Band, and some surf punk from Nicky Reynolds & His Pushers. Doors are at 6:00, bring $7 to get in.

Tonight: Horse Lords

May 7, 2016

Baltimore band Horse Lords will be make a stop in Buffalo tonight at Sugar City to wield their challenging yet hypnotic brand of modern prog rock for local adventurous souls. Trippy instrumentals that combine dub elements with drone and post Kid A beeps and blurbs will be on the avant-garde menu along with forward thinking local bands UVB-76 and Welks Mice. Cover is $8 and doors open at 8pm.

Tonight: Midnight Purple Rain At The North Park

April 29, 2016

Tonight The North Park Theatre joins in the many Prince tributes happening around WNY  (and the world) with a midnight screening of the 1984 classic Purple Rain. Proceeds go to Music Is Art and Prince videos will be shown to get the crowd ready for the movie that made Prince an international star; a glorious rock and roll B-movie with the best soundtrack ever and magnetic performances from our dearly departed Purple One, love interest Apollonia, and  onscreen “foil” Morris Day. Show starts at 11:55. Prince tribute screenings of Purple Rain will also be happening this weekend at the Riviera Theatre Saturday night in North Tonawanda and at the Transit Drive-In in a wonderful double feature this weekend with Bowie’s Labyrinth, a reminder of just how lousy 2016 has been for music fans. Wear purple to all the above and say goodbye to a legend gone too soon.

Tonight: The Besnard Lakes

April 28, 2016

Montreal psych/prog rockers The Besnard Lakes make a long awaited return to Buffalo tonight at the Tralf Music Hall with Detroit’s Turn To Crime. In town for the first time in 6 years, this time in support of their most recent opus, 2016’s  A Coliseum Complex Museum, The Besnard Lakes will be unleashing their Beach Boys by way of David Lynch infused indie take on the ambitious prog rock of the 70’s, all haunting yet gorgeous vocal harmonies, otherworldly, spaced out melodies, and epic jams. Meanwhile, opening the show will be Turn To Crime, the latest project of Awesome Color’s Derek Stanton is an intriguing fusion of classic Detroit rock and modern post punk. Doors open at 7pm and tickets are $14.

Tonight: Dr. Dog

March 9, 2016

Ten years ago Buffalo’s music scene got a righteous kick up the pants when the Town Ballroom opened in the heart of the Theater District. With an emphasis on contemporary acts and one of the best rooms for live music you can go to, Buffalo finally had a place for indie bands too big for the Mohawk like TV On The Radio, Beach House, St. Vincent, Santigold and M83, and our music scene has never been the same. To celebrate this glorious milestone, the pride of West Grove, Pennsylvania return to the Queen City when psychedelic indie rockers Dr. Dog hit up the Town Ballroom with The Districts. Buffalo definitely seems to be “Dr. Dog Country,” with this show their third in three years at the Town Ballroom and sixth in Western New York since 2009, and that means their true believers will be jumping and ready to worship their[...]

Tonight: The Felice Brothers

February 12, 2016

Tonight the Tralf is all about truly American music when Palenville, New York’s Felice Brothers bring their roots rock Americana to town, aided by local rock revivalists and blog favorites Sixties Future. From humble beginnings in the wilds of the Catskills to the subway stations of New York City, busking at Union Station, Grand Central Station and in Greenwich Village to touring the world, The Felice Brothers will challenge us with their aggressively folky rock and notoriously tetchy stage presence. Sixties Future meanwhile will convene the evening’s entertainments with their always captivating fusion of National post punk, Springsteen infused Americana, and dad rock. Tickets are $20 and doors open at 8pm.

Tonight: Nik Turner’s Hawkwind

November 28, 2015

Tonight, legendary flutist and vocalist Nik Turner will be bringing his edition of the legendary UK space rock band Hawkwind to Buffalo’s own Mohawk Place for a special show featuring San Francisco kraut rock outfit Hedersleben. Nik Turner’s Hawkwind will without a doubt melt some brains at the Mohawk with their heavy sound, science fiction and metaphysical explorations, avant-garde use of strings and wood instruments, and otherworldly vocalizations of the guru-like visionary Turner. Don’t plan on operating heavy machinery for a while after this show. Fusing Tuetonic Krautrock stridency and their own sci-fi apocalyptic space rock musings, the Bay area’s Hedersleben will get the mood set right, along with local favorites Handsome Jack and Hawkwind fans Malarchuk. I’d also be remiss if I didn’t mention that Hawkwind featured a young Ian “Lemmy” Kilmister, so nostalgic Motorhead fans won’t want to miss this. Tickets are $10, with doors at 7pm and show at 8pm.

Tonight: George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic

November 22, 2015

It is not an overstatement to say that George Clinton’s impact on popular music is “incalculable.” As the band leader/ring leader of the brilliant musical collective that gave the world Funkadelic and Parliament, he took the funk originated by James Brown, Sly Stone, Tower Of Power, and The Isley’s in the 60’s and used it as a palette to take the genre and African American music and art further than anybody could’ve possibly imagined. The funk itself became the thing: a vehicle for psychedelic exploration and conceptual adventurism that combined ass shaking grooves, ambitious production and stagecraft, humor, and biting social commentary to create a sc-fi parallel universe of African American expression, the original Black Superheroes (before the arrival of Public Enemy, also Clinton disciples). And that’s not even getting into the inescapable fact that P-Funk became the musical foundation for the Golden Age of Hip-Hop of the late 80’s/early 90’s.[...]