A day after Cut Copy announced their return to Buffalo, another Queen City repeat, St. Vincent, will make her return to town this spring with a performance as Asbury Hall on Saturday, April 12th. Annie Clark just announced the release of her forthcoming self titled album (2/25), and with it, came the jagged single "Birth in Reverse," which you can listen to below. It appears pre-sale begins tomorrow on her website beginning at 10am. Tickets are $23 in advance/$25 day of and go on sale to the general public this Friday, Dec 13th. With 2014 in site, concert dates are starting to roll in and luckily, Buffalo is in route for some good ones so far.

Calexico is a difficult band to pigeonhole. A spicy mixture of jazz, folk, gypsy rock, surf and country, theirs is a sound that can only be described as their own. And that's a good thing, because they are excellent at what they do. Swaying, hypnotic travel tunes for long desert drives might be the most apt description.

Calexico have many albums to their name but it's this writers humble opinion that they are best personified by their cover of the classic tune, "Alone Again Or." It is a song that seems to signify the breadth of their material in sound and style. Plus it's a really excellent version of an oft-covered yet seldom-delivered tune.

It's a pleasure to have Calexico back in Buffalo tonight, especially at a venue as intimate as Asbury Hall (Doors at 7pm, $27). I'm picturing how great the acoustics will sound as Joey Burns voice fills that old church and I get chills on my arms. Opening the show is Depedro. Hint: Get there early, as this is a seated show and it will fill up fast.

Although both had established careers before combining as Whitehorse, Luke Doucet and Melissa McClelland let their charming voices intertwine to enchanting effect when they formed their dynamic folk rock act in 2011. Based just north of us in Hamilton, Ontario, the husband and wife duo recently released their second record, The Fate of the World Depends on This Kiss. A marvelous meditation on the ironies of love and the bitterness of contemporary politics, the album showcases a kaleidoscopic variety of songwriting styles. Tonight they will perform in the Ninth Ward of Asbury Hall (341 Delaware Ave.), a setting that supports the expressive intimacy of their music. Tickets are only $11 and doors open at 7.

The shows just keep on a coming lately. Next up, Asbury Hall will host the Arizona's Calexico on Sunday, June 9th. The south western influenced band has been making some of the most consistent albums in indie rock since they debuted in 1997, including the great EP, In the Reins, with Iron & Wine in 2005. Their most recent release, 2012's Algiers, was recorded in New Orleans. Fans of spaghetti western sounds, Mariachi music, and lots and lots of horn should not miss show. Tickets for the show will go on sale this Friday for $24.50 at 10am.
 

A few years ago when a new Neutral Milk Hotel website surfaced announcing a tour and selling a definitive box-set, it was the first official, uncontroversial communication that the band had given anyone in many years. And while the initial two batches featured performances in Toronto and NYC, there were no Upstate dates and the odds of a Buffalo show were pretty slim. The last time Jeff Mangum played in WNY was in 1998 at the Bug Jar in Rochester. Then back in October, it was announced that Mangum would visit cities he had never played before on one final acoustic tour. Buffalo was at the top of that list. And the WNY chapter of the Neutral Milk Hotel cult rejoiced.
Wednesday night was something of a reverie. In The Aeroplane Over The Sea, Mangum’s last and most lionized release with NMH before they broke up, was released on my 9th birthday; I was introduced to his evocative sound like millions of college students in the early to late aughts were: through crummy laptop speakers in a dry and grungy dorm room. Who, before wednesday night, had ever experienced Mangum’s vocals via the expensive speakers of a concert hall? I’m guessing less that 1% of those in attendance. 
So when a heavily whiskered Mangum came out, sat down and picked up his acoustic guitar and started singing a wide-eyed “Two-Headed Boy,” it was extremely surreal. A shot of adrenaline tore up my spine, something I hadn’t felt the slight of since I saw Bob Dylan or Sufjan Stevens for the first time, but it was still very different. I was seeing and hearing a ghost. Mangum’s vocal composure hadn’t changed a bit. 


He went on to play “The King of Carrot Flowers Pt. 1” without mics, which all mysteriously failed for just that one song. He dragged his chair and scurried up to the right of the stage and belted the song across the dark sea of heads that filled the cavernous church hall. Bright flash lights from behind the stage glowed on the musician in an attempt to make up for the lighting which also subsequently went dead. He fittingly went right into “The King of Carrot Flowers Pt. 2 and 3” as all the power came back on and starred maddeningly into the crowd beckoning us to sing along as he half-yawped, “I love you Jesus Christ!” We all chimed in, even singing the triumphant horn melody, “Da! Da! Da-da-da-da-da-da-da...!” How could we not?
Mangum had four guitars on stage with him and changed between them intermittently, but the set was pretty strait-forward as he maintained strumming patterns identical to his records, and even had a stellar french horn accompaniment from Jeremy Thal of Briars of North America (who played an awesome opening set) on “Oh Comely” and the encore “In The Aeroplane Over the Sea” which brought down the house with applause. Mangum also sang a few favorites off On Avery Island with “Gardenhead” and “Naomi” which was wonderful.


While it didn't make a huge impact on the night, the only down side at points were people obliviously chatting during the show and giving Mangum some playful crowd yells, which Mangum would smile at and reply wryly “What?” 
Jeff Mangum’s performance at Asbury Hall proved to be very memorable as he wailed and swept across a most adored and storied catalog of folk music. What makes Mangum such a great musician is so striking evident in the way he carries himself. He takes his songs seriously, but wields a wise smile all along, until his powerful gust of a voice knocks us over with its poetically poignant unadulterated force. I’ll never forget Wednesday night’s show, as it will most likely be the first and last time Buffalo will ever see or hear from the legendary artist in our midst again. 

Sufjan Stevens brought his Seasonal Affective Disorder Yuletide Disaster Pageant on Ice to Asbury Hall on Tuesday night to a sold out audience as he backed his latest Christmas collection, Silver and Gold: Songs For Christmas, Vol. 6-10 released in November. We've already shared our thoughts on the extraordinary concert, and below you can browse through a gallery of photos from the show as well.  All photos by Tom Dennis.

The Christmas-spirit atmosphere was so heavily saturated Tuesday night at Asbury Hall you could cut it with a knife--or Instagram the living hell out of it, which everyone did hurriedly to keep up with documenting all of its elaborate twist and turns of holiday madness. Either way you would’ve been cutting corners because there will be no words I can offer or photographs I can present that will encapsulate the sheer brilliance and utterly surreal experience that Sufjan Stevens and company lent to it’s sold out audience at the church. 
Speaking of cutting corners, Sufjan doesn’t roll with those punches in the least bit. His live shows are just as immense as the capacity of his albums, showcasing his unprecedented creativity, musicianship, sincerity, resourcefulness, bravery, humbleness, eccentricity, and unmatched endurance. He and his 5-piece band performed over 30 songs from an already vast back-catalog of both Christmas and non-yuletide selections for a little over 2 and half hours. And all the while its hard to imagine he would be doing the same thing tomorrow night in Providence. And then in Boston the next night. Then two homecoming shows in NYC to close the tour on the 22nd.


As I walked to the enormous line that had formed outside the venue, it was hard not to notice the band’s tour bus along side a large Penske truck that was backed up to the doors. It wasn’t long (6 songs in) before Sufjan unveiled his colorful 20-foot “Wheel of Christmas” behind a stage decked with instruments, lights, inflatable Santas, inflatable unicorns, streamers, more lights, and a uncanny animatronic angel doll. And while the stage was drowning in Christmas kitsch, Sufjan came out strong, opening with complementary tracks “Christmas Woman” and “Come on! Let’s Boogey to the Elf Dance”.
The monster “Wheel of Christmas” was a definite crowed-pleaser as each spin served to facilitate the choosing of the next sing-a-long whether it be “Joy to the World”, “I’ll be Home For Christmas,” “Silent Night," or “Jingle Bells.” Everyone in attendance received a “Christmess Sing-a-long” songbook upon entering the concert hall that contained lyrics and directions suggesting that each “sing lustily and with good courage.” Which everyone did. Forget everything you thought you knew about caroling--the place was unabashedly brimming with unadulterated elation and camaraderie that is unmatched at any show I’ve ever been to.
While Sufjan played many of his more goofy songs and takes on holiday classics, with plenty of help from the Mr. Frosty Man-dazzled Rosie Thomas, he also peppered the night with some of his more downcast acoustic selections such as “Only At Christmas Time”, “That Was The worst Christmas Ever!”, “Sister Winter”, and “Justice Delivers its Death (Gift)” which upon hearing live in the thick, spiritous air of the old church brought on both an elegiac and other-worldly wave of beauty wherein every second hinged on its last and every effortless lyric hung in profundity. 

When he’s not making albums based on the Chinese zodiac, American states, NYC expressways, and schizophrenic folk artists, indie superstar, Sufjan Stevens, can be found busily writing Christmas songs. About 100 of them altogether, in fact (give or take). His latest Christmas compilation, Silver and Gold, Songs For Christmas: Vol 6-10, is chock full of holiday classics (“I’ll Be Home For Christmas”), spiritual hymns (“Joy to the World”), and original songs (“Christmas Unicorn”), which add up to 58 tracks over 5 separate EPs recorded between 2006 and 2010 and include help from artists Aaron and Bryce Dessner (The National), Richard Reed Parry (Arcade Fire), Cat Martino, and members of Danielson. 

While you could certainly call Sufjan’s project (which started as a gift idea for friends and family) obsessive, it’s more of an all-consuming brilliance of a fixation that's equal parts eccentric humor and heartfelt, impassioned storytelling, and his Christmas collections bear none of the forgetful weight of your average Christmas album; you are welcome to listen year round. For more commentary on this brilliant collection check out staff writer Scott Mancuso’s Songbook Report as he looks at each of the 5 EPs and listen to it at Steven's Bandcamp page.


Sufjan has decided this holiday season to pack up a few of his friends and embark on a North American tour entitled (get ready) The Surfjohn Stevens Christmas Sing-A-Long Seasonal Affective Disorder Yuletide Disaster Pageant On Ice. Tonight he brings his yuletide extravaganza to Buffalo for the first time as he plays Asbury Hall at Babeville. FYI this is not going to be your ordinary holiday gathering. Sufjan’s shows are traditionally outrageous and it looks like this will be no different, he’s even sort of layed-out what you can expect here. Opening is alter-ego of singer-songwriter Rosie Thomas, Sheila Saputo.

If you were planning on getting tickets at the door, sorry folks, but the show is officially sold out. For those of you who have pre-ordered a ticket: doors are at 7pm.

Until then, check out Sufjan's video for "Justice Delivers It's Worth" and a Silver and Gold informercial below: