Tonight Buffalo audiences will be get another chance to take in the phenomenon that is Sleigh Bells when they return for a show at the Town Ballroom. Their show at that fine venue in July last year was a roaring blast of sound, vision, and palpable sexiness that left the sold out crowd exhausted but ready for more. Touring behind their terrific third album Bitter Rivals and with a body of work that will make for a dynamite show, Sleigh Bells, aka Derek Miller (interviewed recently for the blog by Alicia Greco) and Alexis Krauss is coming back to give us more. Opening the show will be the hazy and dreamy sounds of mystery electronic act Doldrums. Tickets are $24 and are still available, and doors open at 7 PM.

After calamitous weather struck down their show two weeks ago, we get another crack at seeing Kingston Ontario's The Tragically Hip at Buffalo's Outer Harbor tonight. Smooshed together with the previously scheduled Lowest of the Low and Flogging Molly show, this mini festival thang with the Hip now headlining ought to be interesting not only from a musical and logistical perspective, but also in terms of being a possible vision of things to come for the Outer Harbor. Yes, it is a pain in the ass getting in and out of there, but if there's a big bill and I'm going to be there for a bunch of hours, I'm kind of cool with it... especially if it's for a day long festival ala the Grove Festival originally scheduled for Niagara-On-The-Lake (but now in Toronto). The lots open at 4, gates open at 5, and the show starts at 6:45.

Buffalo's been down with the Tragically Hip for a long time, and the Hip in turn have graced us with some amazing shows at a variety of venues throughout Western New York. UB, the Aud, Darien Lake, Audio Magic Studios, HSBC Arena, the Town Ballroom, Artpark, and Canalside, the Hip are always up for new spaces to play, and this July they'll be adding the Outer Harbor to that list. Funtime Productions and After Dark Entertainment will be bringing the pride of Kingston Ontario back to Buffalo's waterfront after a two year absence July 19, this time at the new venue located on the site of the old Pier nightclub, with Grace Potter & The Nocturnals opening the show. Tickets are $50, go on sale Friday April 12, and are available thru Ticketmaster and at the Town Ballroom and After Dark Entertainment box offices.

And for a special treat, here's a clip from the Hip's set at the old Southtowns FYE in 2007, in between their two sold out shows at the Town Ballroom.

Wow, the universe is funny like that. I mean, Tuesday was an interesting day to say the least for Western New York music fans with the announcement that Club Infinity was closing and The Waiting Room was opening. Talk about perfect equilibrium... that was as close to a straight swap as you can imagine and a near perfect illustration of the scientific fact that matter can neither be created or destroyed. For my part, I could care less about Club Infinity; yes I've been to good shows there, but really, the venue wasn't very good and it was in a terrible neighborhood. Seriously, the intersection of Main and Transit is a No FUN ZONE, and Club Infinity was not immune, thus it's closing isn't that big a loss, at least in my book. By it's very nature, our type of fun isn't supposed to happen out there at Main and Transit. It can't.

But with The Waiting Room, it's going to be a different story, and news about it's opening is provoking an entirely different reaction. Fun can be had in downtown Buffalo, and it's going to fill a vital hole in the Buffalo scene in the wake of the late Mohawk Place, in more ways than one. Of course nothing will replace the Mohawk... but... if you could perhaps transfer part of it's soul to a new spot ala Spock's katra, well that could be almost as good, and that's exactly what seems to be happening with The Waiting Room. Plus, it will the have the virtue of being new, something we can all get in on the ground floor on; plus, it won't have that funky smell. Me, I've smelled far, FAR  worse in my day job so it never rubbed me the wrong way, and I always loved that downtown grime, but for some folks it was a turn off for the Mohawk. Now everything will be sparkly and new... while some of that old Mohawk soul remains, and this could be exactly what the Buffalo music scene needs.

After a phenomenal 2012, Buffalo's music scene's karma hasn't felt right since mid January. Everything has not been in it's right place since the Mohawk closed, and the Waiting Room could be what gets us right. It, along with Babeville across the street could become the nucleus and epicenter of a scene that could sit alongside a burgeoning arts,cultural, and food scene that could redefine the city and region. Or not. We'll have to wait and see, but there's tremendous potential; certainly more than what was out at old Club Infinity in Nofunsville. We lost a lame venue and we're gaining a potentially fantastic venue. I'd almost say we're Even Steven but I think we might have won on the deal. Sometimes that's just how things work out. Thank you Universe.

Saturday night I coped with the impending closing of the Mohawk Place by taking a trip east on the 90 to take in the Father John Misty show at the Water Street Music Hall in Rochester. That's just the way I handled that situation, and I have no regrets because Josh Tillman and FJM delivered an impassioned set that blew away the WNY crowd and confirmed their status as an act to watch. In fact, I'd almost have to call it a religious experience, a perfect bit of synchronicity considering the funeral taking place that night on Mohawk Street. I don't know what happened to Mr. Tillman on his magic mushroom fueled migration from Seattle to Los Angeles, but he unlocked something potent and primal, and it was on full display Saturday night.

San Francisco's Magic Trick started the evening's entertainments with a subdued set of countrified psychedelia that went over fairly well with the assembled crowd. Of particular note was leader Tim Cohen's interest in Buffalo, asking if anybody from our city was in attendance before launching into a bizarre little story about getting mediocre chicken wings at Avenue Pizza on their way to Rochester, a story that elicited absolutely no sympathy from the Buffalonians present. Seriously, how are these bands visiting WNY ending up eating at the shittiest joints? It's getting out of hand and I'm tired of hearing about it at shows. I mean, don't they have Foursquare, or use Yelp? Anyway.

Father John Misty. The name calls to mind a sketchy, unfrocked priest looking for a good time in low places, an impression that comes to life onstage when Joshua Tillman gets down, leading us astray, and wooing the ladies. Starting off with the lead track on their 2012 debut Fear Fun, "Fun Times In Babylon," the pattern for the night was set: dry, witty banter followed by a spirited jam featuring the peculiar gyrations of the frontman, followed by more dry witty banter and women throwing articles of clothing onstage so the frontman can dab sweat from his brow to protect the stitches he earned the night previous in Cleveland jumping into the drum kit. Is Tillman the first honest to goodness indie rock sex god? I don't know if he's the first, but he's definitely an indie rock sex god because it got a little Elvis up there more than a few times during the set, something you just don't see at Indie shows too often. Thankfully Tillman is also thoroughly hilarious, so his banter with the crowd and the ladies about father figures, religion, and the fashion sense of the audience was very entertaining.

But everybody was really there for the music, and while it was all fun and games, on the music front Father John Misty didn't disappoint. Tillman and the band worked their way through Fear Fun, transforming the stately and mannered folk rock of that album into rowdy, lived in American rock jams. Every song felt caffeinated and explosive, and the sound at the Water Street was perfect for communicating the delicate and beautiful depth of the music, with Tillman's evocative vocals front and center. The main set closed with a reckless and wicked demolishing of "Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings" that showed why Tillman ended up with stitches the night before in Cleveland while whipping the crowd into an evangelically delirious frenzy that carried over to the acoustic encore we got from Mr. Tillman when we hushed up to savor the news songs he performed for us, the perfect end to a perfect set. 

If I sound a little over the moon for Father John Misty, it's because I am. After seeing them open for Youth Lagoon I was deeply impressed, but now after seeing them with all eyes on them as headliners, I definitely feel some of that religious zeal that Father John Misty inspires. Women want to be with him, men want to be him, and for my part I think he'd be a great Thursday at the Harbor choice. His timeless and pleasingly dangerous American rock would be a slam dunk in with Buffalo audiences and catnip for the hipsters, especially for the hipsters rightly mourning the Mohawk. Saturday night, Father John Misty provided, and I sincerely hope he gets to do so in Western New York again this year.

It's a busy night for music fans in WNY, with Night 2 of The Mohawk's Last Waltz, the Joywave show with Love Scenes at Duke's, and an hour to the east at the Water Street Music Hall in Rochester, the return of Father John Misty. The stage name of former Fleet Foxes drummer Josh Tillman, FJM made a big splash last summer when they opened for Youth Lagoon at the Town Ballroom and stole the show with a rowdy set that tore through their 2012 debut album, Fear Fun, (not Tillman' first album, but his first as Father John Misty, an entirely new entity) and showcased Tillman's impressive talents as an zealously charismatic frontman. To be fair, Youth Lagoon's set was great, evocative and beautifully reverb drenched, but Father John Misty just got the crowd too riled up with their potent 70's AM radio rock for anybody to adequately follow them, and Youth Lagoon ended up getting the short end of the stick. Tonight however, Father John Misty is headlining with San Francisco's Magic Trick providing opening support, and after a dizzying breakthrough in 2012, anticipation is high. Tickets are $17 and doors open at 7 PM.

Holy Fuck is a four piece live-electronic music ensemble whose ecstatically charged style has given them the reputation of being a band whose music is one that must be experienced live. Well, we are all in luck- cause tonight, these Toronto natives be playing at Soundlab. 

Keyboards, bass, and a drum kit alongside a myriad of unique sound-creating devices is incorporated within their live set-up-  one music critic has said of them- "It is a billowing, danceable sound, huge rhythms married to a billion electronic blips and ostinato figures, painting futuristic Technicolor soundscapes as loudly as possible." In addition, much of their live material is improvisation, but not of the jam-band sort, but the sort that has the initiative of recreating the essence of danceable electronic-tunes in a live-setting.

Lazlo Hollyfeld, the locally established post-rock band, will be opening up for them, delivering instrumental tunes that are a product of  influences as far reaching as Mogwai and Boards of Canada.

Together, the two bands will be casting the sonic equivalent of lightning upon the dark, cozy venue. Needless to say, it's not something to be missed. Doors open at 9 and tickets are $15.

A day away from the release of their first new album in ten years, post rock vanguards Godspeed You! Black Emperor will be playing tonight at Town Ballroom. Since 1997, the Canadian group has released a string of masterful records, which oscillates, often in the course of one song, between the atmospheric, claustrophobic and ominous on one hand\and the uplifting and grandiose on the other. Mixed in with this during their live performance is an equally engaging series of video stills and loops comprised of found footage and old documents. The overall effect is immersible and memorable; more of an experience than a concert.

Opening for GY!BE will be a rare appearance by legendary media artist, Tony Conrad. This is not a show to be missed. Tickets are $28 and can still be purchased online or at the Town Ballroom box office.

Godspeed You! Black Emperor w/Tony Conrad
Town Ballroom
681 Main Street, Buffalo NY
Doors at 7pm
$28.00

Fiona Apple will be taking the Kleinhan’s stage tonight. The bells and xylophone sounds, her sultry vocals of heartbreak and self-improvement that comprise her 2005 Extraordinary Machine is what has made this particular album frequently listened to in my collection. Her 1996 album Tidal is chock full of classics including the quick poetry of “Sleep to Dream” and the swooning vocals and imagery of “Shadowboxer.” She can often be prejudged and placed into “that girl” group of musicians; although not, Apple could have easily been one of the female musicians mentioned in this Aimee Mann skit on IFC’s hipster-hilarious show Portlandia. Don’t judge her on artists she’s similar to, Fiona Apple has a sound of her own and will most definitely put on an amazing show.

Supernaut and Funtime Presents
Fiona Apple
Tonight - October 9, 2012
7:00 p.m.
Kleinhans Music Hall (3 Symphony Circle)

After you catch your breath from reading the title from her most recent album, have a listen to a song from  The Idler Wheel Is Wiser Than the Driver of the Screw and Whipping Cords Will Serve You More than Ropes Will Ever Do.

Ever find yourself listening to "The Weight" by The Band when subliminally in the back of your mind you hear the familiar shouts of Young Joc saying "anywhere ya meet me, guaranteed it's goin' down."  Girl Talk tends to have that effect.

Under Illegal Art Record label, mash-up artist Greg Gills, better known by his moniker Girl Talk, will be taking the stage tonight at the Buffalo Outer Harbor.  If you have no knowledge of his work and can't quite grasp the immensity of his jam-packed sampled catalog, his newest album All Day has 372 samples in a matter of 71 minutes.  Yeah, 372 song samples in nearly an hour.  Multi-genre and impeccably cut and blended, his tracks have a way of satisfying everyone's taste buds all the while keeping you bumpin' and grinding.  

"Livetronica dubcore" will be heard from Rochester group RootsCollider and Buffalo electronic duo Love Scenes will be opening as well.  

Supernaut, Funtime, AfterDark and MNM Presents
Girl Talk
Tonight - August 23, 2012
Buffalo Outer Harbor (325 Fuhrmann Boulevard, Buffalo, 14203)
gates at 7 pm
all ages

Check out the event page on Facebook for more information.

@girltalk
Girl Talk on Facebook

Here's a video to take a peek at what you'll be getting into.

This frankly astounding year of live music in Buffalo continues tonight at the Town Ballroom when The Black Angels return to Buffalo, with Night Beats in support. Austin's Black Angels made a hell of an impression when they played the Tralf a few years ago on the Dropout Boogie Tour with Black Mountain thanks to their mesmerizing sound, excellent 60's American psychedelia (think The Doors, Velvets, The Zombies, and Jefferson Airplane... all at once), and seriously fantastic light show. Night Beats, from Seattle will be opening the show with their intriguing psychedelic r&b influenced rock. Doors open at 7 PM, tickets are $22, and yes they are still available. 




Yeah Buffalo, can we not have a repeat of Yeasayer? How could that happen for Yeasayer? And you were doing so good up to this point. Anyways, city of mine, here's your chance to redeem yourself. Hipster doofuses of Elmwood in particular... here's your chance to really redeem yourselves, and to not just pose but to actually make yourselves useful. 


OK, I'm done. Black Angels. Killer show. Be there.

GOLF WANG. FLOG GNAW. ODD FUTURE. WOLF GANG. KILL THEM ALL.

On Sunday September 9, 2012 the Odd Future crew is bringing the Camp Flog Gnaw tour through Buffalo.  Since their very minimal beginning in 2007, OF has blown up in most recent years.  Even after crew member Tyler, The Creator's video release for "Yonkers," it still took some time for OFWGKTA to be a familiar name in the minds of the masses.  With a #1 ranking on the 2011 Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Album list show and now a show on Comedy Central, technicolor kittens and screwed demon-like vocals are just two small stamps of their existence.  


 
Odd Future at Town Ballroom
Sunday September 9, 2012
Tickets go on sale tomorrow July 20 at 12:00 pm.
$28 in advance  

Funtime Presents and Supernaut Booking announced today that Austin psychedelic rockers The Black Angels will be playing the Town Ballroom Saturday, August 4th with Night Beats. I know nothing about Night Beats, but The Black Angels opened for Black Mountain at the Tralf Beggar's Night 2010 and they utterly and unexpectedly melted my brain with their sublime 60's psychedelia (no flowers, just The Doors, The Velvet Underground, and a smidgen of Jefferson Airplane) and excellent light show. Behold:


Tickets are $18 in advance and $22 day of, and they go on sale this Friday April 13 at the Town Ballroom box office and online at Tickets.com.

I've got a lot on my chest today, a lot of stuff not big enough to justify individual posts, so it's Odds and Sods time:

• Happy Dyngus Day. I almost wish I wasn't going to Rochester to see Of Monsters And Men tonight because this year's Dyngus Day celebration looks to be the best yet as Buffalo complete's it's annual Mardis Gras/St Patrick's Day/Dyngus Day hat trick of ethnic/Catholic celebrations in grand fashion. Only in Buffalo folks, do you really get all three. Kudos to us.

• The eagle has landed, the bird is in the hand, and congratulations are in order as it was announced last week that the NFTA will indeed be going into the summer concert business with Funtime Productions on the outer harbor. No acts or dates have been announced but tentative ticket prices have been reported to be between $30 and $100 for VIP tickets, and with some names already being thrown around (Gov't Mule, The Black Keys), buffaBLOG will definitely be all over this.

• Alas, another Sabres season has ended in shame, anger, and recrimination, and I'd be remiss if I didn't single out #Sabretunes for more scorn because really, I absolutely feel like they let us down too. Sabres games should be fun and cool, and John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band and Foreigner are not cool in the least, and neither is pandering to squares. Do they pander to squares in Austin Texas or Portland Oregon? As reported in last week's Artvoice- hells no. Just like the Sabres on ice performance this year, what came over the PA at their games (with the exception of Arcade Fire before games and Black Keys after Sabres goals) should not and cannot be repeated next season. 

• We're less than a month out from the sold out M83 show at the Town Ballroom. Just wanted to say that again. The wait is almost over.

Buffalo music lovers got a right kick up the backside this morning when they read in today's Buffalo News that Funtime Productions would NOT be putting on shows this summer on NFTA property on Buffalo's outer harbor as a result of colossal stupidity on the part of NFTA commissioners. As reported in the News, the concert promoters who've brought so many fine (fine!) acts to the region went to the NFTA with a plan to on shows on the patch of land near the old Shooter's with Funtime paying the NFTA $20,000 to rent the property and putting up the resources to handle parking, fencing, security and cleanup. NFTA commissioners however balked at the deal for a variety of lame reasons: some don't care if nothing happens on the outer harbor, others want to see if anybody else comes to them with a proposal even though Funtime's the only group so far to submit a proposal, while some think concerts are messy and complicated, and others just want more money. Well hooray for the NFTA. 


Now nobody's making money out there on the outer harbor, so congratulations! Good job, boobs. You've succesfully coupled this region's penchant for having no vision with naked foolish greed, and now, thanks to this tomfoolery some terrific shows (The Black Keys! Government Mule) just aren't going to be happening in WNY (at the outer harbor at least- I'm still holding out hope for a Buffalo date for the Keys later this year). 


It's a crying shame.