2012 brought in a flood of diverse and superb music in the national outlook, but it was also a prolific time that gave rise to a thriving local music scene. On top of all that, Buffalo racked in some incredible live acts and has seemingly put itself back on the map as a regular tour bus trail-marker. Yes, year-end lists are indeed the vanity of vanities when it comes to music and entertainment commentary, but let's face it, they're fun as hell and fill a certain journalistic void that is pretty harmless compared to the Facebook Year in Review feature. So without further ado, here are my favorites of the year:

Making her first appearance in Buffalo, Sharon Van Etten gave a brilliant performance last night at Town Ballroom. Coming off her sensational LP released in February, Tramp, the Brooklyn songstress brought along a multi-talented 3-piece band, who were more than well-equipt to lend the range of instrumentals and sweeping vocal harmonies found on the musician's acclaimed record. 




Next, Van Etten wasted no time coming out and went into favorites off her new record “All I Can” and “Warsaw”. Front and center, Van Etten swayed gently to the first few songs with her Jazzmaster sounding better than studio quality. Van Etten soon changed to an acoustic ax and moved onto to other tracks off Tramp with “Leonard” which she said she wrote while listening to a lot of Mr. Cohen’s work and “Give Out” both of which feature breathtaking vocal harmonies that capture Van Etten’s immense songwriting abilities.

Overall, it was a memorable night, and one of the best folk concerts I’ve ever seen. Sharon Van Etten and Damien Jurado brought a very strong performance that was sonically gorgeous as it was generous.

Back in February, before every music journalist started framing each new release in terms of the best of the year list they had to write (mid December, stay tuned), Sharon Van Etten put out Tramp, an album anchored by excellent songwriting and haunting vocals. Deftly alternating between introspective and cathartic, Tramp, with its staggering list of guest appearances (Zach Condon of Beirut, Juliana Barwick, Matt Barrick of the Walkmen, and Aaron Dessner of the National), was obvious standout back in February and holds up quite well through what has shaped up to be an incredibly strong year for many. Tonight, continuing what is a really wonderfully busy weekend for Buffalo music fans, Etten will be performing at Town Ballroom.

Opening for Etten will be Damien Jurado, for more on Jurado, check out Tom's "Know Your Opener" post from earlier today.

Sharon Van Etten w/Damian Jurado
Town Ballroom
Doors at 7pm
$15.00

Backing his 10th studio LP, Maraqopa, Damien Jurado will be opening at tonight’s Sharon Van Etten concert, but for some he might as well be the main event. As a consistently great singer-songwriter, Jurado's 13 year career has its roots in indie’s fertile crescent of Seattle, where after garnering somewhat of a cult following, he was first brought to the attention of Sub Pop who subsequently released his debut record Waters Ave S in 1997. Shaped by influences such as Nick Drake, Randy Newman, and Bob Dylan, Jurado specializes in urban folk songs that are fostered from stories of experience, at times of a confessional nature. Stylistically, Jurado is a folk singer at heart, but his sound has numerous veins and capillaries that deviate into indie-pop and electronic landscapes as well, and in this way he has refused to be pinned down into one specific genre. In many ways this show will be the perfect indie folk-rock bill, so do yourself a favor and pick up a few tickets ($15) here. 
The doors at Town Ballroom will open at 7 tonight.

I totally love living in an international megalopolis like Tor-Buff-Chester because the advantages for us Buffalonians in the creamy center between Toronto and Rochester are numerous and frankly, pretty damn cool if we take advantage of them. Sure there's commercial benefits, but I'm more interested in: 1) the hockey, namely our symbiotic relationship with our farm team in Rochester and our excellent and heated division rivalry with the Toronto Maple Leafs (I despise those ____ers); 2) the cultural benefits, and 3) the music. Especially the music, with Buffalo ideally situated between the two poles of our megalopolis, the megaregion becomes our oyster. Case in point: the skull crushingly fine tri-fecta going off tomorrow night featuring Sharon Van Etten with Damien Jurado at the Town Ballroom (tickets are still available!), Yeasayer in Toronto, and Sleigh Bells and Araabmuzik at the Water Street Music Hall in Rochester.

Tomorrow night we've got ourselves a smorgasbord of shows worthy of interest, even if two of the three acts have already played Buffalo this year. I'm not going to get into the Sharon Van Etten show because that's being covered tomorrow (also, I'm not that excited about it, but that's just me), which leaves the Yeasayer and Sleigh Bells shows, which will be excellent based on what's been seen before by the Town Ballroom faithful. Even though their Fragrant World album let a lot of people down, Yeasayer's Buffalo show was exceptional... a puzzling paradox that will make their show at the Danforth Music Hall an opportunity to perhaps solve this mystery while checking out the allegedly impressive light show they're mounting on this leg of the tour, perhaps as a result of the decidedly mixed reviews Fragrant World received upon it's release in mid August. I myself would like to believe that the band thought they'd be conquering the world behind their new album and went for a light show that'd blow minds while they circled the world triumphantly, but I suspect that's naive tomfoolery. In any case, Fragrant World sounded great live alongside cuts from All Hour Cymbals and Odd Blood, so this ought to be a great show for Buffalonians eager to revisit those heady summer nights when our scene was on fire.



Indeed, one of the hottest and most explosive shows of the summer easily had to be the Sleigh Bells show in July, another Buffalo show strong enough to merit seeing them again, this time at the Water Street Music Hall. In fact I'm bummed that Yeasayer and Sleigh Bells are going off on the same night because the wall of sound laid down by Derek Miller and Alexis Krauss was delicious, utterly irresistible, and something I'd love to experience again. If there is one downside to living in a megalopolis, it'd be the fact that sometimes great shows go off on the same night, forcing hard choices on the part of discerning music fans. Hell, the night of the Yeasayer show at the Town Ballroom, Sigur Ros played Toronto. Sometimes you can't win, but boy is it nice to have options.

Now I know that Buffalonians have a complicated relationship with our neighbors to the North, and it's completely understandable considering their hockey fans mock us in our own building, their poor driving skills make them menaces on our roads and theirs, and their disdain for us does tend to strike a sour note. That said, to hell with them. Toronto is nice, and it's wasted on them... so we might as well partake in the goodness while also occasionally benefiting from our proximity when bands pass thru town on their way to or from Toronto. OK, yes, to be honest, I wish more shows visited Buffalo. Of course. More, more, more. But that's not necessarily how it goes for a struggling Rust Belt city like ours, and while progress is definitely being made cultivating a scene and an audience, this is where living in a megalopolis comes in handy. Between Toronto, Rochester, and Buffalo we get just about everybody... and it is good.




Oh yeah, by the way, Passion Pit plays the Main Street Armory in Rochester February 18. I agree that it sucks that they're not playing here, but the Armory is a fantastic venue (of a size we just don't have in Buffalo), their show at the Rapids Theatre 2 years ago was muy excellent even with light show issues, and that means road trip...

Brooklyn indie songstress Sharon Van Etten will be coming through Buffalo this fall with a show at Town Ballrom on Friday, November 9th.  Since her debut album, Because I Was In Love, was released in 2009, Van Etten has frequently collaborated with fellow Brooklyn artists including the Antlers, members of the National, and Beirut.  In fact, her latest album, 2012's haunting Tramp, was produced by National band member Aaron Dessner, and features many of the said artists as guests, included an incredible tune with Zach Condon of Beirut titled "We Are Fine."   Tickets are $13 in advance, $15 day of, and go on sale Friday, July 13th.  Damien Jurado will open.