"I can kind of envision maybe, um, one person with a lot of machines, tapes and electronic setups uh, uh, singing or speaking and, and... using machines"
-Jim Morrison
Congratulations Jim, your babbling, nonsensical, overrated mouth just spat out something intelligent. Electronic music is here kids, and if you're an American, this is news to you. Electronic music is so here in fact, that even in Buffalo, mostly known for it's red and blue Hammer pants and bizarre allegiance to Pat Benatar (no disrespect), a three story party featuring four rooms of versatile, cutting edge music can still be a success.
A lot of credit goes to the venue, DNIPRO is one of the coolest places in Buffalo to stage an endless maze of DJ's, bands, lasers, fog, and bars serving delicious Ukrainian beer (Obolon Weizen anyone?). Such a maze is no fun without talent though. Leading off the show in the band room, Wonder Crayon forgot it wasn't in the DJ room and dropped into a spirited cover of Daft Punk's "Robot Rock". Following them were The Wakos, performing a more electronic set than the one the night before at the buffaBLOG Holiday Party. Piggybacking sets across the room after that were local favorites Logo City, playing before the largest crowd of the night, before Neffski and Sean Clements cooled down the evening with some lush, diverse downtempo music.
Since I was helping Chris Young from The Wakos run sound in the band room, I didn't make it to the other floors as much as I wanted to, but when I did manage to aimlessly wander, I caught great sets from Hoogs and Odi on the third floor, hosted by Buffalo Drum 'n Bass, Jelo on the Main Stage, and a show stealing set from Sunglasses Mike from Queen City Cartel. As with most of these types of events, the best sets are always hidden on the schedule in the places you'd least expect, where up and coming DJ's push the envelope and try just a little bit harder to stand out. Even if the main stage acts weren't your thing, however, you owed it to yourself to stand in front of Tristan Ferguson's wall of homemade subwoofers on the second floor. I've been to a lot of great sounding shows, but the warmth and clarity of that main stage deserves a shout out from my ears. A special shout out, however, does NOT go out to the manufacturer of LED lights. Make your lights easier to work, man.
Here's a little video of my aimless wanderings:
Also, check out some photos, courtesy of Michael Nico Nostro
As the event was a charity for the Native American Organization, NETO, a special mention to the Local businesses that helped support it are in order.
-Madd Tiki Tattoo
-Massage Suite & Spa
-Delta Sonic
-Encore Restaurant
-Certo Bros. Distributing
-Designated Drivers of Buffalo
A Special thanks also goes out to the Get Down team and all the people at DNIPRO for putting on a show worth going to. See you next year?
