What is it about Buffalo Place's Thursday at the Harbor(RIP Square) lineup that gets everybody up in arms?  The annual free concert series was just announced last night and as always, the critics consist of two kinds of people.  The first is the person who wants a change from the constant retreads that unfortunately have come to be expected year after year.  The second is the person who bitches and whines when a band they have never heard of gets booked, leaving them to complain about not having enough popular acts that everyone knows and loves.  People, this is not Lollapalooza.  It is FREE music.  Lets be happy that we live in a city that offers what seems to be free music on nearly every night of the summer and just enjoy whatever Buffalo Place gives us.

Of course with that being said, I am normally one of those people who complains about the promoters sticking with what was familiar and not bringing in new and fresh talent, so who am I to tell people to settle down? Seriously though, haven't we seen enough of bands like moe. and Sam Roberts?  Well, I guess not.  Anyways, last night, Buffalo Place held a press conference to reveal their Thursday at the Harbor/Buffalo Place Rocks the Harbor, and all in all, it's pretty good.  This marks the second year in a row that the guys from Fun Time, who are responsible for many of the great shows we see at Town Ballroom, have worked along side Buffalo Place to put together a diverse lineup, and for the most part, they have succeeded.  But if it was all perfect, then we wouldn't have to put a report card together would we?.  Now that the list of acts has been given some time to marinate, lets grab our red sharpies and grade this lineup.*

*Please note that this grade is the sole opinion of me, Mac.  This grade does not represent all of buffaBLOG, which consists of many writers with many different musical tastes.  So if you disagree with my upcoming grades, remember that this is one man's opinion.

June 7th - The Cult w/Against Me! and the Icarus Line
The free Thursday Concert Series opens up with British band the Cult, not to be confused with current indie darlings the Cults mind you. Fellow blogger Alicia and I were at the press conference for the lineup unveiling, and it seemed when the Cult was announced, it felt a tiny bit of a let down.  Nothing against the band, who formed in the early 80s, but I just expected something.....more, better for the opening show.  The goth rock/metal outfit just released a new album though this Tuesday so if you are a fan, this could be your first chance to catch some new tunes.
Grade:  C+

June 14th - Fitz & the Tantrums w/Sister Sparrow & the Dirty Birds and ZZ Ward
This show actually was announced back in March, and while I can't say I know much from this band, their blend of pop, funk, and soul is a nice blend for a summer concert.  From the videos I have watch, the group is high energy, and crowds like the Square/Harbor feed off that.
Grade:  B

June 21st - Built to Spill w/Matthew Sweet and Hey Rosetta!
This was the first act that really caused the 60 or so people in attendance last night to gasp.  Well, maybe gasp is a stretch, but the point is that Built to Spill was a well received surprise.  The highly influential 90's college rock kings out of Boise have not released an album since 2009, and have been touring steadily over the past years, including a stop in Buffalo not long ago.
Grade:  A




June 28th - Fountains of Wayne
Remember how Fountains of Wayne's "Stacy's Mom" was everywhere when that song came out?  Remember their next song?  Yeah neither do I.  To be honest, I did not know Fountains of Wayne was still a band, but from going to the Square year after year, I have noticed that power pop bands always do well there.  It's summer.  We want to relax and not over think many things, and bands like Fountains of Wayne fill that need perfectly.
Grade:  B


July 5th - Arrested Development
Another popular selection from the press conference crowd yesterday evening, the Afropop/hip hop collective are former Grammy winners for Best New Artist.  They have been releasing albums at a strong clip since the early 1990s.  Can't say I know alot by Arrested Development, but their general feel good sound should be well received by the Harbor faithful.
Grade:  B





July 12th - Seether
If I could eliminate only one act for this year's lineup, it would be Seether.  Mind you, thats not really a knock on the band, but rather the entire 103.3 the Edge harder rockin genre that Seether falls into.  Ok maybe its a knock on the band too.  I saw a free Seether show in Las Vegas when I was in Las Vegas competing in the National Rock, Paper, Scissors Tournament in 2007 (ridiculous, but true), and I could barely get through two songs before packing it in for the black jack tables.  If this kind of band is your bag, so be it, but it's def not mine.
Grade:  D-


July 19th - Young the Giant w/Bahamas and Ruby Spirit
I will start off by saying I am not a huge a fan of Young the Giant, but you have to give the promoters credit for booking a buzz band on the rise.  The group played Mohawk Place last year so this will be a welcome return of the beach soul meets indie fuzz group.  Bahamas, one of Young the Giant's openers, made our list of February albums to be excited about, so to see the act included on this bill leaves us, well, excited.  A perfect summer show.
Grade:  A-


July 26th - Arkells w/Gomez and Elliott Brood
Another thing I have noticed over the years of going to concerts in Buffalo.  Buffalonians LOVE Canadian bands.  Just look at how we go crazy over a Tragically Hip or Sam Roberts show.  Hell, even Sloan, who literally plays in Buffalo every single summer, always gets a crowd.  Now I have to assume a good deal of the crowd consists of our neighbors to the north, making the trip across the bridge to support their own, but needless to say, Canadian bands in Buffalo do quite well.  The Arkells, who just played a show earlier this week at Club Infinity and a few months ago, played a packed Town Ballroom with fellow Canadians Wildlife, seem to be Buffalo's next adopted sons from the north.  With alt country rockers Elliott Brood, who played a raucous show at Mohawk Place earlier this spring, on the bill too, this should be one of the better Thursdays this summer.
Grade:  A-


August 2nd - Jesus and Mary Chain w/Wildlife

This show was rumored back a couple weeks ago, and I had my fingers crossed the entire time for those rumors to be true.  Back in February, the Scottish shoegaze outfit, known for their reverb and distortion heavy pop songs, announced their first tour since 2008.  This comes less than a year after the band re-released their catalog, all newly remastered, so 2012 seems to be a potential big year for the highly influential alt rock group.  Just listen to any Pains of Being Pure at Heart song off their debut album and don't tell me those guys aren't fans.  The band has surfaced a bit in pop culture circles over the past years as "Just Like Honey", the opening track to the band's Pyschocandy, played in the final moments of Lost in Translation and in High Fidelity as Jack Black's Barry, a music store snob if there ever was one, pushed the record onto a customer looking to fill in the gaps in his record collection.  Opening the show is Wildlife, another Canadian band gaining serious traction here in Buffalo.  If I could only see one show of this series, this would be it.
Grade:  A

August 9th - Mighty Mighty Bosstones w/Ron Hawkins & the Do Good Assassins
I love nostalgic bands.  The Gin Blossoms a couple years ago at the Square brought me right back to middle school.  The Bosstones are another one of those bands.  The ska group is still going strong after releasing their mega hit "Impression That I Get" way back in 1997, and while I never found myself wishing to go see this band, now that they are coming for free, I think it may be time to check them out and relive some memories.
Grade:  B


August 16th - Salt-N-Pepa
Outside of Built to Spill, Sal-N-Pepa seemed to get the next biggest response last night at the press conference.  I still can't tell if those rumblings from the crowd were good or bad.  I am probably the last person to talk to about old school hip hop/rap, but I would expect a pretty big show for one of the trailblazing female hip hop groups of the 90s.
Grade:  C+








August 23rd - Matt Nathanson w/Lights
We end the free Thursday series with Matt Nathanson, who if played this show back when I was in my heart-on-your-sleeve singer/songwriter phase back in high school, I would have prob been there in a heart beat.  But since then, my tastes have greatly changed and musicians like Matt Nathanson just don't do it for me any more.  Plus, for the closing show, I expected a little more oomph you know?  He seems to be very popular with the college audiences, so that could be plus or minus depending on the crowds you like to see at these shows.  Opener Lights recently played in Buffalo and seems to be quite popular these days with her electro pop sounds.
Grade:  B-

Buffalo Place also announced their Buffalo Place Rocks the Harbor shows last night, with a couple more shows still in the works (Sharon Jones anyone?).  These are the ticketed shows ($10 advance, $20 day of), and while I won't give a full grade for these acts(Feist is my favorite of the lineup BTW), the shows are as followed:

June 29th - Sam Roberts Band w/Grace Potter & the Nocturnals
June 30th - moe. w/Conspirator
July 15th - Feist
August 31st - J. Geils Band
September 1st - LL Cool J w/DJ Z-Trip


Overall Grade:  B+
Last year, we gave the lineup a solid B.  Shows from Feist, Built to Spill, and the Jesus and Mary Chain really have me most excited, but I think most people can say that there is at least one act this year they are looking forward to seeing.  No lineup is ever going to make people completely happy, but if there is one thing the promoters should be applauded for this year is great variety, the continued, but not complete end of retreads, and putting together a mostly relevant lineup.  Hey, if we wanted irrelevant acts, then we could always spend every Friday at the Lockport Canal Series.