buffablog road trip,
Cliff,
main street armory,
rochester,
Tor-Buff-Chester,
vampire weekend
—
Tonight the buffaBLOG magic bus is making another trip to the eastern end of our Tor-Buff-Chester megalopolis to welcome Vampire Weekend back to Western New York after a 3 year absence. Once again playing the Main Street Armory in Rochester, New York City's Vampire Weekend are back, touring behind their excellent Modern Vampires In The City 2013 release which saw them transcend the literate Afropop that defined their 2008 eponymous debut and evolve into a worldly and baroque yet fun genre wholly unto themselves. Joining them is NYC darkwave/dreampop duo MS MR, whose bold sounds will be familiar to Canadian radio listeners who've seemingly heard "Hurricane" twice a day for the last few months. Amazingly, tickets are still available, and doors open at the Armory at 7 PM. See you there.
buffablog road trip,
Cliff,
grouplove,
rochester,
Tor-Buff-Chester,
water street music hall
—
The Buffalo to Rochester magic bus is fueled up for another jaunt to our neighbors to the East and eastern end of Tor-Buff-Chester, Rochester to check out Los Angeles band Grouplove at the Water Street Music Hall along with Atlantic Records labelmates The Knocks and Saints Of Valory. Originally scheduled for Bill Gray's Ice Plex, this stop on the 2013 Campus Consciousness Tour got moved to Water Street Music Hall to meet demand, and with a new album (Spreading Rumours), an aggressively infectious sound, and an omnipresent new hit single it's not hard to see why.
Grouplove made a modest splash a few years back with their debut Never Trust A Happy Song that resulted in a few of their songs finding their way into successful ad campaigns, making them a Shazam worthy act for this smartphone driven, post MTV viral era. With some high profile festival appearances under their belts and attendant buzz, it will be interesting to check them out in the intimate and close quarters of Water Street and see how they measure up live. Billed as "half music tour, half environmental and social consciousness campaign," this tour also features NYC electronica outfit The Knocks, who recently collaborated with St Lucia for their new single "Modern Hearts;" and would be arena rockers Saints Of Valory from Austin, TX. Doors open at 6pm, with the show starting at 7pm. Price is $35, and tickets are still available.
Alternative Buffalo,
buffalo,
buffalo radio sucks,
Cliff,
the weeknd,
Tor-Buff-Chester,
Toronto
—
No, this isn't a hostage play like the one going on in our nation's capital or anything specifically emphatic. But as I perused Twitter Sunday night and noted Chicago Tribune music critic Greg Kot's transmissions from the first of two shows in Chicago for Toronto post r&b mystery man The Weeknd and read his review on Monday, this fact became crystal clear to me. At this point in the fall of 2013, it's past time that The Weeknd make a stop in Buffalo.
After bursting on the scene with an air of elusive mystery and a killer mixtape called House Of Balloons in 2011, The Weeknd, aka Abel Tesfaye, has cultivated a rabid and growing following thanks to his expressive new jack soul voice, ever interesting indie electronica sound, and dark, sexy, and vaguely dangerous witching hour subject matter. Enigmatic amorphousness soon gave way to hot live shows in Toronto and GTA before the hotly buzzed about act completely skipped Buffalo on their way to larger, more buzzworthy locals, and for local fans who'd gone all in The Weeknd's next two free mixtapes Thursday and Echoes of Silence and waited for Canada's next big thing to play here, it hurt.
It hurt because this is Buffalo, a city that's enjoyed the musical bounty of our neighbors to the north for decades, from Rush to The Tragically Hip to Sloan to Arkells, etc. etc.. We're the creamy nougat of Tor-Buff-Chester, the one's that get Arkells shows at the Town Ballroom, Tokyo Police Club at Soundlab, Wildlife at the Mohawk, Sam Roberts in just about every venue in the city, Gord Downie at the Adam's Mark to play and talk about protecting our Great Lakes, and two Hip shows at the Outer Harbor when Mother Nature rains us out. We've got the Peace Bridge, that brings us this wonderful bounty as well as the occasional band coming from or going to Toronto, where EVERYBODY plays. His US debut was always earmarked for someplace else, The Weeknd was crossing over into the US via WNY on his march to conquest on a regular basis.
And it's even worse now that The Weeknd released his proper debut album, Kissland, on Universal last month and riding an even bigger wave of buzz after an electrifying performance on Jimmy Kimmel and Letterman and shows in big markets. It's becoming clear that The Weeknd is the big thing coming out of Canada right now (whereas Wildlife is the next big thing coming out of Canada), but because he falls entirely in between genres he's nowhere on local radio, a big problem now that we've skipped the "getting to know each other" phase on his path to stardom.
Ideally The Weeknd (on Universal Records) would be in rotation on our "new music alternative" 107.7 FM, but that station is still decidedly in it's infancy and yet to fully take up it's professed mantle as a source for new music. I haven't heard any Weeknd, Toro Y Moi, Janelle Monae, or Chvrches for that matter, and way, way too much No Doubt and Muse, and that's a damn shame, especially because it isn't aiding in getting The Weeknd down here to Buffalo for a show. But I still remain optimistic about that station, in part because they're still setting up a local operation that will theoretically give it the local flavor longed for by area music fans. Patience will be a virtue, and in any case it's gratifying to hear Tame Impala, Phoenix, and new Arcade Fire on Buffalo radio that isn't 91.3.
I guess that patience applies to The Weeknd getting down here for a show. It is inevitable after all. It might be after his second album when he's spreading it around beyond the places he hit on his magical mystery introductory tour. In the meantime I'll re-consume his Trilogy mini boxed set (which collected his 3 mixtapes for a rather affordable price) and the aforementioned Kissland, and keep an eye out for word of our Buffalo show. Word on the street is that it will be worth the wait.
Cliff,
Concert Review,
father john misty,
funtime,
rochester,
Tor-Buff-Chester,
water street music hall
—
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.
buffablog road trip,
Cliff,
father john misty,
fleet foxes,
funtime,
rochester,
tonight,
Tor-Buff-Chester,
water street music hall
—
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.
buffalo,
Cliff,
rochester,
sharon van etten,
sleigh bells,
Tor-Buff-Chester,
Toronto,
yeasayer
—
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...
beach house,
Cliff,
Concert Review,
kool haus,
Tor-Buff-Chester,
Toronto
—
The sold out crowd for the Beach House show at Kool Haus in Toronto last Saturday night was treated to a tour de force performance by the Baltimore duo (and touring drummer) on their twelfth performance in Toronto that confirmed their status as indie uber darlings and as an ongoing indictment of the piss poor state of the major record labels. That Beach House wasn't signed to a major label after their breakout album Teen Dream was preposterous; but now, after their magnificent follow up Bloom it's a crime. Such thoughts however were the furthest things from the ecstatic crowd's minds as Beach House bewitched us thoroughly.
But first, we got to enjoy an excellent set from Poor Moon, a damned fine side project from two guys from Fleet Foxes: Christian Wargo and Casey Westcott. A trippy fusion of late 60's unhinged Wilson era Beach Boys, Simon and Garfunkel, and Syd Barrett Pink Floyd, Poor Moon laid down a set that reminded me of a side of The Beach Boys' Smiley Smile, with each song either bleeding into the next or linked by instrumental psychedelic interludes. The reverb drenched psychedelic chamber pop initially caught the crowd off guard, but they caught on soon enough, and it was refreshing to hear truly psychedelic music at a show without a light show, allowing for a keener attention to the musical details: the Hal Blaine drum fills, the xylophone, tambourines, shakers, extensive harmonies, and tasteful vintage songcraft. There was a lot going on, but it all came together and the crowd loved it because it set up the headliner perfectly.
Before I go any further, it should be noted that I am a total fan of Beach House. Teen Dream blew my mind in March 2010, their Town Ballroom show that June sealed the deal, and their opening set for Vampire Weekend in Rochester that October was spectacular, with the genuine feeling of arrival. I have every faith that Beach House will play Buffalo next year (they just gotta), but this year is all about them playing the big markets in support of their excellent fourth album Bloom, and Buffalo's going to have to wait. I however could not, so it was off to Toronto for my third this year. Thankfully everything played out according to plan. No deer were hit on the QEW, the band I intended to see was the band that I ended up seeing (unlike the Radiohead show, which became the free Flaming Lips NXNE show last June), and Beach House were utterly sublime.
There's just something magical and transfixing watching a band almost hide in the shadows and draw you in with their spacious and gorgeous sound. The lights went down, the mist flowed, and out of their artfully placed shadows Victoria Legrand and Alex Scally (with touring drummer Dan Franz) ripped through a powerful set consisting almost entirely of songs from Teen Dream and Bloom; in fact it was the few songs not from those albums that slowed down the intense slow burn and gave us a break from the intensifying slow burn that climaxed with thunderous performances of "Myth,""10 Mile Stereo" and "Irene." It's easy to talk about "atmosphere" and "vibes" at a Beach House show, but in the live context it's their exquisite song craft that shines the most; the way their songs build within themselves until finding release, making for a captivating, almost heightened experience. All while hiding mysteriously behind shadows.
Legrand and Scally owned the Kool Haus crowd for the duration of their set, from the opener "Wild" to the show's potent and almost ecstatic closer "Irene;" Alex Scally laying down magnificent and perfect guitar lines and Victoria Legrand regally yet mysteriously presiding over the reverent and spellbound audience. Indeed, already a cult has formed around Beach House, and deservedly so. Beautifully wrought songs, perfect execution on album and in live performance, glorious and enchanting musicianship, and the careful preservation of their mystery in this age of over-sharing and Twitter... how could there not be a devoted cult around them? Judging by that profound Beach House show last Saturday, it's a cult that will be getting a lot bigger.
Start praying for a Buffalo date next year on Beach House's 2013 tour - it'll be worth it.
And just what the hell is Tor-Buff-Chester you ask (those of you that pay attention to the labels for these blog posts)? Well apparently back in 2006 somebody decided that the megalopolis (a string of cities) concept was making a comeback and the international Toronto-Buffalo-Rochester corridor was on the list. Yippee for us. But seriously, we as Buffalo music fans already knew that because we spend time and money in Toronto and Rochester, and for my money any Buffalo music blog that doesn't ain't worth a hill of beans (buffaBLOG however is indispensable), hence the Tor-Buff-Chester label. My heart of course belongs to Buffalo, but still... megalopolis living might be where it's at.
