The second Shamrock Shakedown commences tomorrow night. Jamieson Productions and the Marciniack Brothers are filling the Dnipro Ukranian Center with lights, video projections and DJs. Music talent from various East Coast cities, NYC, Toronto, Pittsburgh to name a few, along with our Buffalo favorites will be performing late into the night with multi-genres and four different rooms for you to dance and bounce around to.

"It's celebrating and offering a safe place to do it," Carl Jamieson says about the Shakedown. In the scene since age 16, Jamieson throws the Shakedown not only to celebrate his personal joy for the Irish tradition, but to bring both music and culture together while also giving attendees a safer place to do it. Yes, the Buffalo St. Patty's Day parade is an absolute blast but realistically, it's a madhouse. Moving to Buffalo from Syracuse, I wasn't sure what I was in for. The first parade I went to I apparently walked directly through a fight right outside of the Arby's on the corner of Allen and Delaware, this according to the post-parade recount telling of what happened. Jamieson also looks to the Shakedown as a means of springtime celebration. Regardless of the fact that the weather is basically going through the mood swings of an angsty teenager, spring should be on the way.

Tickets will be sold at the door and in advance, I recommend the latter. Not only does it make your life easier but it saves you $5. Which buys you a beer. Or maybe a taco, if that suits your fancy more.

Nuair atá an cat amuigh bíonn na luch ag damhsa. See y'all Saturday.



 

Shooting off fireworks is the civilians equivalent to exploding a bomb. Americans just like to blow shit up. It is about doing whatever the hell you want while disregarding conventional wisdom and the safety  of others. It is also about sticking it to the proverbial man in a lot of ways. How much more American can you get? I too am willing to permit the behavior of a few Americans turned ignoramuses on Independence day. Fireworks are good old fashioned American fun, even if they blow of a few body parts from time to time.

Let that spirit spill over into this weekend as Buffalo gears up for a big one. The Taste of Buffalo is this weekend, so those not in food comas will be looking to party. If the Dance beats are your passion then here's what to check out.

saturday 7/7
10p-4a
$10-15/18+
SOUNDLAB
110 pearl st. Buffalo, NY
SEBA plays Drum and Bass music like it used to sound to me: weird as fuck, high energy, and with recognizable instrumentation (i.e. Live Kits, Stand-up Bass). Hailing from Sweden the accomplished DJ/Producer sees himself as a musician, and his intelligent productions warrant that. This particular kind of music is the kind you want to fly to. Also featured on the bill is SUBHUMAN who when last in Buffalo tore up Duke's at 'Fire & Ice 2' along with PERCEPTOR, EMJAY BIGGZ, POTENT J, and LOKI.

"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?

Get Down Solstice! is a fundraiser for the local Native American organization, Neto. It is a unique event featuring musical acts and DJs from Toronto, New York City, and from Buffalo. It is a loaded event for a good cause that is taking place at the Dnipro Ukrainian Center at 562 Genesee St.  In total there will be 23 acts, including Wakos fresh off of their performance at the buffaBLOG Holiday Party last night. BuffaBLOG favorite Logo City will also be performing. The event will feature a Chinese Auction where you can bid on items such as spa treatments, gift baskets, car washes, and restaurant gift cards.

There will also be a 50/50 raffle for $5 with the top 3 prizes being:
1st prize:  A pair of authentic seats from the old Yankee stadium
2nd prize: Apple iPad 2
3rd prize: 32" flat screen TV

-Featuring-
From Toronto: Jelo, The Hektic Krew, Stickbubbly, Mischief N Mayhem, DJ SWICKE.

From NYC: Neffski, DJ ODI, Sean Clements (performing in band room)

From Buffalo/Rochester: Brandon Chase, Killsound, 3po, Ryan Liddell, Paul Kuenzi, Xotex. Influence & 3, Medison, Sun Glasses Mike, Scott Elliott, Sketch, Truth & Turtologist.

Bands: Wonder Crayon, WAKOS, Logo City.

Tickets are $20 dollars at the door, you get $5 off if you bring a toy or 3 canned goods with you. You must be 18+ for entrance. The fun starts at 10PM and the party doesn't stop until 5AM.

Ghosts by wiseandkindoldsouls