Thanks to MNM Presents, I had a pretty wild and awesome music fueled weekend. To start with, Brillz on Thursday night at Duke's Bohemian Grove Bar was a killer show. It was refreshing to see the dance floor at Duke's so packed throughout the entire night. Buzz Trillington and Shooter McNappin, from duo team SwaggleRock, opened for Brillz with a ghetto sexy set. With spikes lining the rim of his flat brim hat, Brillz transitioned smoothly from track to track.

"I dedicate this song to you four girls," he said as each of them twerked themselves into a frenzy in front of the DJ booth as he drops "Big Booty Bitches." 

A Duke's employee sneaked swiftly on stage with a roll of masking tape, to which someone behind the table of equipment then helped tape Brillz's laptop to the stand. In addition to the girls grinding and twerking on the speakers in front of the decks, the packed dance floor jumping up and down, and the crew and myself dancing on stage behind him, the laptop began to violently shake and flop. The masking tape worked as a perfect straight-jacket restraint for the crazed laptop.


I have two main reasons why I love going to a show on a Sunday night. First, it keeps me motivated to do things all day long instead of turning into a Lazy Sunday; I went on a cleaning frenzy, did every single bit of laundry, finished all of my work, rearranged furniture and ran errands yet was still amped enough to doll myself up and head downtown. Secondly, it makes Monday that much more exciting as I walk around doing my usual routine thinking about what happened the night before.

Sunday night, MNM Presents brought a great show to Soundlab. Surprisingly, I believe this was the first time I ever saw Rochester's Papi Chulo perform, and I was quite impressed. It was space groove and even for how early in the night it was, I was pleased to see that people were already dancing so early at a Sunday evening show. Following him was Samo Sound Boy; the visual projection and screen that were brought along for the "Magical Properties Tour" were highly appropriate for the name. A grid of colors projected on him and he was camouflaged with the background when suddenly the dimension changed and behind him was a dark silhouette followed by a gridded silhouette encompassed by a dark screen. It was entrancing. Even with relatively simple transitions between tracks, his set was very up and flawless.



To be completely honest I was most looking forward to Ryan Hemsworth's set. His track selection was totally on point. His performance was mostly trap vibes and the occasional slow jam (I laughed when Usher's "Let It Burn" came blasting through the speakers, but I'm also not going to lie. I was loving it.) The visual projections became even more intense as a cartoon sea took over the screen while little cartoon hands holding cartoon guns stuck themselves surrealistically out of the cresting waves.


Daedelus, the headlining act, followed. I was looking forward to this since I have never seen him perform before and after making the stupid decision of not going to see Yeasayer last year, I continue to hear through friends and my fellow buffaBLOGGERS how incredible the entire show was. However, I was not as totally blown away as I thought I would. Now don't get me wrong, I think that he played a helluva set and he definitely was giving off a lot of energy for the tiny basement venue. My major critiques were the difficulties with the sound; I'm not totally positive what was happening but something was off and the leveling was not as clear as it should have been which to be quite honest was distracting. Also, I was hoping to hear more of the romantic down tempo tunes that seemed to be his M.O.

All in all, shout out to MNM Presents for providing a damn good weekend for Buffalo. 

I have a feeling tonight is going to be a beautiful memory to add to the Soundlab collection. MNM Presents a top of the line bill of musicians: Daedelus, Ryan Hemsworth, and Samo Sound Boy. Opening the night will be Rochester's Papi Chulo.

Self-acclaimed "full time musician, part time Dandy," Los Angeles based Daedelus will be headlining the show tonight. A blend of romance and electronic, his music has an after-hours feel. It's the feeling of holding someone close and walking down rain covered streets with only the hazy street lights to glow a path, or that instantaneous feeling you get when you see the moon on a night when it is so close in the sky you feel like you could run after it and touch it. Then he can flip the switch and has some tracks that have a darker feel, and some that are the downward fall into the rabbit hole.




Be on time to the show to catch Ryan Hemsworth. Canadian DJ and producer, Hemworth puts out tracks that I wish I had back in high-school when we'd cruise around listening to mixtapes from Datpiff.com. It's well-crafted and lustrous trap. He cranks hip-hop and brings about a nodding vibe. In addition to being dear to my heart for putting out amazing music, Hemsworth is also a journalist.





Also based out of Los Angeles, Samo Sound Boy, has a very interesting sound. Upbeat and bouncy it's club music, but there are different characteristics that make it so much more unique than limiting it to be considered just "club." Alongside with Jerome LOL, Samo Sound Boy is the founder of Body High recording label. "It's one of the most influential labels in the U.S. right now...some of it's really soul, disco, future club music, and everything in between," BBC Radio 1 introduces their mix for Diplo and Friends.