When one goes to a U2 show you are invariably treated to a sermon (or two) from Bono about people of great importance, usually in far away lands, like Mandela or Aung San Suu Kyi. The last time U2 played Buffalo in 2005 the audience at the HSBC Arena however was treated to a loving and beautiful tribute from Bono to WNY's own Bruce and Mary Moser. It was almost surreal, seeing and hearing the frontman for one of the biggest bands EVER paying heartfelt homage to local folks from our music community from the stage, but if anybody deserved it, it's the Mosers. Their contributions to Buffalo's music community is incalculable, and it's safe to say that the burgeoning scene we're enjoying today has been built on the foundations they've laid by folks following in their footsteps, which is why the benefit being held for Mary Moser tonight at the Town Ballroom is so important. 

Mary has been in a coma since an accident last July, and with medical bills piling up on the family, Buffalo's music community is coming together to do their part, with the help of Canadian legend and mensch Gord Downie. Kingston Ontario's Tragically Hip were one of the bands that broke in Buffalo thanks in part to the efforts of the Mosers, and when you consider the intense popularity the Hip have in this region today, it's no surprise that Gord is in town tonight at the Town Ballroom with a raft of local bands to raise a lot of money for a friend dear to their hearts and pillar of Buffalo's music scene. You too can do your part and see said raft of bands, for the reasonable price of $20 that includes free food and beer. There will be a cash bar, a 50/50 raffle, Chinese and Silent auctions, and door prizes. To read more about Mary and the benefit, check out what Jeff Miers and Cory Perla wrote for their respective publications and the benefit's website. See you there.

Get up close and personal with Jon Langford & Skull Orchard tonight at the Boratin-Tanner home in Hamburg. Langford, a versatile folk-punk musician, has performed in the backing band for This American Life and is considered a staple of the Chicago music scene. Local songsters Unwelcome Guests will kick off the event with an acoustic set at 7:30pm. Don't miss this unique and bound-to-be-great house concert.

This isn't the first time Top Shelf Records has sent one of their top-tier emo revivalist bands through Buffalo - tonight's offering is Prawn, whose clean guitars and angsty vocals sound like Joan of Arc if they calmed down a little and tried to put a little structure to their songs.

Over the last ten years, Cut Copy has been one of the most consistently solid electro-pop acts out there. On last year's Free Your Mind, the band inflected their sound with an acid house vibe and the result was excellent. Tonight, they will be returning to Buffalo with the equally great Jessy Lanza. Those who have seen the band before know that their live shows are not to be missed. 

If you are unfamiliar with the opener, the Hamilton, Ontario based Jessy Lanza released the amazing Pull My Hair Back last year on Hyperdub. This strong debut was produced by the Junior Boys' Jeremy Greenspan. Lanza's icey grooves and spacey vocals make her an excellent opener for Cut Copy and this is definitely a show you should get to early.

Cut Copy w/Jessy Lanza
Town Ballroom
$26
Doors at 7pm

Tonight there will be lift-off, as Igloo Music presents Cosmos, a space-themed dancing celebration, at Wastelands.

Headlining the event will be Mike Parker, a Buffalo-resident who has performed on a global level.


In the ever-evolving world of genre terminology, Parker coins his stylistic sound as "voodoo techno."

"It's more minimal than other forms of 'club' music," Parker said. "I'm attracted to the abstraction of it and the spaces between the sounds."

In addition to writing music and performing, he is also a teacher at Daemen College and Niagara County Community College where he instructs drawing and print making. Art, in any form of medium, is an inclusive form that relates back into everything he does.

"Everything I do visually ties in because I'm always thinking about music and the way I present it," Parker said. He designs and prints the record jackets for his label, Geophone, which he started in 1997 to release his music with a more involved and personal creative direction.

He became enveloped in the life when he was just a teenager. "I bought my first synthesizer, a KORG Mono/Poly, when I was in high school. I've been addicted ever since."

"I've played in many countries across Europe in the past few years. Also, my performances in Japan have been a creative inspiration for me. It's such a beautiful country. I recently contributed an ambient track to a CD compilation called Composure. This compilation, by various artists, was made to raise relief money for victims of the earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan in 2011," Parker said.

Among many aspiring and growing artists in the Queen City some have a confident hope and diligence toward the Buffalo music scene, whereas some are struck by wanderlust and feel a career is only manageable elsewhere. For a DJ and producer who has traveled to the Land of the Rising Sun, across the U.S., Europe and more, why remain in the 716?

"My teaching career, affordable living, the art scene, and my friends," he said.

Mike Parker loves music because, "It's the most abstract of all art forms. And it helps chase away the blues."

In addition, Diskomaster will be hailing in from Syracuse. Igloo's Paul Kuenzi, and birthday boy, will also be performing, along with Gene Linet, J.P. Freedom and Ryan Liddell.

A costume contest will commence, so dress your best. C.P. Abbott Photography will be there to capture the madness.

Tonight, head down to the Jungle Gym for what looks to be a massive lineup of punk of both the local and out of town variety. For only $6, you can get 5 live sets of the hard and fast variety, which is really quite a steal in terms of dollars per catharsis, an important statistical measurement that I just invented.

Brooklyn's Nancy, Chicago's Thumbsuckers and Hamilton's TV Freaks represent the out of town contingent while local mainstays Dream Journal and the newly formed Huns represent our fair city. The starts at 8pm so head down quickly so as not to miss one scuzzy riff. Plus the weather is slightly nicer so what excuse do you really have for staying in tonight? None? I thought so.

Dream Journal, Huns, TV Freaks, Nancy, Thumbsuckers
The Jungle Gym
$6
Doors at 8pm, show to start soon after

Tonight Kurt and a full assemblage of Loders will be doing their thing and paying tribute in a big way to seminal 90's band Pearl Jam in the heart of Allentown at Nietzsche's. Not content to unleash one set of Pearl Jam jams after a warmup of non PJ 90's classics, this year's tribute to the former Mother Love Bone will also feature a bonus set of Pearl Jam classics. That's right, for $5 you get a 90's sing along, a set of Pearl Jam love and another set of Pearl Jam love at no additional charge. Doors open at 10, music starts at 10:15.

After tonight, Head North is, ironically, going to be heading south on an East Coast tour... (I should probably make a joke that includes the word "West.") But tonight they celebrate with an official tour kickoff featuring the likes of The Traditional, Real People, Figurehead, Lancer, and Maritime Law. Needless to say, this lineup is pretty stacked.

Doors open at 6:00pm tonight. If you can grab them from a band before the show (I know they would appreciate that), they're only $10. At the door, tickets are $13.

Everyone in this town is a DJ, but tonight you can put your money where your mic is at Buffalo's only monthly hip hop karaoke event. Hosted by Billy Drease Williams, the good people at DTR, and Hip Hop Karaoke Buffalo, this is the most fun you'll have at karaoke in the 716 (sorry, Tudor Lounge).

The event starts at 10, and all performers must pre-register here. Unfortunately, registration is full so if you slept on getting your song in, you'll have to wait til next month. All performers are supplied with a free drink, a dj, and a hypeman, but what rapper doesn't show up with his own entourage?

Pro tips: hold the mic from the bottom, remember to breathe, and for all your swag needs, remember that 2 chainz are better than one. 

Tonight, Nietzsche's plays host to a tremendous array of Buffalo bands gathered in tribute to Giant of Western Civilization Lou Reed. Starting Saturday night and carrying on into Lou's birthday March 2, High Flyin' Babys, The Good, The Vores, Wooden Waves, After Hours, Dark Marbles, Girlpope, and The Irving Klaws will be exploring Lou's wildly influential career, both his seminal work with The Velvet Underground and years as a vital solo artist, and honoring the Great Man we prematurely lost to liver disease last October. It will be Buffalo's walk on the wild side, downtown adjacent in Allentown, and it can all be yours for $5 at the door. Doors open at 8 PM.

You could describe Evan Weiss as some sort of "emo royalty," having been a part of several notable bands in the genre (including Buffalo's own now-defunct Damiera). It would be hard to deny his influence on the genre. With Into It. Over It., Weiss has channeled his inner Matt Pryor (of The Get Up Kids fame for you emo noobs) and gone quasi-solo, writing a bunch of charming songs and touring hard behind them.  

He's stopping in Buffalo tonight with support from the two bands with the longest names in the genre, The World Is A Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid To Die and A Great Big Pile of Leaves.  Local support comes from Rochester's Taking Meds.  Tickets are $12, doors are at 7:00pm.

One of the more unique bills in recent memory, 2x4 is centered around the simplest musical grouping, the duo. Bringing together a bunch of Buffalo mainstays, possibly in the name of science, 2x4 explores what ideas can come when two sensibilities come together to create something new. It is almost elemental. Even more elemental is the promised arm-wrestling competition, which is perhaps the most pure test of strength one can offer while also avoiding legal liability and insurance issues.

Headlining tonight is Schwervon! a two piece known for raucous live sets and who have been described as an "expression of imperfect love through jagged rock minimalism." Opening for them will be a new duo featuring Eric Kendall (Stay Lows) and Nick Gordon (JOHNS), a noise based collaboration from weirdstronauts Bobby Griffiths and Andy Czuba, and a multimedia performance from Pat Kewley (local goof extraordinaire and sometimes Mark Twain impersonator) and Aimee Buyea (DIY/artspace tsar). The show starts promptly at 8 and will be held at the Jungle Gym.



Sugar City Presents 2x4 Featuring Schwervon!, Kendall/Gordon, Andy/Griffiths and PK/ABOO
The Jungle Gym
Doors at 7pm, Show at 8pm
$4 (for touring musicians)

Tonight, NYC dream pop group Cults make a welcome return to Buffalo at the Tralf with Mood Rings. Arriving a few years back as if out of a dream, Cults seduced audiences with a timeless 60's girl group sound exquisitely curated and updated by Brian Oblivion, the ethereal vocals of Madeline Follin, and a sweet air of darkness to balance it all out. Touring behind their excellent 2013 sophomore effort Static, Cults are back in Buffalo after memorable shows at Soundlab, The Ninth Ward, and Town Ballroom, and I for one am somewhat gratified that they've made a point of stopping here because not a lot of national acts do. Openers Mood Rings, from Atlanta will be kicking things off and setting the stage perfectly for Cults with their reverb drenched and deeply resonant brand of dream pop showcased on their 2011 ep Sweater Weather Forever. Tickets are $17 (and amazingly/laughably still available), doors open at 7 with the show at 8. See you there.

Olle Corneer and Stefan Engblom are the Swedish DJ duo that make up Dada Life. Dada Life has released chart-climbing productions, performed for thousands, with high energy and a sense of humor. They are known for their signature champagne sipping and the banana display on their decks. There are "rules of Dada" to follow while in Dada Land: "Don't look back in the past. Always go forward. And whatever you do: don't trust us."

Alvin Risk, an OWSLA original producer, has had releases on record labels such as Ministry of Sound and Dim Mak. He has also been featured on BBC Radio One.



Tonight, Factory Nightlife presents Dada Life at Town Ballroom. After Dark Entertainment was originally presenting Alvin Risk at the Waiting Room tonight as well, but the shows have combined for some Valentine's Day madness. Be ready for a pillow fight.

Opening the night will be local DJs Brother Bear and Medison. XOXO Happy Valentine's Day.

Sugar City is going all out for the next edition of their highly popular "Soul Nights" tonight at Milkie's, the joint formerly known as the Elmwood Lounge, home base of local treasure Lance Diamond. Milkie's recently got some national TV love from Mo Rocca and "CBS This Sunday Morning" during his Super Bowl Sunday bit about our beloved chicken wing (yes, chicken wing- they can call them "Buffalo wings" everywhere else, but here, they're chicken wings, deep fried and served with bleu cheese, not ranch dressing) as a place for getting down. 

Tonight, asses will be moving to sweet soulful sounds served up by Handsome Dan, Fab Frankie Rainbows, Lil Nicky, The Good Reverend Johnny Drama, and DJango featuring Lawrence Luster. They'll be laying down the sounds starting at 10pm while Sugar City rocks a mixtape/mix cd exchange, raffles, and surprises all night long all for the donation of $5 (or $4 if you bring a mix). Milkie's will be where it's at tonight. Show up. Get down.

In mentioning Jay Z, numbers that account his net worth may come to mind. Conversations may spark of the "Illuminati" conspiracy, or the relationship idealization and fascination of many for him and the well-adored Beyoncé. Shawn Carter, a man of many names, is much more than the trending topical tweets. Although his most recent album release, Magna Carta Holy Grail, had mixed reviews, it remains a consensus that he continues as a talented, motivated and legendary icon in the game. Jay Z, above all things, is a true artist, an innovator.

Tonight, he will make a stop at the First Niagara Center for his Magna Carter World Tour. Along with him will be Timbaland, who had a significant part in the production of the album.

To capture the feel of MCHG, as a product of his album's release, he held a 6-hour performance piece at Pace Gallery in New York City. Surrounded by artists, actors, students, poets, art dealers, filmmakers, youngsters and designers, he performed "Picasso Baby" on a platform while interacting with the crowd. Some would sit individually on the bench as he would perform to them; in some cases, they would switch and Jay Z would watch them display their own form of artistry.

"Rap is pretty much thinking out loud. You're talking, and you're putting your fears and your vulnerabilities, and you're putting bravado, your insecurities, all on music. And it's there for the world to see. You're really giving a glimpse into who you are," he said.

The album is sprinkled with plenty of art references, which Complex Magazine cleverly broke down, to the lyric.

In the "Picasso Baby" video, Hov said, "Concerts are pretty much performance art, but the venues change. And just by nature, the venues, the performance change ... So you get to feel the energy of the people. In a concert, especially a large concert, all that energy comes to you ... what do you do with that energy? So today, it's kind of an exchange..." Tonight, that exchange will occur, right here in the Queen City.

Part of the monthly film series "exploring outsiders of culture through films that have bypassed the theaters and ended up at your local pub," Squeaky Wheel and Allen Street Hardware will be showing the documentary, In Search of Blind Joe Death: The Saga of John Fahey. 

The documentary examines the life of one of American music's foundational figures, John Fahey. Fahey's work as both a musician and musicologist has deeply impacted our understanding of Delta Blues, Appalachian Bluegrass and New Orleans Jazz and whose influence is felt in musicians across the spectrum including figures like Jim O'Rourke and Sonic Youth. Directed by James Cullingham, the documentary combines recorded performances and interviews, the documentary is billed as a musically charged tribute to a tremendously influential composer, guitarist, author and provocateur."

Tonight's program does not just include what looks to be a very interesting documentary but also includes an additional short film on Wilco's lead guitarist, Nels Cline, Approximately Nels Cline. And if that is not enough for you, there will also be a performance from one of Buffalo's own young jack of all trades/folk wizard, Nicky Gordon. The event is free for members of Squeaky Wheel and only $7 for non-members, so this is really a great deal for what promises to be a night of great music and information about music.

Squeaky Wheel and Allen St. Hardware present the SQUEAKEASY Film Series: In Search of Blind Joe Death: The Saga of John Fahey
Featuring a performance by Nicky Gordon
Allen Street Hardware Cafe, 245 Allen Street
Free for Squeaky Wheel Members/$7 for non-members
8pm

Lotus will playing at the Water Street Music Hall in Rochester this evening to showcase their latest LP Monks (courtesy of MNM Presents). Since their formation over a decade ago, the five piece ensemble has secured a niche in the festival subculture by delivering consistently infectious live performances in a seemingly never ending tour. Their hybrid of electronic, world, jazz, funk, post-rock and straight jam improv has proven to be a hit amongst festival crowds and their affinity for playing in WNY has on them a hub of loyal fans in the region. So for all those who choose to attend, the light at the end of the tunnel will be coming sooner than the weekend! Doors open at 7PM and tickets are $22 in advance or $25 at the door.

Tonight Hallwalls launches their 2014 concert series and 40th year in grand experimental fashion with Austin, Texas fusion rockers The Young Mothers. Bringing together hip-hop, free jazz and rock, and "a caterwauling Afro groove" (according to the FB event page), the Young Mothers are the brainchild of Norwegian bass wunderkind Ingebrigt Håker Flaten. They'll be previewing their upcoming debut due in March, A Mother's Work Is Never Done, and unleashing their joyful noise in one of Buffalo's most important cultural institutions, Hallwalls. The show is free with a suggested donation of $10-$15 and starts at 8 PM.