[TRIBUTE] Dear gahd! As the real Black Sabbath chugs on into the latter half of its final tour (scheduled through July), the Tralf welcomes Mac Sabbath on Sunday night, March 27. We’re not even sure Weird Al could’ve come up with this, but he’d definitely give his blessing. The Mac ensemble serves up its tasty Sabbath tribute without much pretense of metal badassery, instead going for hearty laughs.
[POP] Those of us that dismissed Duran Duran in the late 1980s as they tried to shake their teen-idol image in favor of something more serious are being made to eat crow. 14 albums in (and 70 million units sold), the band has never completely gone away. Instead, Simon Le Bon and company have survived multiple lineup changes and rode the choppy waters of public opinion into their current tour, supporting last year’s Paper Gods, which is also the band’s debut for Warner Brothers.
[INDIE] It’s a birthday bash for Buffalo’s most popular indie music blog, celebrating six years of successfully hovering in cyberspace… no small feat, since the Buffablog site is basically a labor of love. Headliners Bethlehem Steel hit a bummer while showcasing at SXSW last week, finding themselves in need of a $4,000 transmission repair.
[ELECTRONIC/DANCE] Buffalo’s newest party collective Strange Allure is on a roll. After a successful underground dance party last weekend featuring Volvox, they’ll present another, albeit smaller party this weekend—this time at Sol Rise on East Utica Street on Buffalo’s East Side. The venue, a cultural arts center and farm was founded in 2012, and has played host to musical performances, parties, and dance events. The party will feature another Jack Dept. NYC DJ, John Barera.
[POP] Hot on the heels of her much-anticipated release, Anti, Rihanna brings her sultry, bombastic stage presence to the First Niagara Center on Wednesday, March 23 along with special guest Travis Scott. Making her debut in the early 2000s with chart-topping hits like “SOS,” Rihanna has been dishing out sleek pop marked by her distinctive vocals since her debut in 2005.
[COMEDY] Julian McCullough is the king of gauging an audience with his sharp brand of humor and wit. The comic is a staple on MTV2’s Guy Code, and also hosts TBS’s Very Funny News. He co-hosted Love You, Mean It alongside Whitney Cummings, and has appeared on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon, Inside Amy Schumer and NPR’s This American Life. Catch Julian McCullough at Helium Comedy Club on Thursday, March 24 through Saturday, March 25.
[HIP HOP] A music-filled night awaits this Thursday, March 24 at the Evening Star Concert Hall in Niagara Falls led by the Albuquerque, New Mexico-based hip hop group brokeNCYDE.
[JAZZ] Sharon Bailey and Walter Camp 3OH are returning to Pausa Art House on Friday, March 25 after their huge success there back in November. Walter Kemp will be joined by award winning vocalist Sharon Bailey, bass player RiShon Odel Northington, and drummer David “Teaspoon” Hulett. The show starts at 8pm.
[JAZZ] A bunch of talented musicians will return to Pausa Art House on Thursday, March 24. The Three Tenor Hang consists of six musicians; Three tenor saxophone players: Ken Kuriscak, Nelson Rivera, and Kelly Bucheger, a pianist by the name of George Caldwell, bassist Jack Kulp, and drummer Alec Dube. They’ll perform live starting at 8pm.
[HIP HOP] On Friday, March 25, Milk & Cookies Entertainment presents the veteran hip hop artist Rob Base, alongside with the SNM Crew at Duke’s Bohemian Grove Bar. Rob Base has been active in the music industry since 1985. He was a part of the iconic hip-hop duo consisting of himself and the legendary DJ E-Z Rock, who unfortunately passed in 2014. Together, they delivered the certified platinum album It Takes Two, which included the platinum-selling song of the same name. “It Takes Two” wasn’t their only hit.
[INDIE] The life of a musician is one that can be troublesome if you have a significant other and children at home, but it can be a whole different story if your wife is your band mate, and your kid travels with you. These uncertainties and thrills are what David Wax and his wife, fiddler/singer Suz Slezak, take on in their music. Promoting their fourth album, Guesthouse, which was released in October of last year, this folk inspired band has been described as “pure irresistible joy” by NPR.
[FILM] Doctoral students of UB’s Visual Studies program, Andrew Barron and Conor Moynihan, will present a screening of their documentary Consent: HIV Non-Disclosure and Sexual Assault Law at Dreamland this Friday night, March 25. The movie, which features eight leading feminist scholars, and a booklet, HOW TO HAVE SEX IN A POLICE STATE: ONE APPROACH, will both be discussed in the hopes of raising public consciousness, and bringing issues that people with HIV and AIDS face to the forefront.
[COMEDY] The second installment of Buffalo’s new comedic showcase, Droll, is happening at Milkies this Saturday night, March 26 as four comedians tell stories about the day after their worst drunken night. Each month, Milkies showcases Buffalo’s rapidly growing comedy scene and asks them to respond to a question in any way they choose—be it stand up, a skit, a song, or anyway they see fit.
[WRESTLING] With Wrestlemania less than two weeks away, why not enjoy live wrestling right in your own backyard? Whether you’re a die hard fan, or a lapsed one looking to relive the fandom of your younger days, Buffalo’s Empire State Wrestling is the place for you. ESW showcases homegrown talent like Will Calrissian and Kevin Bennett, in addition to national talents like WWE NXT’s Johnny Gargano and the 500th best wrestler of 2015, Space Monkey this Saturday, March 26 at the St.