[JAM] After this year’s music festival circuit, everyone will know who Dayton, Ohio’s The Werks is. The band is playing a few huge festivals, including the famous Electric Forest festival, and now their own—The Werk Out Music Festival, which will also feature Umphrey’s McGee, Papadosio, Lettuce, and more.
[ART] Come one, come all to the grand opening of Prism, a gallery that is dedicated to local LGBT artists. The mission of Prism is to empower regional LGBT creative makers, and celebrate the community’s history as a vessel of creativity and transformation. Its first show, Friday, May 1, entitled Retrospective, is a collection of works by illustrator Mickey Harmon. Since moving to the area 10 years ago, he has integrated the local architecture and culture as points of reference in his work.
[ART] Don’t miss out on the Third Annual Spring Artists Sale, featuring work by more than 35 local artisans. This sale will include a wide array of functional and decorative art and artisan goods such as textiles, pottery, jewelry, glassware, handmade journals, prints, photography, and more. The museum store will also have specials, and don’t forget to stop by the café to see what Jerry is cooking. This sale also serves as a fundraiser for the museum, with all artists donating a percentage of their sales to support the ongoing mission of the museum.
[COUNTRY] Even if you don’t think you know who Lauderdale is, you’ve likely heard his music in your travels—maybe even on ABC’s Nashville. Twenty-six albums in and he’s proven himself an Americana master of twang, associating with other revered players like Buddy Miller, Rodney Crowell, and the boys from Hot Tuna. As a country troubadour, Lauderdale keeps his music deep-voiced, string-based and simple—and he also keeps it real—there’s none of that countrified hit-radio/auto-tuned crap happening here.
[ROCK] As a band still in search of its sonic identity, recording Mind Over Matter presented more of a challenge to So-Cal’s Young the Giant than your average sophomore slump. After experiencing a noteworthy level of success with a 2010 self-titled debut, the five-piece blew up substantially with an appearance on MTV’s VMA Awards show in 2011.
[CLASSIC] He couldn’t take his eyes off you in the 1960s, and his eyes adored you (though he never laid a hand on you) in the 1970s, but Frankie Valli’s career stretches back to the early 1950’s as a key player in the then-burgeoning world of ballad crooners. Teaming up with the Four Seasons in the early 1960s landed a string of jukebox classics—”Sherry,” “Let’s Hang On,” and “Big Girls Don’t Cry”—all led by Valli’s unbelievable falsetto.
[FOLK ROCK] This Thursday, April 30 The Bones of J.R Jones will grace the crowd at Mohawk Place with woolly, blues inspired folk songs as one of the last stops of his nationwide tour. Armed with a dobro guitar, the moniker belongs to J.R. Linaberry, a former punk-rocker turned roots-music lover who occupies a separate persona on stage, enticing audiences with a soulful singing style backed by dynamic finger picking.
[ROCK] Simply put, Consider the Source is a trio of wildly talented musicians. Encompassing more genres and chops than your average player can handle, the group blends world music culture with some of your more traditional forms like jazz, funk, and progressive rock. Leading the group, dual-neck guitarist Gabriel Marin who provides not only guitar work, but a tonal landscape by means of a special modification that allows him to play any instrument through his guitar.
[FUNK] Broccoli Samurai may sound like an odd name for a band, but the trio from Cleveland serves up a healthy blend of solid musicianship and a vision that mixes electronic and jam. Their blend of digital and analog takes dance-heavy sounds and blends it with live improvisation. This Thursday, April 30, Broccoli Samurai will take the stage at Buffalo Iron Works with openers Mike Gantzer and Dave Loss from Buffalo’s Aqueous.
[TOUR] From Buffalo’s Art Deco City Hall that presides over the waterfront and surrounding city; to America’s first female architect Louise Bethune’s Hotel Lafayette and the Electric Tower–the ultimate symbol of Buffalo as the City of Light–downtown Buffalo boasts a century-old architectural treasury, conveying a palpable, industrious, and artistic past.
[ALT ROCK] The Maine gained a sizable following back in 2008 with tongue-in-cheek tracks like “Everything I Ask For.” Their subsequent albums, Black and White (2010), and Pioneer (2011), maintained a consistent pop-rock swag, but Forever Halloween (2013) veered off the beaten path, marking an abrupt shift to alternative rock territory and prompting criticisms of inauthenticity to pandering.
[DANCE] In a meld of space, movement, and thought, the faculty of Buffalo State College are tackling the field of architecture for their annual faculty-choreographed performance in Upton Hall’s Warren Enters Theatre this Wednesday through Saturday at 8pm with
[DUBSTEP] Two rooms, 15 acts: UK dubstep producers Dark Tantrums make their first Buffalo appearance along with stateside DJ/producer Concious Pilot, Ontario’s Distinct Motive, Cleveland dubstep producer Thunder St. Clair, and Buffalo’s Basha with Get Real, Mattrix, NeckBrace, Baceface, Dub’L Forte, and Tokyo Drifter.