Events

[ROCK] The luxury to say “Fuck you”—we dream about standing by our visions and working to make that beautiful tactful message clear whether by art, or in this case garage rock.

Meet the Black Lips. No sir, not just any band we are honored to host in this revived city, but “the band” on many lists of must-see-once-in-lifetime acts. Yes, I said it. They have reached that level and this is no PR message but comes from a witness to their visceral and sweaty onstage musical allure. 

I remember at the Black Cat show down in D.C. I was spat/ showered on with beer by Cole Alexander. Everyone was wild and I just stood there and slowly smiled. 

A year after that I went to Magic Stick in the D (Detroit) to catch the bands Death and BBQ (King Khan BBQ Show). Again I caught beer spit right in my face. Bulls eye. Everyone went wild and again I just stood there and slowly smiled. I got it. It was real. Tunnel vision. Emotion. I was hooked. 

Having been a band for more than 16 years, there has been a lot of controversy, onstage antics, a few member change ups, and a mix of tragedies, highs and heartbreaks. They haven’t quite reached the 22 years the Ramones achieved, but I see them going 10 more years easily. What’s interesting is in those years, and even now, they have never sold out or bent shit to “fit in.” For the band to have endured life throughout those years you have to understand they’ve had to laugh about a lot of things—from boy bands to pop crap to “radio cock rock.”

Now we live in the “bend neck” era of social media and they are still kicking ass—still saying to all of that, ”fuck you.” They earned it. The rebellious modern day James Dean-persona southern garage rockers make a trip to Buffalo’s Nietzsches on Saturday, July 16. Chain and the Gang serve as the openers, playing rock ‘n’ blues with an early touch of “trash garage” vibes.