[ROCK] Canadian artist Manafest, a.k.a. Chris Greenwood will make a stop at the Evening Star Concert Hall for a show this Saturday, May 6. The hard rock act will be joined by Missouri-based rock band Famous Last Words, along with Lily Among Thorns, Diceros, Beneath Me, and Anchor.
[EMO] Dreamland has a solid line up of indie rock bands set for this Tuesday, May 9. Headliners Thin Lips come in from Philadelphia with their rambunctious pop punk sound. They’ll be joined by local emo bands honey COMA and Passed Out.
[COMICS] This Saturday, May 6, the good people at Gutter Pop Comics are hosting a Free Comic Book Day to try to get you hooked on the eclectic and ever-expanding range of books and work that make it in to a store like Gutter Pop. Adults are maxed at three free books, but kids can have as many as their guardian deems healthy. Coffee and vegan donuts go to the early birds!
Hashtag of the Week is our attempt to highlight a new, popular, or trending hashtag in Buffalo each week. Have a suggestion for a hashtag? Want to submit a photo? Tag your photos with #ThePublicMoment.
1. @christopherhyzy
[CELEBRATION] Let’s hope for good weather this Cinco De Mayo, because if we’re blessed with some sunshine, this Deep South Taco Street Fiesta could be the place to be. The lucha-libre themed street party will feature a bunch of food—Deep South tacos, margaritas, and nachos—as well as a bunch of great music. Expect sets by Strictly Hip, West of the Mark, Tiny Music, Kung Fu Grip, and more. There’ll also be a 50/50 auction benefiting Meals on Wheels.
[HIP HOP] Rapper Nathan Feuerstein, better known as NF, brings his “Therapy Session” tour to the Town Ballroom on Tuesday, May 9. In the last two years, the 26-year-old Christian rapper has released two full length records, 2015’s Mansion, and 2016’s Therapy Session. The albums have received generally positive reviews from Christian blogs and mainstream hip hop sites alike, often comparing the young rapper to Eminem. NF has shaken off the comparison as “annoying,” however.
[PARADE & PARTY] By the time you read this, May Day will have come and gone. But the work to protect workers is an everyday affair, and workers have to work on workdays, so this Sunday, May 7 is as good a day as any (and better than most) for a parade. May Day: A Celebration of Worker Justice and Climate, a project of the Crossroads Collective, takes place this Sunday, May 7, 1-5pm, at New Skateland Arena.
[INDIE] Somewhere between My Bloody Valentine and Beach House land Baltimore’s Wildhoney. On their 2015 debut, Sleep Through It, the band delivered equal parts shoegaze and pop, oscillating between massive guitar walls and vocal hooks from singer Lauren Shusterich. The follow up from the five piece band, Your Face Sideways, was released on Top Shelf Records, whose roster includes the popular emo band Braid and Buffalo indie rock band Del Paxton.
[CLASSICAL] Call it “Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Wagner But Were Afraid to Ask.” This weekend, the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra offers a primer called Wagner’s World of the Ring, a walk-through of the Norse mythology (both classical and self-inflected) that inspired the influential composer—in his music, in images, in words from the BPO’s JoAnn Falletta and narrator Doug Zschiegner.
[COMDY] Most folks will be just as shocked as I am to learn that Steve-O from Jackass is still alive. Not only is he alive, but he’s touring the stand up comedy circuit. If you skip to the 42-year-old’s website, you’ll see that he’s still dedicated to performing and hosting insane stunts—including jumping off of a bridge from a trampoline mounted on a pick up truck, and persuading an apprentice to skateboard into a field of cacti.
[ROCK] Get over the Band, man: You’ll never see them again. Embrace instead Professor Louie and the Crowmatix—a living, breathing, performing, and still recording tether to that great era of rock-and-roll. The good professor, who sings and plays accordion and keys, was a collaborator with the Band for 16 years. (He still lives in Woodstock.) Other members of the Crowmatix have played with the Band, too, and with Van Morrison, Bob Dylan, Levon Helm, Joe Jackson, and Mercury Rev. So why on gods’ green earth are you living in the past, man?
Prominent local bigot Carl Paladino sent an email to three of his Buffalo school board colleagues — Jennifer Mecozzi, Paulette Woods, and board President Barbara Seals Nevergold. It was hilariously condescending, but more importantly underscores the fact that he doesn’t have the courage to speak to these women in any way to their faces — he takes to email to hector and lecture them, accusing them of collusion, ethical lapses, and corruption.