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Looking Backward: Exchange Street Station, circa 1930

“A crew of workmen early this morning will swing axes of destruction on the old New York Central station, center of more than a half century’s stirring events in the history of the street. Thus will go the building which for six decades felt the tread of the rich and poor, the mighty and the lowly, the happy and the sad.”—Buffalo Courier Express, November 13, 1935
 

Spotlight: BJ's Fest

Fair warning: If you’re looking for info on BJ’s Fest, the annual indie rock fest held at the popular Fredonia dive bar BJ’s, skip Google. It’s a tricky search term. All the info you’ll likely need can be found here. The annual festival launched more than 10 years ago at BJ’s—one of the oldest bars, if not the oldest bar in Fredonia, opened in 1933. Next to pretty good wings and cheap-ass beer, BJ’s is known for live music. It is, in fact, one of the only live music venues next to a university with a pretty extensive music program.

Free Fire, The Lost City of Z, Tommy’s Honour

Here is one of the very many ways in which movies differ from real life: In the former, there is something inherently pleasurable about watching people shoot each other. I’ve never seen it in real life, and hope that I never do, because I’m sure it’s horrifying. But on a movie screen there’s something compelling about it, and not simply because we’ve been conditioned to the meaning of it. Maybe it’s just the tension/release thing, or action/reaction: we see (and hear) an event, the shot, and a millisecond later we see the result, a burst of violent movement.

Buddy Guy

[BLUES] It kind of goes without saying at this point that 80-year-old Buddy Guy is a living legend. He’s influenced many of the world’s greatest influencers including Jimi Hendrix, Keith Richards, and Eric Clapton and continues to get up on that stage and wow audiences world wide. The legendary blues guitarist from Lettsworth, Louisiana makes his return to the UB Center For the Arts this Friday, April 21 with special guest Tom Hambridge.

Ryan Davis

[COMEDY] What happens when you accidentally send your boss a dick pic? Should grown-ass men be playing Pokemon Go? Is Odell Beckham Jr. gay? Ryan Davis has the answers to these questions and more. He usually answers them in the form of his many viral Youtube video hot takes, but he also tackles the big questions live on stage, opening for the likes of Jay Pharoah and Tom Green. He’ll be headlining when he comes to Helium Comedy Club for a one off show this Sunday, April 23.

Cabinet

[BLUEGRASS] It’s hard to pigeonhole Cabinet as a band. Bluegrass is the root of their sound but it’s also way more than that. As the band says, when they sat down to write their album Celebration, it was meant to be a straightforward bluegrass album, but what actually came out was far more, though still undeniably rustic with plenty of mandolin, double bass, fiddle, and banjo. Catch Cabinet at Buffalo Iron Works this Friday, April 21.

Flux Pavilion

[ELECTRONIC/DANCE] The early photos coming out of Flux Pavilion’s Around the World in 80 Raves tour, which kicked off last week, look pretty wild. The young producer is, of course, surrounded by lasers, LED screens and humongous speakers, but there are also images of giant inflatable things and maybe even some kind of blimp-like air craft.

Shonen Knife

[PUNK] The all-female Japanese punk band Shonen Knife kind of look like they’ve just stepped out of a Scooby Doo cartoon from the 1970s. Wearing color coordinated outfits and loudly singing fun lyrics in both English and Japanese, you feel as though these three ladies are about to reveal their superpowers to the audience at any moment. And they do, because their superpowers are playing crazy fun pop punk songs inspired in equal parts by the Ramones and the PowerPuff Girls.

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