[JAZZ] Hot Club might sound like the next big EDM party in Buffalo, but it’s actually a four-piece gypsy jazz band. Covering everything from Bach to Jimi Hendrix, the group can definitely still induce plenty of spontaneous dancing from their crowds. They’ll be at Pausa Art House this Thursday, March 23.
[ELECTRONIC/DANCE] Bit pop is a type of electronic music that emulates sounds sourced from classic video game consoles like NES, Game Boy, and Sega Genesis. The Maine-based electronic music duo Crunk Witch blast out these bit pop sounds with as much bass as possible. The wife and husband pair began producing music in 2009 and have been on the road on and off since—and they don’t take themselves too seriously, and that makes the music all that much more fun.
[POP] There are plenty of Michael Jackson impersonators out there, but Who’s Bad: The Ultimate Michael Jackson Experience is far from just an impersonation. It’s more like an immersive Michael Jackson concert. This is the longest running tribute to the King of Pop on tour right now, and it’s pretty comprehensive—reaching back to the Jackson 5 days and covering everything through the end of his career. The show features a full, six-piece band, and two Michael Jackson dopplegangers in frontmen Taalib York and Joseph Bell—which means you can expect twice the moonwalking.
[ROCK] As a unit, Igor Yuzov and his Red Elvises are one of a kind. The Russian-American outfit, long based out of Los Angeles, evolved from Limpopo – another singular entity that specialized in Russian folk-pop. Evolving from that, the Elvises blend traditional Russian tones with a ska/surf-punk sensibility that relies heavily on absurd, camp humor. Enjoy the unusual display at Sportsmen’s Tavern this Saturday, March 25.
[POP] Canadian pop singer Dan Hill has released over a dozen albums since his 1975 debut, and his duets with Vonda Shepard (of Ally McBeal fame) and Celine Dion have helped keep his recording career in play. But it was 1977’s “Sometimes When We Touch” that really got his tuneful rasp to penetrate mass consciousness and remains a Light FM staple forty years on. He’ll perform that and more when he plays the Bear’s Den at the Seneca Niagara Casino on Saturday, March 25.
[ROCK] Intended for those that like off-the-wall hybrids and take their metal with a big helping of humor, the Mockstrocity Tour brings together Metalachi, the first and only (so far as we know) heavy metal mariachi band (The Bronx does it, but that’s a punk band) with Mac Sabbath. For the uninitiated, the Mac is like a Weird Al spin on the now-defunct Black with a super-sized twist: a clown-y Ronald Osborne up front in yellow suit and big-assed shoes, flanked by metallically re-imagined takes on Grimace, The Hamburglar, and Mayor McCheese.
[COMEDY] Comedian Matt Braunger is not that big, he’s not that dumb, and he’s certainly no animal, especially when dressed in his usual workman’s shirt and tie. But when he has to face a break up, or when he sees another man awkwardly hitting on a woman at a bus stop at 10am, he sees himself devolving into the big dumb animal that he, and we, truly are. The MadTv alumn, delivers quips on these topics and more on his 2015 stand up special titled, as you may have guessed, Big Dumb Animal.
[BENEFIT] The plight of the so-called #Buffalo25—a host of local, undocumented restaurant workers who were arrested last October has only become more relevant with the passing weeks as story upon story of folks being arrested for pursuing a dream of liberty stack up. A VICE news report last week framed Buffalo’s role in the national story in its historical context as a terminus in the Underground Railroad.
[LIT] Last week on St. Patrick’s Day, the federal Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney held a startling press conference outlining new priorities for spending. Donning a shamrock lapel pin and a green pocket square to honor a culture historically ravaged by hunger, disease, and poverty, Mulvaney went on to explain that international famine relief, Meals on Wheels, and lunch programs in schools could no longer be afforded.
[INDIE] Continuing their winter concert series at Lockhouse Distillery this week, Sunbeam Entertainment presents Buffalo indie rock band Mutual Friends and Philly-based “feminist indie rock” band Ellen Siberian Tiger. Though both bands can be considered indie rock, Ellen Siberian Tiger delivers more complex instrumentation—with everything from violin, vibraphone and trombone in addition to their standard rock band configuration—than Mutual Friends, who shoot for a straightforward indie-pop sound.
[METAL] Veteran thrash metal band Funeral Nation come to Buffalo this week for a show at Mohawk Place on Thursday, March 23. The band, which formed in 1989 in Chicago will be joined by a handful of popular Buffalo-based metal bands as well, including thrash metal band Cain, death metal from Hubris, and hardcore band Disrepair.
[ELECTRONIC/DANCE] The next edition of Dance Yrself Clean: A Hipster Dance Party happens this Friday, March 24 at Milkie’s on Elmwood. The indie dance music focused party seems to be growing in popularity, and this next edition features some popular folks from the local music scene including Tom Burtless, Nick Muldoon, Ben Parsons, Allison Lavis, and Katie Gariepy playing everything from Jamie xx to Grimes.
GreenWatch: Sunday Television
Up in Algonquin
Remember when the new Lululemon in the Walden Galleria had to remove a mosaic at its threshold because people took offense at its invocation of local sports horrors such as ”wide right” and “no goal”? Uber is now doing something worse on TV screens throughout western New York—shaming Buffalo for political gain.