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Buffalo Books and Beer

[LIT] Talk about a perfect niche. Local authors and journalists Matt Higgins and Brian Castner tailored the group for Buffalo’s finest beer loving, literary hipsters back in 2015 in an attempt to broaden the appeal of author events. This Wednesday, October 19 B3 presents two local writers, Timothy Bohen, author of Against the Grain, and Bill Metzger, author of Microbrewed Murder, who will be appearing at Buffalo’s Old First Ward Brewing Company for an informal chat about their beer-bent books.

Zodiaque Dance

[DANCE] UB’s Theater and Dance Department presents Zodiaque Dance Company’s 43rd Fall Season performance. Works by local and non native professionals alike were created for the performance, including a new work by Bessie Award winner Jennifer Nugent. UB faculty members and alumnus Melanie Aceto, Kathleen Golde, Shelley Hain and Kerry Ring contributed to the piece along with local hip hop artist, James Levy. New York City’s Jennifer Golonka has work in the piece as well.

Arnez J

[COMEDY] Arnez J’s curiously observant nature primed his comedy career after a baseball and basketball filled youth that almost landed him under the eyes of Philadelphia Phillies baseball scouts. However, his chance to build a career off his natural talents and instinct came after a stint as a flight attendant, during which he impersonated various characters and stereotypes for the benefit of the airplane passengers.

La Sera

[INDIE] Punk duo La Sera will come to Mohawk Place on Wednesday, October 26 to showcase their latest album, Music for Listening to Music To. The married couple, Katy Goodman of Vivian Girls and Todd Wisenbaker, formed the band in 2010 in Los Angeles but the project seems to be in Goodman’s hands. The former Vivian Girls bassist shares songwriting duties with Wisenbaker but it is her energy and positivity that comes across the strongest in music videos and on stage.

Rod Picott

[AMERICANA] Rod Picott is the son of a welder from rural New England and spent years in the construction business before deciding to pursue his music full-time. He drove the merch truck for Alison Krauss and Union Station during their late 1990s peak and earned a following with occasional opening slots for AKUS, with whom he also shared a management company.  He’s self-released over a half dozen collections of his own songs since and a duo disc with former romantic partner Amanda Shires, earning a solid reputation as an Americana underdog.

Babel: Marlon James

[LIT] For years Marlon James wrestled with the voices in his head; voices of characters speaking to the life and struggle of the Jamaica of his youth. It wasn’t until after writing several disparate short stories and novellas that a friend hinted he was hitting into a common thread.

Big Mean Sound Machine

[FUNK] Reveling in a mixture of forward musical thinking and old-school ideas, the Ithaca-born Big Mean Sound Machine collective has grown to include over 15 artists that prefer analog realness over digital tricks. It’s a difficult to pin-down mix of jazz and world beats that keeps bringing people out to their shows, including an upcoming appearance with special guests at  Buffalo Iron Works on Friday, October 21. Expect the unexpected.

U2 Symphony Experience

[SYMPHONIC] Fans of U2 are in for a treat as the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra takes on the famous Irish rock band’s catalogue for their show the U2 Symphony Experience as part of the Orchestra’s BPO Rocks series. Expect rich, re-envisioned orchestrations of your favorite U2 songs from all of the band’s eras, from “Sunday Bloody Sunday,” to “Elevation” and beyond. The U2 Symphony Experience debuts to Kleinhans Music Hall on Friday, October 21.

Bagels & Brooze

[BRUNCH] Hydraulic Hearth spent the summer killing the brunch game and that trend continues this fall with the return of Bagels & Brooze on Saturday, October 22. The brunch series features a collaboration between the Larkinville restaurant and BreadHive, the local bakery co-op that serves up monstrous bagels—which means there’ll be a full “design your own bagel” menu feature all sorts of tasty selections. The brunch will also feature the music of DJs Shane & Tone, as well as specials from Community Beerworks.

Prom of the Dead: Gilt

[PARTY] Just your basic dance party with costumes, music, candy everywhere, and the dead, no big deal. The party’s been going on for six years strong now, to benefit the cutting edge work done by Torn Space Theater, a theater and performance production engine that continues to churn out post-industrial paeans for the dead, undead, and the barely alive.

TedX: Perceptions

[LECTURE] Previously thought to be sold out due to a technical glitch, this promising showcase at Babeville’s Asbury Hall on Thursday, October 20, brings together nine speakers and one performer to share their ideas in the Ted Talk format. It’s a chance to familiarize yourself with movers and shakers from different disciplines across the WNY region—and possibly have your mind blown by how they think.

The Record Company

[ROCK] You may well have heard The Record Company covering The O’Jays classic “Love Train” in a Coors Light commercial back a few years, but as the L.A.-based trio’s debut for Concord proves, they aspire to something grittier and significantly more potent than watery brew. Released this past February, Give it Back to You launched the single “Off the Ground,” which went on to top Billboard’s Adult Alternative Songs chart.

Cabinet

[BLUEGRASS] Cabinet guitarist Mickey Coviello once described his band as “slamgrass” which, despite its cringe-worthyness as a genre description, actually fits pretty well. That’s because the seven-piece band combines bluegrassy sounds with a rowdy live show that includes two drummers, and a whole lot of strings. Though their latest album, Celebration, might seem like a throwback to another era of music, there’s actually a lot of fresh material in there too. Cabinet comes to Buffalo Iron Works on Thursday, October 20.

White Fang

[PUNK] At first White Fang will make you cringe, like a shot of tequila without a chaser, but power through and you’ll find the buzz you’re looking for. The party-punk band from Portland, Oregon play songs with titles like “Bong Rip” and “Wrecked”—as in “get wrecked”—and the substance of the songs don’t go much beyond those themes, but it’s hard to deny that it’s just good punk rock music.

Garrett Klahn

[ROCK] Most fans probably know Garrett Klahn as singer and guitarist of the post-hardcore band Texas is the Reason. Earlier this year Klahn released his first solo record, and if there is one thing the maturing musician knows, it is how important just one record can be. Texas is the Reason is now highly praised as one of the pioneers of emo music, but the band, which only existed for three years, only released one LP, 1996’s Do You Know Who You Are. On his solo record, Klahn does not aim to recreate that magic—he aims more so to summarize a career so far.

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