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[ROCK] The way the story goes, Martin Barre’s original audition for Jethro Tull didn’t go well—he was too nervous to play. But a second audition was furnished at his request, and Barre then spent the 1968 holiday season learning guitar parts for Tull’s classic Stand Up album, which got recorded the following spring. Barre’s tenure as Tull’s guitarist extended until the band’s (supposed) dissolution a few years ago and also included contributed bits of mandolin and flute playing.

[ROCK] Bay area promoter extraordinaire Billy Graham called Shawn Phillips the “best kept secret in the music business.” It’s a fitting description, given that Phillips, now 75, is a gifted Texas-born troubadour who, despite numerous brushes with fame, never really broke through. Early in his career, he collaborated with Donovan, sang with the Beatles, and helped Joni Mitchell develop her guitar style. He hung out with the guys in Traffic and was cast in Jesus Christ Superstar, though he turned down the role.

[DRINK] Earlier this year, Bobby Finan helped launch a whiskey festival in Buffalo. It was a success, despite a cease-and-desist letter from another popular whiskey festival with a similar name—so much so that his team, which includes his sister Margaret, who works on the festival full-time, and event organizers Step Out Buffalo, has decided to do it again less than a year later.

[ROCK] Rock band Iration comes with a whole bunch of influences, from jam to reggae, to alternative rock, and pop. Six albums deep, the band is still in touch with their spiritual side either, never taking for granted the healing effects of the universal art form, which is evidenced on the band’s latest self-titled record.

[HARDCORE] Members of Letlive, the Chariot, and Night Verses come together to form the relatively new band, the Fever 333. Based out of Inglewood, California, the hardcore punk band formed in 2017 and earlier this year released their first material in their EP, Made an America, a heavy, subversive hardcore record. The Fever 333 comes to the Rec Room on Wednesday, October 3.  

[COMEDY] Comedian Chris D’Elia has been on a few major TV shows including Whitney and the Good Doctor, but his stand up act is where he shines. Though he’s not necessarily a household name, 38-year-old comedian steps up onto the stand up stage with a rock star attitude. His confidence on stage borders on cockiness, which makes his over exaggerated facial contortions, outlandish stage movements, and ridiculous voices that much funnier.

[METAL] Steel Panther registers somewhere between Def Leppard and Spinal Tap. With song titles like “Gloryhole” and “It Won’t Suck Itself,” you really have to have a certain type of sense of humor for this one, and if you’re not already deeply into 1980s hair metal, this might not be for you. But if it sounds like it is, then catch Steel Panther at the Rapids Theatre in Niagara Falls on Friday, September 28.