[PUNK] Head over to Sugar City for a bunch of hardcore and punk this Sunday, August 26. The top slot goes to La Crosse, Wisconsin-based hardcore band Rig Time. They’ll be joined by Buffalo punk bands Uniform OPR and DUDES.
[ROCK] A solid line up of rock music is lined up for this show at Nietzsche’s on Saturday, August 25. Rock band The Rifts, Salamanca-based alt-rock Elemantra, and garage rock band Hundred Plus Club are slated to take the stage at the Allentown venue.
[FUNK] One of the most highly anticipated editions of Live at Larkin happens this week with Michelangelo Carubba & Friends taking the stage for a free concert. Carubba is the drummer of the funk-jam band Turkuaz and recently performed with both Turkuaz and as Michelangelo Carubba Super Jam at this summer’s Cobblestone Live Music Festival to excited crowds. The funk drummer will return this Wednesday, August 29 with a set that’ll likely include some talented local musicians by his side.
[FUN] The Burchfield Penney Art Center will host a pretty unique video-game focused event this Sunday, August 26. Line up on the front lawn of the Burchfield Penney Art Center to compete in a selection of classic Nintendo, Super NES, N64, Gamecube, and Wii games including Goldeneye, Super Smash Bros. Melee, and Mario Cart, which will be projected onto the side of the building in larger than life size. Sign up sheets will be available starting at 7pm.
[FESTIVAL] The Beau Fleuve Music & Arts Festival is back for its second year and its line up of more than 30 performers is even stronger this time around. Billed as “The Ultimate Sunday Funday” the multi-stage festival features music from rap artist Chae Hawk, blues band Miller and the Other Sinners, DJ SHUB, EDM artist Almand, and many others. There’ll also be multiple art instillations created by local artists and a film festival presented by Bak USA. It all happens this Sunday, August 26 at Silo City.
[ROCK] A custom car show paired with some good old rock n’ roll—seems like an obvious bingo. Show up for the street side hot rod show, stay for the performances by The Irving Klaws, Soul Butchers, the Surfin Cadavers, Blue Rocket Trio, and catl. Expect some burlesque from Hell’s Harlots too, this Saturday, August 25 at Mohawk Place.
[ROCK] Richmond, Virginia-based quartet J Roddy Walston & The Business formed more than 15 years ago as a by-product of Walston’s piano playing and gospel-steeped upbringing. Using a southern-fried template that’s a bit less twangy than, say, Blackberry Smoke, the band moved from Vagrant Records to the Dave Matthews-owned ATO label for their most recent releases, 2013’s Essential Tremors and Destroyers of the Soft Life, out last fall.
[ROCK] Who says you can’t have success in dual careers? 45-year-old Donavon Frankenreiter began his run as a singer-songwriter nearly 15 years ago, and while the coffeehouse crowd to which he was marketed might not have known it, he was already a very successful surf-god, multiple endorsements and all. A buddy of both fellow surf-guitar-guy Jack Johnson and alt-hip-hop maven G. Love, Frankenreiter’s music embraces a pleasing soul-tinged vibe that’s kept him in rotation at Starbucks to this day—not necessarily a bad thing.
[ROCK] Hard as it may be to swallow, Shonen Knife is pushing 40. 37, to be exact. 37 years of touring—and not a whole lot has changed, musically, which goes to show that consistency holds value. There have been some lineup shifts over the years, but the Ramones-inspired, basic punk aesthetic remains—as does a relationship with Buffalo which brought them here to record a Robby Takac-produced Ramones tribute album around the time of their 30th anniversary.
[ROCK] For the perpetually 1980’s enthused, this is the package tour of the summer—and it’s a doozy. Tom Bailey, lead vocalist of the Thompson Twins, has released his first full length solo album ever, Science Fiction, just last month— a collection of moody, electronic pop that’s earning him some of the most impressive reviews of his career (critics are saying it’s the best Thompson Twins album that never happened).
[FESTIVAL] The 18th annual Elmwood Avenue Festival of The Arts happens this Saturday, August 25 and Sunday, August 26 in the Elmwood Village. The festival will feature nearly 200 artists lined up along Elmwood Avenue between West Ferry and St. James Place. Expect to find everything from paintings, photos, and other visual art to woodcraft, jewelry, glass art, and handmade toys. The festival is also a hub for local music, with two stages and a dance tent that’ll be packed with entertainment during the two day festival.
[HIP HOP] One of the bigger hip hop line ups of the summer comes to Western New York for a weekend night concert. Young yet wildly popular rappers G-Eazy and Lil Uzi Vert will take the stage at Darien Lake for a show this Friday, August 24 along with their friends Ty Dolla $ign, YBN Nahmir, Murda Beatz, and P-lo. The tour, dubbed the “Endless Summer Tour,” will be packed with hits, from Uzi Vert’s “XO TOur Llif3” to G-Eazy’s latest “1942,” featuring Yo Gotti and YBN Namir.
[COMEDY] Comedian Hannibal Buress has made it a habit of coming to Buffalo on short notice. His performances at Helium Comedy Club, this Tuesday, August 28 and Wednesday, August 29, were announced just last week. Last time the self-proclaimed “mildly popular” comedian came to Buffalo, it was on an even tighter time table, making a last minute surprise appearance, which was announced only the day of the show, April Fool’s Day, 2016.