[ROCK] Female fronted pop-rock band from Ithaca, The Blind Spots come to Nietzsche’s for a concert on Friday, May 11. They’ll be joined by a couple of top notch Buffalo-based groups including the revamped indie rock band Ponder, and three-piece alt rockers The Good Neighbors.
[POETRY SLAM] Come Saturday, May 12, the biggest poetry slam Buffalo has yet to witness will grace the historic Barrel Factory in the Old First Ward. Wat You Mean?
[TECHNO] Aural Shift’s Phase II party coming up this Friday has claimed status as an official Movement Festival Pre-Party. For those who don’t know, Movement Festival is one of the biggest techno and house festivals in the world, which takes place in the birthplace of techno, Detroit Michigan on Memorial Day weekend. Hundreds, maybe thousands, of folks will make the five hour trek from Buffalo to Detroit for the festival, and Aural Shift will prep us for the trip with a bunch of dark, futuristic, gritty grooves shipped in from around the world.
[EMO] On the heels of removing former Saosin guitarist Justin Shekoski from the band – reinforced by then filing a restraining order due to some strange threats he’d made since — 2018 got off to a strange start for post-hardcore outfit The Used. Having released a new album, The Canyon, last fall, the quartet was forced to reschedule their European tour in the wake of these changes, but the show must go on—and so it does, with Hell or Highwater’s Joey Bradford welcomed into the fold.
[POP] Florida’s Jake Miller understands the power of visual allure, using YouTube (and his easy-on-the-eyes appearance) to his great advantage: the 25-year-old singer-cum-rapper eventually landed a deal with Warner Brothers on the strength of leveraging his video presence. But Miller isn’t afraid to work hard, having since gone indie and putting some rigorous touring under his belt behind last year’s 2:00am in LA and the new Silver Lining, out in March.
[ROCK] Naming your band after Marlon Brando’s biker gang from the 1953 film, The Wild One, casts a leathery, engine-revving tone that has stayed the duration for California’s Black Rebel Motorcycle Club— and there’s nothing wrong with that.
[ELECTRONIC/DANCE] Techno, house, and tech-house all night long brought to you by the folks at Pyramid. This week’s event features Greg Gow, a Toronto native and resident DJ at Coda night club in Toronto with a penchant for Detroit techno. Catch him along with Pyramid’s Charlie Abbott and Kyle Moody at the Gypsy Parlor on Saturday, May 12 for a late nighter.
[ELECTRONIC/DANCE] Music by everyone from Jamie xx to Grimes, Blood Orange and Mount Kimbe from a few popular folks in the local music scene including Ben Parsons, Tom Burtless, Allison Lavis, and Bryan Johnson. The next edition of Dance Yrself Clean: A Hipster Dance Party happens this Saturday, May 12 at Hardware Cafe in Allentown.
[REGGAE] Rochester-based reggae band Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad have been one of the most consistent reggae bands out there. They’ve hit the top five of the Billboard reggae charts a few times, including in 2016, when they released their latest album, Make It Better, which debut at #1. The album has recently been released on cool translucent blue splatter vinyl, so hopefully they’ll have a few on hand when they play Buffalo Iron Works this Friday, May 11.
[TRIBUTE] A bunch of talented local musicians will bring their Beatles cover band PastMasters to Mohawk Place for a show on Saturday, May 12. Expect to hear Rubber Soul, Yesterday & Today, and Revolver (the American versions) in their entirety.
[HARDCORE] As far as the Bunny the Bear goes, the Bunny has stayed consistent while the Bear has roamed. Since forming in Buffalo in 2008, the Bunny A.K.A. Matthew Tybor has written and released a lot of music—seven albums in that time—with the help of a rotating cast of band members, including The Bear, his other half who has been played by four different members over the years. We’re back around to Bear 3.0, at least for now, in vocalist Joseph Garcia.
[HARDCORE] In April, post-hardcore band Underoath released Erase Me, their first album in eight years and first since reuniting in 2015. It’s also the first album since 2008’s Lost in the Sound of Separation to feature founder, drummer, vocalist, and the band’s most recognizable member, Aaron Gillespie. The 34-year old vocalist left the band in 2010 and after releasing a subsequent album, Ø Disambiguation, Underoath broke up in 2013.
[REGGAE] The Wailers were reggae icon Bob Marley’s band for roughly 20 years until Marley’s death in 1981. Since then there have been a few different configurations of the Wailers, but the configuration we’re talking about here features Wailer’s guitarists Junior Marvin and Donald Kinsey, as well as bassist and founding member Aston “Familyman” Barrett, who has toured as a session musician with everyone from Quincy Jones to Solange. Familyman’s son, Aston Barrett Jr.
JIM STARLIN created Thanos—the central villain in Avengers: Infinity War—in 1973. This early drawing is from Starlin’s personal collection. The legendary comics artist will be at Sleeping Giant Collectibles (80 Clinton Street, Tonawanda) on Saturday, May 5. Read more on page 13 and at dailypublic.com.