Rocket to Allentown / Beautiful Day on Allen

Saturday, September 15

What do U2 and the Buzzcocks have in common? How about the Edge and Johnny Thunders or Bono and Dee Dee Ramone? Virtually nothing. After putting together a tribute to U2 that we’re calling Beautiful Day on Allen, we received demands to bring back last year’s tribute show, Rocket To Allentown: a tribute to punk rock. So we’re going to do both. A night of the Edge and straight edge, “Have a Nice Day,” and “Beautiful Day.” Local bands the Pillagers, the Screaming Jeans, and the Grand National will show up this Saturday (Sept 15) to perform a tribute to the legendary Irish Activists. They’ll play hits like “With or Without You,” “Sunday Bloody Sunday,” and “A Day Without Me.” On the flip side, bands like Crazy Momma, Backhoe, Nutt, and Thunderbirds will play songs by everyone from the Clash to the Buzzcocks, Tom Tom Club, the Ramones, and the Sex Pistols. Each band will cover three songs by the band of their choice and rock the stage, presumably in torn clothing, with rotting guitars covered in stickers. It all happens Saturday at Nietzsche’s, so bring your Bono sunglasses, but watch out for the guy with the safety pin poked through his cheek. —cory perla

9pm Nietzsche’s, 248 Allen St. (886-8539 / nietzsches.com) $5, 21+

Saturday, September 15

Secrets of Allentown

There is something about Allentown—those cottages with tall arched windows, Queen Annes and Victorians packed close together and built right up to the sidewalk on narrow streets and tucked-away parks—that encourages voyeurism. (Who can resist peering in a lit window into an Arlington Park living room at night, after a drink and a bite at Hardware?) Happily, each year the Allentown Association offers a licit opportunity to tour the district’s most fascinating architecture. The Secrets of Allentown tour begins on Saturday (Sept 15) at the 2oth Century Club (595 Delaware Avenue), where ticket-holders receive a tour book for the self-guided excursion, which includes essays on participating properties by Christopher Brown. Ticket-holders also will receive discounts at participating Allentown restaurants and are invited to a free wine tatsing at ther Hamlin House (432 Franklin Street). Advance tickets for Secrets of Allentown can be purchased for $20 through Tickets.com, at the Quaker Bonnet (175 Allen Street), and at Allentown.org website. The day of the event, tickets can be purchased for $25 at the 20th Century Club. Proceeds benefit the Allentown Association. —geoff kelly

11am-5pm 2oth Century Club. 595 Delaware Avenue (secretsofallentown.org) $20 advance, $25 day of.

Saturday, September 15

10th Annual Music is Art Festival

One of Western New York’s most anticipated and heralded festivals celebrates it’s 10th anniversary, as the Music is Art Festival returns to showcase the best local talent the Queen’s City has to offer. This Saturday (Sept 15) Delaware Park behind the Albright Knox Art Gallery transforms into the festival grounds for an all-day exhibition that includes 11 stages for more than 100 bands and DJ’s, 70 artists, and 300 dancers. The jam-packed lineup is a capsule of what art, music, and culture is all about in WNY: variety, expression and originality. If you’re looking to catch any of the numerous musical performances, be sure to set aside time for Andrew J. Reimers Country Punk Extravaganza, the Albrights, the Steam Donkeys, Free Henry!, Canary Girls, the Etchings, DJs Soma, Medison, Armageddon Party, and Loki (who just released a brand new mix on our Exit Music blog), and MiA Battle of the Bands winner Victory For Poland. Some 20 dance acts are set to perform, with styles running the gamut from bellydancing to Irish to modern. Complementing the music aspect are 50 photographers, artists, and non-profits that will set up shop, display their work, and sell their wares around the festival. New this year is a poetry stage, featuring slam poetry and verse from some of Buffalo’s own bards. An event of this magnitude wouldn’t be possible without the help of 250 dedicated volunteers that make the whole thing come together. Founded in 2003 by Goo Goo Dolls bassist and Buffalo-homer Robby Takac, Music is Art has become a fixture in WNY as an organization dedicated to furthering the musical and artistic goals of our community. Happy birthday to MiA, and many more to come. —jon wheelock

10am-10pm Marcy Casino, Delaware Park, Free

Sunday, September 16

VibeSquad

To some he’s known as the king of funkadelic glitch hop. Denver-based DJ, VibeSquad, has earned his rep with his signature style of heavy bass and deep, ultra-grinding groove.With decades of serious musicianship from playing jazz guitar with Yusef Lateef to collaborating with the Future Jazz Project, Zilla, Aaron Holstein brings a true understanding of live performance. Mixing all things funky with the insane energy of psychedelic rock, VibeSquad has been packing sweaty dance floors all across the globe. His memorable heart racing sets at Sonic Bloom, Electric Forest, and Wakarusa, and the release of his epic album, Orphan Alien Pt. 2, have made him a name that is hard to forget. Currently on his “Vava Voom Tour” with dubstep legend Bassnectar, VibeSquad makes a pit stop here in Buffalo. Not your typical bass-driven producer Holstein claims, “One-hundred percent of my live sets are my original productions or remixes. It’s always easier to drop a huge tune at midnight, but it’s much harder to play only your own tracks! That’s what I do.” His high energy, glitched-out beats bring a unique aura of optimism to the crowd. Isn’t that what electronic music is all about? Come see for yourself this Sunday (Sept 16) at Soundlab with bass connoisseur Opiuo and special guest heRobust. —jessica reinhardt

9pm Soundlab, 110 Pearl St. (440-5907 / bigorbitgallery.org/soundlab) $15 day of show 18+

Sunday, September 16

Neil Hamburger

“But that’s my life!” says comedian Neil Hamburger, hair combed over, wearing a tuxedo, sweating profusely, and holding three gin and tonics. The first time I was exposed to the humor of Neil Hamburger, real name Gregg Turkington, was in the Jack Black movie Tenacious D in the Pick of Destiny. He’s the comedian who is warming up the crowd before Tenacious D’s first performance at the open mic show. You might have seen him on Tim and Eric Nite Live! coughing into the microphone and criticizing the show with lines like “this is a poor show. You guys should be ashamed, putting your names on this. This is like when Pringles did the sour cream and onion and bowel movement potato chip. They never should have had their name on that either.” His one-liners are as cheesy as they get, but in character, as a satirical failed, slime-ball comedian, Turkington delivers the lines with such perfect missed timing that the audience can’t help but laugh. This alt-comedian has appeared on the Jimmy Kimmel show, before audiences at Madison Square Garden, and will perform his stand-up routine live at Babeville’s Ninth Ward this Sunday (Sept 16). —cory perla

7pm Babeville’s Ninth Ward, 341 Delaware Ave. (852-3835 / babevillebuffalo.com) $12 advance, $14 day of show

Monday, September 17

Mono

Although they are from Japan, the instrumental rock band Mono has toured extensively throughout Asia, Europe, America, and worldwide while releasing six albums. Their latest, For My Parents, was recorded at Waterfront Studios in Hudson, New York, which is only about six hours away from Buffalo. The album, released on September 4th,m features the band accompanied by the Wordless Music Orchestra. “We hope that this album serves as a gift from child to parent,” the band writes in a press release. “While everything else continues to change, this love remains a constant throughout time.” Mono has been described as post-rock and contemporary classical music with influences that range from Sonic Youth and My Bloody Valentine to Beethoven and Polish minimalist composer Henryk Góercki. Lead guitarist Takaakira Gotohas has even cited director Lars von Trier’s film Breaking the Waves as an influence due to the way different depths and heights of emotion are expressed. Each of Mono’s soundscapes sounds like a score, with sweeping melodies, layering reverb, distortion, and delay effects that carry a flurry of emotions for the listener. The band has been noted for the intensity of their live performances. Take this opportunity to be enveloped in sounds that swell and expand this Monday (Sept 17) at Soundlab. Chris Brokaw (of Codeine) opens the show. —jill greenberg

8pm Soundlab, 110 Pearl St. (440-5907 / bigorbitgallery.org/soundlab) $12 advance, $15 day of show

Wednesday, September 19

TCoheed & Cambria

I am mistaken for Claudio Sanchez of Coheed and Cambria at least once a week. We both share the same type of frame, pierced lips, and unruly long dark hair. I guess that means that Coheed and Cambria are still on people’s minds. Five albums into their epic journey, Coheed and Cambria await the release of the first part of their upcoming double album; The Aftermath: Ascension. Multi-part double albums, nine minute long songs, and extended guitar solos are all a part of Coheed and Cambria’s progressive rock, post-hardcore, punk-metal style. Concept records are a well-worn medium, but this band from Nyack, New York, is one of the only “concept bands” I can think of. For over a decade, the four-piece band has been telling an epic, complex, and tangled science fiction story through their music. The story, in short, is of the Armory Wars, an interstellar battle featuring the fictional hero, Claudio Sanchez, of course named after the band’s frontman. You don’t have to know anything about this intricate story, which hit the mainstream in 2003 with the band’s groundbreaking record In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3, to enjoy Coheed and Cambria’s larger-than-life live show, though. The band will perform live this Wednesday (Sept 19) at the Town Ballroom with support from fellow psychedelic prog-rock band, 3. —cory perla

7pm Town Ballroom, 681 Main St. (852-3900 / townballroom.com) $30

Wednesday, September 19

The American Spirit Landscape Lecture Series

The American Spirit of Landscape Lecture Series is a celebration of Frank Lloyd Wright, Ellen Biddle Shipman, and Frederick Law Olmsted. The landscapes designed by these three visionaries created specifically American experiences of nature and scenery. The third lecture, Ellen Biddle Shipman: American Landscape Design, takes place this Wednesday (Sept 19) at the Burchfield Penney Art Center, and will be presented by Judith B. Tankard. Tankard is well-versed on the subject as she authored The Gardens of Ellen Biddle Shipman, Gertrude Jekyll and the Country House Garden, and A Place of Beauty: The Artists & Garden of the Cornish Colony. Tankard is also a teacher and scholar at Harvard University’s Landscape Institute. Lecture goers will gain insight on Shipman, “...one of America’s foremost garden designers in the early 1900s” Tankard explains. “She was celebrated for her private gardens with lush plantings and distinctive architectural features from New England to the Midwest and the South. Today most of her gardens have vanished, except for those at Graycliff and a handful of others.” Shipman herself once said, “Gardening opens a wider door than any other of the arts–all mankind can walk through.” The series concludes on Wednesday (Oct 17) with Marion Pressley’s Layers Upon Layers: Landscape Designers, Clients, Owners, & Frank Lloyd Wright. The American Spirit Landscape Lecture Series is presented by The Graycliff Estate and The Burchfield Penney Art Center. —jill greenberg

7pm Burchfield Penney Art Center, 1300 Elmwood Ave (947-9217 / graycliffestate.org) $10 general, $5 BPAC & Graycliff members & volunteers