Buffalo DIY Fest

Saturday, August 10

Do you like to do it yourself? Well a lot of people around Buffalo do. Celebrating the spirit of DIY culture, the first ever Buffalo DIY Fest is upon us. DIY does not mean working with limited resources, it means working independently—be that of corporate sponsorship or official venues—and the artists involved in this event know just how to pull such an effort off. Put together by Buffalo DIY, an organization promoting everything local—booking shows for local and out-of-town bands, and providing screen-printing services—the one-of-a-kind festival will feature a bunch of awesome bands like Buffalo math-rockers All of Them Witches, Oakland, California based surf-samplers Twin Steps, electronic noise-makers VWLS, songwriter Kevin Cain, post-hardcore band Scales, and acoustic darling Aimee Mac. “The idea for Buffalo DIY started when a lot of venues began closing and the ability for a band like mine, All of Them Witches, or other bands on the small scale, to get a decent show in this city became less and less,” says Cameron Rogers, drummer of All of Them Witches and founder of Buffalo DIY. Expect tons of interesting arts and crafts from artists Bobby Griffiths of Gutter Magic, Michelle Sallander, Samantha Epps of the Owlery Arts, the Western New York Book Arts Center, Jacob Brockway, Katie Barbera, Sara Johnson, Lauren Mentkowski, Julie Kransinki-Scoma, Yellow Field/Buffalo Ochre Papers, Eleise Kohler, Lena Scapillato, and Optic Lithium, as well as food from man-n-cheese truck Fallymac and pop-up taqueria Taco Porch. The Buffalo DIY Fest happens this Saturday (Aug 10) in Buffalo River Fest Park.

- cory perla

4pm to 9pm Buffalo River Fest Park, 249 Ohio St. $5

Friday, August 9

Homeboy Sandman

The moment a Homeboy Sandman record hits the turntable, heads inevitably start bobbing. The Stones Throw Records emcee has a relentless flow that grooves along to an indefinable rhythm, occasionally allowing some bits of Spanish to bleed in through his sharp lyrics on songs like “The Carpenter.” “I’m runnin’ out of time, not runnin’ out of breath,” the lyricist raps in his truly unstoppable form on that aforementioned track. Pitchfork dubbed him “one of the best pure lyricists around” for his politically and socially charged words and NPR has praised his disobedient brand of hip hop. The 32 year-old Queens, New York hip hop artist has been rising since his 2007 debut album Nourishment (Seecond Helpings), reaching one of what could be many peaks with his 2012 record First of a Living Breed. He’s not just a writer of rap lyrics though, he’s a regular contributor to the Huffington Post and has also written for Gawker as well. Deep Thinka Records presents Homeboy Sandman at Duke’s this Friday (Aug 9) with support from Open Mike Eagle, Mega Ran, Radarada, and DJs Lopro and Bearskinrug. Don’t miss out.

- cory perla

10pm Duke’s Bohemian Grove Bar, 253 Allen St. (240-9359 / dukesbohemiangrovebar.com) $7

Saturday, August 10

Fluid Dynamics

Take a camera, point it at a monitor that is playing back what the camera is shooting, and a feedback loop is created. Point a guitar at an amplifier and you’ve created a feedback loop. “Once you have a signal in a computer it’s plastic. Once a signal is in a computer you can shape it and distort it, and that is what feedback is all about. Whether you’re doing ambient music or glitch, you’re playing with the plasticity of data,” says artist Justin Lincoln whose video instillation The Feedback Loop will be on display as part of an afternoon of glitch, ambient, and noise music at Squeaky Wheel called Fluid Dynamics. Lincoln’s Feedback Loop instillation is made up of two components: a multi-channel video instillation, in which sounds trigger abstract and objective visuals, and an interactive piece that cross fades real time images into a video montage. Performing under the alias Notational, Lincoln, who hails from Walla Walla, Washington, will join eight other musicians including Matt Underwood of Providence Rhode Island and Buffalo’s Chapels, Bill Sack, VWLS, Mario Fanone, Downsampling, Ay Fast, and Frankie NP, as each present their own brands of glitched-out electronic sounds. Some performances will be like a typical live electronic music set, while others will be more like small-scale sound instillations. Drinks and snacks will be served on the back alley patio, and the grill will be fired up, so feel free to bring your own BBQ supplies. Hear these artists bend sound in ways you’d never expect this Saturday afternoon (Aug 10) at Squeaky Wheel.

- cory perla

Squeaky Wheel Media Arts Access Center, 712 Main Street (884-7172 / squeaky.org) free

Saturday, August 10

Spirit of the 80s

For many Western New Yorkers who came of age in the 1980s and early 1990s, the Toronto radio station CFNY was the soundtrack to their adolescent lives. Through the power and influence of CFNY and Canadian radio in general, many Canadian artists began to become popular with listeners on this side of the border, among them Toronto’s Spoons (pictured) and Vancouver’s Images In Vogue. Formed in 1979, Spoons released their first record Stick Figure Neighborhood in 1981. Reminiscent of Depeche Mode, Yazoo, and Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark, Spoons enjoyed numerous Canadian Top 40 Hits and following opening slots with the Police, Simple Minds, and Culture Club, the band was asked to work with the in demand Nile Rodgers. The resultant album, Talkback, contained a more expanded sound and furthered the boundaries of their synth-pop trademark. Talkback’s single “Romantic Traffic’ has remained Spoons most lasting hit. Images In Vogue were also a synth-pop band who brought to mind the Psychedelic Furs, David Bowie, and the Cure while maintaining their own distinct persona. Adding a tinge of goth to the proceedings, Images In Vogue also were early innovators of sampling, which is not surprising considering the band contained percussionist Kevin Crompton, who later became cEvin Key and formed Skinny Puppy. Both Spoons and Images In Vogue will be co-headlining the Spirit of the Eighties show at Lewiston’s Academy Park on Saturday (Aug 10). The show will be hosted by pioneering CFNY DJ and author Alan Cross and will also feature a reunion of Lewiston favorites Kama Sutra.

- bill nehill

4pm to 11pm Academy Park, 841 Center St Lewiston (facebook.com/TheSpirtOfThe80sReunion) $15 advance, $25 day of show, $50 VIP

Saturday, August 10

BuffaBLOG Summer Party

BuffaBLOG is our city’s team of music enthusiasts who take to the form of written word to express it. The bloggers, ever changing and ever expanding, will be hosting a summer party on Saturday (Aug 10) at Duke’s Bohemian Grove Bar. The lineup showcases local talent and varies in its span of genres to delight any music taste. Go Exploring is a one-man show from Lancaster based Matt Scime, known for his dreamy chillwave sound. Hailing from Rochester, the Demos will take stage with their West Coast vibe and intentionally retro persona; their acclaimed influences include “girls, fast cars, nightlife, girls, reckless romance, and girls.” The group has been signed to two record labels: Young Lion of the West Recording Company in the United States and Thistime Records in Japan. Three-piece Buffalo alternative rock band the Malones (pictured)—who were recently featured on Absolutepunk.net—will perform as comical lyricist Jack Toft. You can hear songs from Toft like “Big Bag of Funyuns” from his That FRIGGIN BOO-YAH Tape on Bandcamp. Buffalo’s well-known and frequently buffaBLOG-ed about band I Can See Mountains will also perform. The DJs throughout the evening will be the DJ crew voted Best of Buffalo at this year’s awards, Spooky Business. Photographer Nate Peracciny will be on hand taking photos so brush your teeth, take a bath and we’ll see you at Duke’s on Saturday.

- alicia greco

10pm Duke’s Bohemian Grove Bar, 253 Allen St. (240-9359 / dukesbohemiangrovebar.com) $5

Monday, August 12

All Shall Perish

The name All Shall Perish was chosen by their former drummer as he sat in his room thinking about all of the terrible things going on in the world and in his own life at the time. And although the band has had numerous lineup changes since its inception in 2002, one thing they will not do is succumb to the reality of their own name. The deathcore band from Oakland has consistently mixed melodic hooks with a tightly synced rhythm section to create an unstoppable tonal force. Lyrically, the band focuses more on the politically themed and addresses societal issues, government corruption and war. The West Coast band is making their way east on their current tour, and stopping at one of Buffalo’s newest venues, the Waiting Room on Monday (Aug 12). Joining them will be Oceano, Within the Ruins, Reflections, and Betrayal. All Shall Perish will be two days removed from their Heavy MTL festival performance in Montreal and will bring enough metal across the border to alarm a TSA agent. You will surely get your metal fix with five bands squeezed into a Monday night.

- jeremiah shea

5:30pm The Waiting Room, 334 Delaware Ave (852-3900 / waitingroombuffalo.com) $16 advance, $18 day of show

Tuesday, August 13

The Mickey Hart Band

Drummer Mickey Hart joined the Grateful Dead in 1967. Four years later he left the band to pursue his solo career but quickly joined the band again after the release of his first record, Rolling Thunder. He stayed with the Dead until their ultimate demise in 1995 and in that time, alongside fellow Dead drummer Bill Kreutmann, earned the nickname “the rhythm devils.” Known for their universe of percussive instruments and extended polyrhthmic jams, “the ryhthm devils” helped to bring a worldly aspect to the Dead’s already diverse sound. Whether Hart is striking a bongo with a mallet or banging a snare with a drumstick, he’s known for his highly passionate and far-out performances. In 2007 Hart released the Grammy award winning record Global Drum Project, following it up five years later with Mysterium Tremendum, an album that focused heavily on “cosmic sounds” created by transforming electromagnetic radiation, purportedly given off by various celestial objects, into various sound waves via computer intervention. Though it might seem like a lot to take in, it all makes sense when experienced live. The Mickey Hart Band is a must see performance for Dead-heads and music junkies alike, so don’t miss them when they come to the Town Ballroom on Tuesday (Aug 13).

- cory perla

7pm Town Ballroom, 681 Main St. (852-3900 / townballroom.com). $30 advance, $34 day of show

Thursday, August 15

Monster Truck

As I sit munching on the elegant complexities of a Coffee Crisp bar, I am reminded of the many great things that we here in Buffalo are allotted by being oh so close to Ontario and the Canadian border. Sure, there are the candy bars, the back bacon, the beer and the hockey... but never forget the music. And while Toronto, Kingston, Ottawa and London all have rich music scenes let’s be frank: there’s no city more awesome or Buffalo-like than Hamilton, Ontario—a manufacturing and industrial center (or “centre”, as they spell it) that boasts an unpretentious, no nonsense, multi-cultural mix of blue collar and educated population. You gotta admit: so far, it seems a lot like Buffalo and if you listen to the music of Hamilton, Ontario you will also find they are right in line with our local tastes whether it’s humanist lyricism and percussive perfection of Hamilton native Neal Peart of Rush, the alt.pop perfection of the Arkells or the boogey metal mastery of Monster Truck. While Monster Truck are relatively new to ears on this side of the border, that is quickly changing. Upon a furious radio slurry of singles, winning a JUNO as breakthrough artist, the May release of their powerhouse second album Furiosity (Dine Alone) and appearing here as special guest of Guns n’ Roses back in June, their star is clearly ascendant on local shores. They bring their absolutely awesome synthesis of Black Sabbath, Deep Purple and 1980s punk to the Waiting Room on Thursday. Not bad for a bunch of Hamilton dudes in long hair and Levis, eh?

- gore petersen

8pm The Waiting Room, 334 Delaware Ave (852-3900 / waitingroombuffalo.com) $15 advance, $17 day of show