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See You There!

Artvoice's weekly round-up of featured events, including our editor's pick for the week: Rocket to Allentown, Artvoice's annual tribute to punk rock, this Saturday the 28th at Nietzsche's.

If you haven't already, be sure to check out our full events calendar on-line for complete event listings, a location guide to find your way about the city, restaurant reviews, and more.



Artvoice presents Rocket to Allentown

Saturday, September 28

“To me, punk rock is the freedom to create, freedom to be successful, freedom to not be successful, freedom to be who you are. It’s freedom,” said punk rock goddess Patti Smith. On Saturday (Sept 28) Artvoice will let loose over a dozen local bands who will be free to rock out to any punk rock anthem in their arsenals from Patti Smith to the Sex Pistols, the New York Dolls to Blondie on the stage of Nietzsche’s. In classic punk rock style, each band will have approximately 15 minutes to burn through a blistering set. Some bands have chosen to stick to one classic punk band for their entire set, while others will mix it up. Preemptive Retaliation will dive deep into a set of all Misfits tracks, while Fourth But First and DWI will go for all Ramones hits. Others, like Nine Miles to Empty, Bad Ronald, Machines of Love & War, Jerry & The Corpse Grinders, the Pillagers, 2 Many Toyz, Jump the Blinds, and Vendetta will mix in everything from Iggy Pop to the Clash and the Dead Kennedeys. A handful of solo acts like Jimyn the Singing Mime and Alaysa O’Ballzy will join in on the fun too. Stud up that leather jacket and make sure your anarchist tattoos are showing when you jump into the mosh pit this weekend.

- cory perla

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

Thursday, September 26 - Saturday, September 28

Charlie Murphy

If the opening guitar riff played right now, most of you would instantly recognize one of the funniest comedy shows that has ever aired. Chappelle’s Show brought us three seasons of gut-busting laughter, comprised of one-liners and memorable skits. Two of the most recognized, the True Hollywood Stories of Prince and Rick James, were personal stories by Charlie Murphy with lines that have been copied ad nauseam by fans of the show. He portrayed some equally hysterical characters such as Buc Nasty in “The Playa Hater’s Ball,” Tyree in “The Mad Real World,” and as the voice of Stinky in “Kneehigh Park.” It must run in his genes because his delivery, like his brother Eddie, can make you laugh hard enough to leave your abs in pain. This Thursday through Saturday (Sept 26-28), Charlie Murphy will be appearing at the Helium Comedy Club downtown. The three night run will include opener Freez Luv who has worked with Murphy on other projects in the past.

- jeremiah shea

8pm Thursday, 7:30pm and 10pm Friday and Saturday Helium Comedy Club, 30 Mississippi St. (853-1211 / heliumcomedy.com) $25-$34

Friday, September 28

The Bloody Hollies

Whether anyone really knew it at the time, during the late 1990s and early 2000s, Buffalo experienced a resurgence of truly primitive and guttural garage punk. Revolving around the old Mohawk Place and it’s grimy bar and small stage, bands such as the Blowtops, Baseball Furies and Trailer Park Tornados evoked a self-destructive nihilism fueled by cheap beer, cheap sex and even cheaper thrills. One of the many great bands to crawl out of that scene was the Bloody Hollies. Formed in 2000, the Bloody Hollies are the brainchild of singer/guitarist Wes Doyle. Integrating blues, surf and garage, the band often plays at an amphetamine speed while retaining a heavy groove reminiscent of the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion. After gaining prominence in the local underground scene and releasing their debut recording Got It Where It Counts on Rochester’s Garage Pop Records, the Bloody Hollies attracted the attention of Long Gone John, owner of the notorious garage label Sympathy For The Record Industry. Renowned for introducing the public to the White Stripes and Rocket From The Crypt, the label released their second album, Fire At Will and with the strength of the album and endless touring, the band earned a rabid cult following all over the world. Doyle eventually relocated to San Diego where he reconfigured the band while continuing to tour and release records, the most recent being 2011’s Yours Until The Bitter End. To celebrate the 10-year anniversary of the now classic Fire At Will, Doyle reunited with drummer Mike Argento and bassist Phil Freedenberg for a wildly successful European and North American tour. This Saturday (Sept 28) the Bloody Hollies return home for the first time in three years at the Waiting Room with Afterbirth Tycoon opening.

- bill nehill

10pm The Waiting Room, 334 Delaware Ave (852-3900 / waitingroombuffalo.com) $8 advance, $10 day of show

Saturday, September 28

Stars

Stars is the embodiment of the indie pop genre and the epitome of narrative lyrics. Their lyrics function on a conceptual level with hits that border on syrupy sweet love songs like, “Do You Want to Die Together” and others that scrutinize time; how time is the medium of change, passing us by whether we’re ready for it or not. Last year the Canadian-based band released their sixth studio album, The North. Each of Stars’ albums have encompassed a particular theme and The North is no exception; this album is both lyrically and tunefully seeping with retrospect and nostalgia. The tracks are indie pop based with the perfect amount of synth and rock instrumentation. Torquil Campbell and Amy Millan’s soft and sincere voices are eloquent when isolated, but when they co-mingle it’s truly a harmoniously jovial fusion, as is the case on “Hold On When You Get Love And Let Go When You Give It.” Their dulcet sounds and raw lyrics round off the stirring melodies throughout the entire album, deeming it one of their best albums yet and certainly one that deserves repeat listens. Stars will headline the Tralf Music Hall for an intimate club show on Saturday, (Sept 28).

- kellie powell

7pm The Tralf Music Hall, 622 Main St. (852-2860 / tralfmusichall.com) $20 advance, $23 day of show

Saturday, September 28

Queen City Cartel Family Reunion

The Queen City Cartel is a conglomerate of like-minded individuals with a passion for music. They’re a family that has been through it all. The QCC hosted parties throughout the evolution of Staples and Duke’s Bohemian Grove Bar in Allentown. Anyone who went to one of the monthly Friction parties surely has a story to tell and most likely has a photo booth picture with the Native American statue. Wax Museum Radio was streamed every Monday night from the apartment on Pearl Street, which became infamously known as The Pearl. When it was not a QCC party, the DJs of the crew were out and around Buffalo opening shows at places like Town Ballroom or hosting residencies at clubs on Chippewa. A hiatus has come and gone and the crew (and friends) will be coming together for the Queen City Cartel Family Reunion. On Saturday (Sept 28) the crew will reunite at The Gypsy Parlor, a brand new bar on Grant Street. Pairs will be playing all night, back-to-back: Rufus Gibson vs. The Owski; Brother Bear vs. Bones; Shooter McNappin vs. Stuntman; Mario Bee vs. Buzz Trillington; Paul Kuenzi vs. Medison. As the Fugees once said, “so the family stick together and we never betray.” #QCCReunion.

- alicia greco

10pm The Gypsy Parlor, 376 Grant St. (551-0001 / thegypsyparlor.com) no cover, 21+

Tuesday, October 1

Baths

All one must do to realize the sharp difference in emotion between Baths’debut album Cerulean and L.A. producer’s follow-up, Obsidian, is compare the album artwork. Where the first is a blurry, half-remembered dream, the latter is clearly a nightmare. Though both albums share pensive, melancholic tones, Obsidian delves deeper into darker areas like death and depression, in a more overt way. Baths, aka Will Wiesenfeld, crept onto the scene with 2010’s Cerulean, a curious mix of dream-pop and glitch-hop that reflected influences ranging from Four Tet to DJ Shadow, and Bibio. Musically, Obsidian, his 2013 release on Anticon Records, doesn’t stray too far from the lap-top-pop established on Cerulean—with exception of a heightened sense of urgency on many of the tracks­—but the shift comes in the lyrical content. “Come kill me/I seem so brittle/come kill me/I seem so little,” Wiesenfeld sings on “Earth Death,” one of the album’s darker tracks. Much of the record was inspired by an illness that left Weisenfeld bedridden for an extended period of time. He recovered from that illness only to produce the most solid and critically acclaimed work of his brief career in music so far. Catch Baths at the Tralf Music Hall on Tuesday (Oct 1) with Jerome LOL.

- cory perla

7pm The Tralf Music Hall, 622 Main St. (852-2860 / tralfmusichall.com) $10 advance, $12 day of show

Thursday, October 3

An Evening with Gord Downie benefitting Buffalo Niagara Riverkeeper

Did you miss your chance to catch Gord Downie at the sold out Tragically Hip show at the Outer Harbor over the summer? Well you’re in luck then because the singer and guitarist will be kicking off the 2013 Conference on the Environment at Buffalo’s Adam’s Mark Hotel on Thursday (Oct 3). The 49-year old musician will be on hand to perform cuts from his solo albums like 2001’s Coke Machine Glow, and his latest, The Grand Bounce, in support of Buffalo Niagara Riverkeeper. Although Downie is best known for his music, over the years he has become a strong advocate for protecting the Great Lakes and for people’s water rights. For over 20 years Buffalo Niagara Riverkeeper has focused on the environmental health of the Buffalo River and the Niagara River. Keeping these waterways fishable, swimmable, and drinkable is the goal and the non-profit organization has done this by creating green infrastructure, dredging the rivers, and restoring habitats. Though Downie’s performance may be the highlight of conference, which runs Thursday through Saturday, there will be plenty of interesting sessions on the agenda from “Setting the Table for a Greener Future” to “Grow Local, Buy Local Initiatives.” General admission to the Gord Downie event is $25; registration for the entire conference including an Evening with Gord Downie is $95. For more information visit coe2013.org.

- cory perla

6pm Adam’s Mark Hotel, 120 Church St. (coe2013.org) $25

Thursday, October 3

Buffalo International Film Festival

The seventh edition of the Buffalo International Film Festival begins next Thursday(Oct 3), and while it will be covered in more detail in next week’s Artvoice, here’s a head’s up for those of you who want to make sure you purchase tickets for any shows that might sell out. The opening night film is the Buffalo premiere of the French film Les aventures extraordinaires d’Adèle Blanc-Sec, a live-action comic book adaptation in the mode of Tin-Tin, Hugo and Lara Crofts, directed by Luc Besson, which will play at the Screening Room (3131 Sheridan Dr, Amherst) at 7pm. Opening night also includes the Bollywood musical Aayna ka Bayna, about nine boys at a home for troubled youth trying to get onto a TV dance show. Aayna ka Bayna will play at 9pm at the Screening Room. Thursday is also opening night for a festival sidebar, a tribute to the Mexican actress Maria Felix, who from the 1940s through the 1960s appeared in a series of melodramas as characters that Joan Crawford or Bette Davis would have loved to play. Four of her films will be screened at Casa de Arte at 141 Elmwood Avenue, all free and open to the public. For full details on films and ordering tickets, visit buffalofilmfestival.com.

- m. faust

Various locations (buffalofilmfestival.com)