Artvoice: Buffalo's #1 Newsweekly
Home Blogs Web Features Calendar Listings Artvoice TV Real Estate Classifieds Contact
Previous story: A Look at Three Current NYC Productions
Next story: AV Hit List: Top Event Picks for This Week

See You There!

See you There?

Glamour and Glow

Sat 11/21: 9pm. The Cove, 4701 Transit Rd. (goo.gl/E3mVLo / eventbrite.com) 21+ w/ID. $20 Advance/$25 Day of Show

Our Friends at Madd Tattoo are involved in another cool show. They will be displaying black light art and painting live models for the runway show at the Glamour and Glow event at The Cove on Saturday (11/21). The Glamour and Glow crew, who hail from San Diego, travel across the country and take over a club and transform it into a wild fusion of black light art, hand painted runway models, live DJS, aerialists, acrobats and dance performances, including jaw-dropping break dancers. Last year the event was at Rapids Theater and the year before that at Town Ballroom. Unlike a lot of touring shows G&G enhances their show with a boatload of local talent from whatever city their in. Expect some cool shit from Buffalo artists and some added Buffalo beauty among the models, who in addition to theatrical fiber optic hair extensions and glow paint, will be wearing work from the hottest local fashion designers. Check it out because you’re not going to see this just any ol’ time.

> Jamie Moses

Peelander-Z

8pm. Mohawk Place, 47 E. Mohawk St. (buffalosmohawkplace.com), $8

Originally hailing from the Z region of Planet Peelander, “Japanese Action Comic Punk band” Peelander-Z, performs Thursday night at Mohawk Place. These colorful intergalactic superheroes (with a Power Rangers vibe) will rock out, wrestle each other and a giant squid/guitar creature on stage, participate in human bowling, and play tunes titled “Mad Tiger”, “Ninja High School”, and “Taco Taco Tacos”. Original members Kengo Hioki (Peelander Yellow), Kotaro Tsukada (Peelander Red), and Kazuki Yamamoto (Peelander Blue) first met in NYC and formed the band in 1998. Since then, they’ve put out nine albums, played a range of festivals including Bonnaroo and SXSW, and made several television appearances, (Upright Citizens Brigade and Spike’s Most Extreme Challenge, to name a few). Despite the fact that Peelander Blue left the band in 2008 to take over the throne on P-Planet, the band has continued to tour and release new albums, gaining new rotating members like Peelander Green (Akihiko Naruse), Peelander Pink (Yumiko Kanazaki) and Peelander Black (Testuya Hayakawa). For a taste of the truly wacky, check out their live performance tonight. They’ll be joined by opening bands Super Killer Robots and Jamie and the Debt.

> Erica Ladd

Papadosio

8pm. Town Ballroom, 681 S. Main St. (852-3900 / townballroom.com) $17—$20

The electronica-jam band Papadosio is truly a group that marches to the beat of their own drum, and they sure have a blast doing it. Celebrated for their growing catalog of original material, varied setlists, and intricate improvisations, the Ohio-natives live performances now headline a host of events from theaters to festivals both internationally and all across the United States. Inside every night’s set, each of the five band members meticulously convey a world of sounds that weave together both digital and analog currents into a musical sytle reflective of our 21st century digital age. Articulate lyrics and melodies meet primal drums and bass, while oscillating pedals and vintage keys battle with future synths and modified scripts, conjuring images reminiscent of an orchestral space odyssey contrasting the essence of power in the presence of fragility, the meaning of light in the midst of darkness. Their fourth-studio album, Extras in a Movie, finds the band’s psychedelic, cinematic sound as rich as ever. Papadisio plays the Town Ballroom this Friday in support of the album.

> Jordan Canahai

Give for Greatness Battle of the Corporate Bands

2pm. Ironworks, 49 Illinois St. (giveforgreatness.org/battle-corporate-bands-registration) $22 advance/$25 day of show

Who knew there were so many corporate types that had secret lives as rocking musicians? Eight corporations are fielding bands from their ranks of employees in G4G’s 1st Annual Battle of the Corporate Bands at Ironworks this Saturday. For those who may not know, Give For Greatness (G4G) was created solely to raise funds for small arts organizations. These unlikely musicians have day jobs as bankers, PR executives, accountants, lawyers, software engineers, and more–but there’s no shortage of musical talent among them. Each band will try to steal the spotlight in front of cheering friends, co-workers and live music fans. Competition winners will be determined by a panel of celebrity judges as well as audience voting. The eight bands represent a wide variety of corporations and musical styles, Funk, Rock, Folk, Country and Pop. The bands performing and their corporate sponsors are: Authorized Party (M&T Bank), Methane (National Fuel Gas), So Sue Me! (Harter Secrest and Emery), BROAK (Ingram Micro), Mandy Hintz & the Four No-Name Bankers (First Niagara Bank), 15 Fingers and the Other 5 (15 Fingers Marketing), Pavlov’s Cat (University at Buffalo) and Curb Appeal (Curbell, Inc.). All proceeds benefit Give for Greatness, a program of Arts Services Initiative of Western New York (ASI).

> Jamie Moses

george clinton & parliament funkadelic

8pm Town Ballroom, 681 S. Main St. (852-3900 / townballroom.com) $30—$35

George Clinton and Parliament-Funkadelic are a group that truly needs no introduction. Often cited as among the foremost innovators of funk music, the legendary collective has existed in one form or another since the 1960s. Through a career that spans nearly 50 years and consists of over 13 top-ten hits in the American R&B charts, Parliament-Funkadelic have taken the world by storm through their first-rate musicianship, politically charged lyrics, certified-platinum concept albums, and acclaimed live performances. Parliament-Funkadelic’s soulful, psychedelic funk built on the pioneering funk of James Brown and Sly Stone, combining it with the screaming guitar amp sounds of Hendrix, the southern soul of Otis Redding, the Motown harmonies of the Temptations, Sun Ra’s experimentation, and healthy doses of Frank Zappa’s humor. Clinton and Co. created such a singular and influential sound that the often-used abbreviation of the band “P-Funk” is widely considered a genre of music in its own right. Both long-time fans and new ones alike can see Parliament-Funkadelic this Sunday when they bring the funk to the Town Ballroom.

> Jordan Canahai

The Brian Setzer Orchestra

7:30pm. UB Center for the Arts, North Campus (ubcfa.org) $37-$77

You know the holidays are nearly upon us when the Brian Setzer Orchestra (BSO) swings through town performing its annual Christmas Rocks Extravaganza! These fun-filled shows feature holiday classics arranged for big band. A Long Island native, Setzer is principally responsible for rejuvenating not one, but two classic American music genres throughout his 35-year career. In the early 1980s, as front man for the Stray Cats, he reintroduced American audiences to rockabilly with the LP Built for Speed—which was a compilation drawn from the band’s first two English releases. The band’s retro-sound and look landed the record at number two on the Billboard chart for 1982 and spawned a whole new enthusiasm for leather jackets and pomade. Less than a decade later, he formed BSO with a full horn section and ushered in the swing revival with a cover of Louis Prima’s “Jump Jive an’ Wail.” Like magic, young people were suddenly rediscovering the fun sexiness of dances like the Lindy Hop. This time out, the orchestra is said to be adding “Rocking Around the Christmas Tree” and “Here Comes Santa Claus” to the festive repertoire, which will unfold Sunday night at the UB Center for the Arts.

> Buck Quigley

The Wombats

7pm. The Waiting Room, 334 Delaware Ave., (waitingroombuffalo.com) $18-$20

Since their impressive 2007 debut album, Guide To Love, Loss and Desperation, which featured hits like “Kill The Director” and “Let’s Dance To Joy Division”, UK indie band The Wombats have been steadfastly pumping out catchy, danceable tunes. Liverpool natives Matthew Murphy (lead vocals, guitar, keyboard), Dan Haggis (drums, percussion, guitar, keyboard) and Norwegian Tord Overland Knudson (bass guitar, guitar, keyboard) have put out three albums and seem to be on a neverending series of tours. They’re back in the States with their newest record, Glitterbug, and will be making an appearance at the Waiting Room on Wednesday night, accompanied by bands Royal Teeth and Pop Etc. If you haven’t heard of them yet and you enjoy highly infectious, guitar-driven, synth-laden Brit pop with sardonic lyrics (and a Robert Smith air) then do yourself a favor and check out the Wombats. You won’t be disappointed.

> Jordan Canahai