Dyngus Daze: Dyngus Day 2009

Monday, April 14

Let’s face it folks, winters in Western New York can be long, and this past one has been especially cold and dreary. So what better way to welcome the new season and celebrating the survival of six months of greyness than dousing someone that strikes your fancy with water? Or getting spanked with a pussy willow branch? Well we can’t think of anything better . That’s why the annual springtime post-Lenten revelry known as Dyngus Day has turned into one of the most unique ethnic festivals anywhere in the world. In fact Buffalo has become the “Dyngus Day Capital of the World.” Not even Poland, where this custom of frivolity after the seriousness of Lent began, can come close to the fun loving environment of Dyngus Day in Buffalo.

What began as a fundraising effort for the Chopin Singing Society nearly fifty years ago has turned into a huge parade and dozens of parties scattered throughout Buffalo and the surrounding suburbs attracting locals suffering from serious cases of cabin fever and busloads of tourists from all over North America.

This year the organizers and sponsors of Dyngus Day Buffalo have put together a shuttle system that will ferry an estimated crowd of 70,000 party goers through three different districts and connect them together allowing celebrants to literally be able to start in Depew and wind up in Black Rock and back. All without having to get into their car and find a parking space each time. Now, in the event that anyone samples too much Sobieski vodka or Tyskie beer, Liberty cab will be providing FREE cab rides home at the end of the evening. All this is available for FREE, with a “Pussy Willow Pass” that is, which allows you unlimited use of the shuttles and drastically discounted admission at all participating venues. Now all you have to do is learn how to pronounce Na Zdrowie!

—airborne eddy

Friday, April 10

Cecil Taylor: All the Notes

A Buffalo performance by pianist Cecil Taylor is not an event to be missed. He just turned 80, so “Eh, I’ll see him next time he plays here” is not a rational statement. Given that he arguably invented free jazz and inarguably has been playing it for more than fifty years, a Taylor concert is also not something to be approached lightly. So anyone holding tickets to his show on Saturday, April 18 (at Asbury Hall at Babeville at the Church), might consider working up to it with a viewing on Friday night (April 10) of the documentary Cecil Taylor: All the Notes. Christopher Felver’s film, completed in 2004, is the result of seven years of filming the reclusive composer and musician in performance, in the classes he taught at Mills College, and at home in Brooklyn where he talks about his compositional style and just about anything else that enters his head. There are talking-head appreciations from such guests as Billy Bang, Amiri Baraka, Nathaniel Mackey, and Thurston Moore, but this is Taylor’s show. .

—eric boucher

Hallwalls at the Church, 341 Delaware Ave. (854-1694 / www.Hallwalls.org). $7 general/$5 students&seniors/$4 Hallwalls members

Saturday, April 11

Emily Dickinson Marathon Reading

Only 10 of Emily Dickinson’s poems were published in her lifetime, and if that were her entire body of work, then she’d hardly rank among America’s greatest poets. And the marathon reading of all her poems that takes place this Saturday (April 11) would last about 15 minutes. In fact, the reclusive Dickinson wrote 1,789 poems, which her sister discovered after her death in 1886. Saturday’s reading—sponsored by Just Buffalo Literary Center and the UB English Department—marks National Poetry Month, and features a 1pm performance by the Unitarian Universalist Choir of a collection of Dickinson’s poems set to music, composed by the late UB Music Department professor Leo Smit. Kicking off the marathon at 8am will be Assemblyman Sam Hoyt, actress Josephine Hogan, and UB President John Simpson. But all who attend are encouraged to pitch in and read one of Dickinson’s poems. The reading is expected to continue until 10pm.

—geoff kelly

8am-10pm. Karpeles Manuscript Museum, 453 Porter Avenue. FREE.

Saturday, April 11

D.T.O.P. Kings of the Queen City EP Release

It takes quite a bit of nerve for a trio of white guys to release a hip-hop record where they proclaim themselves the “Kings of the Queen City,” and that is a part of the beauty of D.T.O.P. It’s not clear exactly how seriously you want to take D.T.O.P., but—to paraphrase great lyrical maestro Rakim—they ain’t no joke, either. Across Kings Of The Queen City, the three-headed beast of D.T. Magee, Ohwee, and P. Money drop thoughts over spare beats and eerie synth lines, rhyming about house parties, the girlies, partying, how tough they are, and uh... kickin’ it. In between the blunt hits and keg taps, they manage to keep the Buffalo sauce on it all, referencing hometown sights, sounds, and even locally reviled characters like Byron Brown and Willis McGahee. D.T.O.P.’s touchstones here are a host of classic hip-hop like Beastie Boys Licensed To Ill, The Geto Boys’ self-titled, 2 Live Crew’s As Nasty As They Wanna Be, and Dr. Dre’s The Chronic. So in other words—old schoolers take note here—D.T.O.P. are taking it back and clearly positioned to take over the Queen City.

—donny kutzbach

10pm. Staples, 253 Allen St. (783-8947). No cover

Saturday, April 11

Stoogefest

Jay Leno used to observe that there was one essential difference between men and women: Men love the Three Stooges, and women think they’re idiots. So expect a high testosterone level at Stoogefest, an evening of the best of the brothers Howard and their friend Mr. Fine (aka Curly, Larry and Moe). Please don’t ask me to explain what is so funny about three guys poking each other in the eyes, hitting each other with frying pans, and generally wreaking impossible physical mayhem upon each other and anyone unfortunate enough to get in their way. Maybe it’s the gleeful extremity of it: In Freudian terms, these guys were all id and no superego (the ridiculous sound effects help, of course). And there’s something to be said for predictability: Sometimes knowing exactly what’s about to happen makes it even funnier. You can’t explain funny, just like you can’t explain why a big-budget movie about the Stooges starring Sean Penn, Jim Carrey and Benecio del Toro is a hideous idea. It’s just self evident. “Whoo whoo whoo whoo whooooo!!!”

—m. faust

8pm. Hamburg Palace Theatre, 31 Buffalo St. (649-2295 / www.hamburgpalace.com)

Saturday, April 11

The Movement

Saturday’s gathering at Soundlab of the free- and forward-thinking is not just a dance party: It’s a revolution. The Movement is a quarterly dance party that raises money for the Partnership for the Public Good. (The people ask for change, and they get $10 back on a $20 bill.) The Partnership for the Public Good (http://ppg-buffalo.wikispaces.com/) is a coalition of nonprofits and individuals committed to promoting community-based development in Buffalo and Western New York. You know them: They’re folks like PUSH Buffalo, the Coalition for Economic Justice, Buffalo ReUse, Urban Roots, and dozens of others who believe the city’s revitalization comprises many small pieces that are already at work here, carefully cultivated, rather than big-ticket economic development boondoggles copied from other cities. The night’s soundtrack will be provided by DJ LoPro, DJ Cutler, Rabbi Darkside, FudgyChewy, Emcee Sick, Loki Da Trixta, and other special guests.

—geoff kelly

9pm. Soundlab, 110 Pearl Street. $10

Saturday, April 11

Stephane Wrembel

This Saturday (April 11), famed gypsy-jazz guitarist and his band The Django Experiment will perform at Nietzsche’s. Wrembel grew up only 20 miles from famous gypsy-jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt’s final resting place, and became fascinated with the iconic 20th century figure in his teens. Wrembel followed his musical passions, and eventually they led him to the U.S., when in 2000 he began his studies at Berklee College of Music in Boston. After Berklee, Wrembel moved to NYC where he currently resides when not on tour. Wrembel has had the honor of sharing the stage with musical greats such as Les Paul, David Grisman, Patti Smith, Elvis Costello, and the Ryan Montbleau Band. One of Buffalo’s favorite bands, Babik, will open up the show, keeping the gypsy-jazz theme of the night intact.

—justin sondel

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

Sunday, March 29

Lucero

In ten years, the Memphis, TN quartet Lucero has rightfully earned its place as something of an institution for a cadre of rock fans who eat up every record and pack clubs to sing along to every word of the band’s ever growing list of songs. Chalk it up to their punk-powered and twang-filled repartee of stories about southern skies, backyard heartbreaks, jukeboxes, ramrods, and drinking that Lucero has delivered across their recording career, but which indeed comes across best in their blazing live shows. Lucero is readying the follow up to 2006’s Rebels, Rogues, and Sworn Brothers (Liberty & Lament) making the jump to a major with Universal Music Group, and singer/guitarist Ben Nicholls has just unleashed his first solo album Last Pale Light in the West inspired by Cormac McCarthy’s book Blood Meridian. Joining Lucero at Tuesday’s (April 14) show is New Jersey’s Shakespearian-titled outfit Titus Andronicus, who have been making a lot of good noise both figuratively and literally. The band’s heavy fuzz, amped-up punk, and shoegaze collision has been getting them notice and it’s all there on The Airing of Grievances (XL), a record that garned a 8.5 out of 10 at the notoriously tough and indie-persnickety website Pitchfork.com. —donny kutzbach

8pm. Mohawk Place, 47 East Mohawk St (855-3931 / www.mohawkplace.com). $14/advance at Ticketmaster; $16/day of show

Monday, March 30

Maria Taylor

Maria Taylor has collaborated with Conor Oberst, Spoon, Crooked Fingers, and Moby. However, most indie fans know her as one half of Saddle Creek artists Azure Ray, as well as for her own stunning solo career. Taylor’s ethereal vocals are unmistakable and unforgettable. After two acclaimed releases on Saddle Creek, Taylor recently signed to Nettwerk to record her third album, LadyLuck. An album that begs to be listened to alone and in the dark, LadyLuck is a personal account of the ruins of a failed relationship. Although her previous records were often centered around beats and oceans of sound, her third album is a more organic venture. Utilizing brass and woodwinds, LadyLuck is best described as an acoustic record. Like Joni Mitchell’s Blue, every word counts and, despite LadyLuck’s quieter aesthetic, it is beautifully intense. Maria Taylor performs at Mohawk Place on Thursday (April 16). Whispertown 2000 and Bela’s Shadow are opening the show.

—eric boucher

8pm. Mohawk Place, 47 East Mohawk St (855-3931 / www.mohawkplace.com). $10