Swell Season

Tuesday, July 27th

If you haven’t seen the 2006 movie Once, your assignment for this weekend is to watch it and fall in love with the duet of Glen Hansard (from the Irish band the Frames) and Markéta Irglová, a Czech pianist and vocalist. You won’t want to miss them perform at Asbury Hall / Babeville on Tuesday (July 27) after you do. You might remember that “Falling Slowly,” a song they performed in the movie, won the 2007 Academy Award for Best Original Song. The pair actually collaborated together before the movie, falling in love as they did. Their story was partly an inspiration for the small budget Irish indie film that was made on a shoestring budget of $160,000. It received great reviews and several nominations. Aside from the Oscar for best song, it also won tzhe Independent Spirit Award for best foreign film. This, despite the fact that neither one of them are actors. Although the pair split romantically, they still remain together as the Swell Season, now touring North America, performing songs from Once and their second CD released last year, Strict Joy. Their alternative folk music is beautiful, emotional and haunting. While Hansard can belt out a strong outpouring of emotion, Irglová keeps things grounded with her haunting and fragile harmonies. It’s the kind of music that sweeps you away and stays with you long after you finish listening. Their earlier music is filled with stories of falling in love, while Strict Joy deals with the bittersweet stories of breaking apart.

Opening the show is another indie-folk band called the Low Anthem. They are known for their great live performances, which include several interesting instruments such as a pump organ, a singing saw, and crotales.

—rose mattrey

7pm. Asbury Hall at Babeville, 341 Delaware Ave. (852-3835 / www.babevillebuffalo.com). $34/advance and $38/day of show at Tickets.com, Tops Markets, Babeville box office

Friday, July 23

Tonight's The Night: A Tribute to Neil Young

A world without the songs of Neil Young would be grim at best. His voice comes through first: strange, fragile, forever on the edge of cracking, like the ghost of an angry dead grandmother, or a wicked Canadian witch. Young has written some of the finest songs around, including the elegiac drug ballad “The Needle and The Damage Done” and the immortal “Heart of Gold,” his only number one hit, taken from the 1972 album Harvest. With a long and successful career, including his time with Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills, & Nash, Young has solidified his place in history and in the hearts of would-be songwriters everywhere. Young has twice been inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, firstly as a solo artist, and secondly as a member of Buffalo Springfield. Earlier this year, Young won his first ever Grammy Award for his heavy-as-horse boxed set Neil Young Archives Vol. 1. His influence is far-reaching and his songbook is deep, including the pure gems of After The Goldrush, Tonight’s the Night, and On the Beach. Buffalo musicians will pay tribute to the “Godfather of Grunge” with a special show this Friday (7/23) at the Sportmen’s Tavern. Tonight’s The Night: A Tribute to Neil Young will feature covers from members of the Housecats, Flatbed, A Band Named Sue, Steam Donkeys, and many more. The show takes place from 5:30-8pm, during happy hour. Following that will be a performance by the Town Pants, part of the Private Party Series.

Keep on rockin’ in the Queen City. Obviously.

—peter vullo

Saturday, July 24

Born To Die

As anyone who participated in the Elmwood Zombie Walk & Pub Crawl a few weeks ago knows, Buffalo is becoming a Mecca for horror movies, with more low/no-budget filmmakers grinding out gory tales than you can shake a stick at. (Not that shaking a stick at zombies is very effective, at least not unless it has an axe blade on one end.) Born to Die isn’t exactly a horror movie, but those attracted by the credit “Produced by Buffa-low Budget Films in association with Zombified Studios” are not being steered wrong. The dead bodies in this circular (saw?) tale of crime and revenge may not come back to life, but they sure do pile up! Directed by Jay Mager (The Pigman) and shot on familiar locations including Club Diablo (miraculously morphed into a biker bar), Born to Die will premiere at a midnight screening Saturday (July 24) at the Hamburg Palace Theater. The film is less than an hour long, so the evening will be filled with trailers and short films from other Buffalo filmmakers.

—m. faust

11:30pm (doors); midnight screening. Hamburg Palace Theater, 31 Buffalo St., Hamburg (649-2295). $5/pre-sale at the Theater; $7/at door.

Saturday, July 24

Squeaky Wheel Outdoor Animation Festival

Don’t have a car, or just don’t want to drive to Lockport or beyond? City dwellers who can’t get to any of WNY’s drive-in theaters can still enjoy cine al fresco as community media center Squeaky Wheel opens this year’s edition of its annual Outdoor Animation series. The programs in Allentown’s Days Park are appropriate for family audiences, though the fare (selected by Squeaky Wheel staff) is more unusual than the Hollywood cartoons parents have seen a million times. The series begins this Saturday (July 24) at dusk with a selection of short works in different styles. The second program on July 31 features stop-motion animation from a wide range of filmmakers curated by San Francisco Bay Area artist and animator Sarah Klein. Screenings begin at dusk; bring lawn chairs, blankets, and whatever else you need for an outdoor evening. In case of rain the events move indoors to Squeaky Wheel at 712 Main St.

—m. faust

At dusk at Days Park in Allentown. Contact 884-7172 or www.squeaky.org

Saturday, July 24

Coney Island Cockabilly Roadshow

Step right up to the most demented traveling roadshow in existence. Sword swollowing maniacs, old fashioned burlesque, lots of tattoos, a guy who safety pins dollar bills to his half naked body... and that’s just the side show. This is the Coney Island Cockabilly Roadshow, a trip into the heart of rockabilly featuring live music by Jason and the Punknecks, Guitar Bomb, Viva Le Vox, The Holy Roller Side Show and Hickory Hawkins. To paraphrase Hunter S. Thompson, this is what the whole world would be doing on a Saturday night if the Third Reich won the war. The Cockabilly Roadshow is a self proclaimed “secret society sworn to protect mankind against the armies of the abyss, with a family of serial killers next in line to perform a ritual sacrifice preventing the coming of the dead.” Phew, well thank God, or whoever these guys like to thank, that they’ve come to save us. These characters roll through Club Diablo on Saturday (July 24) as the Road Show travels its way back to Coney Island for the culmination of this tour, which takes place on a much larger scale over Labor Day Weekend. Maybe you’ll want to join the caravan...

—cory perla

9pm. Club Diablo, 517 Washington St. (842-0666 / www.clubdiablo.com)

Sunday, July 25

BPO Deadfest: A Tribute to the Grateful Dead

Turn the clock back 40 years to a concert that took place at Kleinhan’s Music Hall in 1970. The Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, already one of the most avant garde orchestras in the US, took the stage with the Grateful Dead for a now legendary performance that’s also shrouded in mystery. No recordings, pictures, or programs from that evening—March 17, 1970—seem to exist, although there is proof in news articles about the concert and of course in testimony from those who were there. The “Philharmonic Rock Marathon,” as it was called, was conceived by former BPO music director Lukas Foss, who conducted the concert back then. Matthew Kraemer will conduct the BPO for this tribute show on Sunday (July 25), and, instead of the Grateful Dead all these years later, the orchestra will be joined by special guest band Forever Young. It will not be the same playlist, as it would be a shame not to include some post-1970 work by the Dead, but in keeping with tradition the set list will remain a secret. There will be continuous music at the Grove from 3-9pm. Local performers Lance Drake, The SB Reeves Outfit, and Critt’s Juke Joint with Eric Cittenden & Friends will open the show. Visit www.bpo.org/deadfest for more info.

-alan victor

3-9pm. Kloc’s Grove, 1245 Seneca Creek Rd, W. Seneca (674-5944 / www.klocsgroveinc.com). $15/general; $29/VIP at 885-5000 or www.bpo.org

Wednesday, July 28

Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros

Galloping through the wild west on a horse, drinking from a canteen and singing about long lost home. Sounds like something Clint Eastwood might do on the set of some faded spaghetti western, but it’s actually more like the sound of Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros on their song “Home.” The 10-piece, psychedelic, freak-folk extravaganza rides through town to the Town Ballroom on Wednesday (July 28). The western pop orchestra, led by Alex Ebert of Ima Robot, played their first show in 2007 and since then have released their debut full length, Up From Below, which landed them on the Billboard top 200. Last year they released the video for their track “Desert Song,” which represents part one of a 12 part musical. Think Paint Your Wagon on peyote. Or Jim Morrison in the desert... on peyote. The concept behind the band and the musical revolves around a messianic-like character who can’t help but get distracted by women and drugs. Their highly stylized, desert theme is reminiscent of bands like Brightblack Morning Light, but with more pop-sensibility that bounces from south western battle hymns that Ennio Morricone would be proud of like “Kisses Over Babylon,” to down home on the prairie sing-a-longs like “Home.” Now if only I could find a hitchin’ post for my steed near a subway stop...

—cory perla

7pm (doors). Town Ballroom, 681 Main St. (852-3900 / www.townballroom.com). $16/advance; $19/day of show at Tickets.com, Tops Markets, Town Ballroom box office