Where the Bands Are: This Week in Live Music and Concert News
New adventures in the cruel and shallow money trench, plus a few cool shows
“The music suffers, baby/The music business thrives…”
“The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side.” This quote, routinely attributed to the late, great progenitor of Gonzo Journalism, Hunter S. Thompson, is no less true for the fact that Thompson never said it, to say nothing of writing it.
Those of us who’ve spent our lives in, around, or supporting the music industry have often felt the sting of the reality behind these words, whoever actually wrote them. But perhaps we can all take a little comfort as music-lovers in the fact that the NFL is even worse.
Talk about bilking the customer and then tossing them aside.
Erie County and NY State co-funded the new Bills stadium project, which means that dupes like us are paying for it. Meanwhile, the team offloads its assets, who happen to be the players we all love and support, and then adopts the Jerry Jones model, selling “personal seat licenses” and generally behaving as if Bills fans are limitless founts of lucre whose sole purpose is to keep a team owned by a billionaire afloat.
Yes, the music industry is also built on the backs of folks like us who support it and continue to bear the brunt of post-Covid bounce-back, while the CEOs of Spotify and Live Nation - the very folks responsible for the de-valuation of music and the absurd inflation rate applied to concert tickets - are millionaires hundreds of times over.
Happily, although attending football games in person will likely become something that only rich people can afford in the not-too-distant future, there are currently no “personal seat licensing” fees attached to concert tickets - although that is surely coming.
While we await the inevitable, there are plenty of independent promoters and venue owners offering us good value-for-money concert experiences. And even if we are buying ‘big-ticket items’ from corporate promoters, we can sometimes find deals that don’t send us into fits of impotent rage while we enter our credit card information as fast as we can, before we get kicked out of the que.
Just this week, I grabbed a pair of front-row balcony tickets to see some genuinely genius musicians (Adrian Belew, Tony Levin, Danny Carey and Steve Vai, known collectively as Beat) play some genuinely genius music (King Crimson’s Discipline, Beat and Three of A Perfect Pair albums) for less than $100 a ticket, before fees. (Grrrrr. Fees.)
I also grabbed tickets to see a newer band I love, Mildlife, at Lee’s Palace in Toronto for $25 each. (Plus $20 in fees. Grrrr.) Neither of these purchasing experiences made me want to call my therapist to schedule an emergency session in order to deal with my rage. So there’s still hope, is what I’m suggesting.
Most of the people reading this will be doing so in Buffalo, and I’ve no interest in telling them how to deal with their Bills fandom. But it’s clearly true that this kind of nonsense will continue unabated if we support it with our dollars. And, we can be assured, this ‘Jerry Jones model’ is already being considered for live music events - which people who know nothing about music consider to be ‘entertainment,’ just like an NFL game. (Yes, live music is entertaining. But calling it entertainment, as if that’s all it is, is something only a corporate suit at Live Nation could possibly do with a straight face. )
What can we do about all of this? Well, the ship has already sailed when it comes to the continuing adventures in absurdity at One Bills Drive.
But when it comes to live music, the choice is clear: Support local musicians, local music, local venues, and local promoters who bring us touring artists at reasonable prices.
Here’s a few examples in the coming week…
Archer (Rempis/Ex/Strum/Eastfang)
Wednesday, April 10 , 8 p.m. at Hallwalls.Contemporary Arts Center, Buffalo, NY. $20 GA/$18 students & seniors/$15 Hallwalls members
Guitarist and Dutch punk rock legend Terrie Ex is joined by saxophonist Dave Rempis, bassist Johnny Strum and drummer Dollop Eastfang for an evening of adventurous abstraction.
Buffalodown: Living the Dream - A Live Music & Social Connection Event Dedicated to the Life & Work of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Thursday, April 4, 5:30 p.m. at the Mary Seaton Room, Kleinhans Music Hall, Buffalo, Ny. Free.
Hosted by Seamus Gallivan, this show will feature a musical tour through significant sites along Martin Luther King, Jr.’s path, performed by an all-star Buffalo house band featuring Alex McArthur, Grace Lougen, Vin DeRosa, Harry Graser, Honey Henry and John Bacon.
Geoff Tate
Thursday, April 4, 7 p.m. at Town Ballroom, Buffalo, NY. $34.50
The former Queensryche front-man and prog-metal legend brings his Big Rock Show Hits tour to the Town Ballroom.
Dead on the Farm Concert Series | Total Eclipse of the Farm with Little Mountain Band
Friday, April 5, 7 p.m. at Becker Farms and Vizcarra Vineyards, Gasport, NY. $10/$15
Little Mountain Band and members of Dead Alliance Buffalo offer their eclipse-themed interpretation of Grateful Dead music in this covered and heated early-spring environment.
The Irving Klaws & Soul Butchers
Friday, April 5, 8 p.m. at the Mohawk Place, Buffalo, NY. $10
Two Buffalo alternative music legends for ten bucks.
Space Bacon & Mungion w/ DJ KimonoFox – Zack Tilton of Grub
Saturday, April 6, 7 p.m. at Buffalo Iron Works, Buffalo, NY. $15/$20
Future-jams, deep grooves and improvisation galore.
Pavlo
Sunday, April 7, 7 p.m. at Asbury Hall, Buffalo, NY. $40
Pavlo, a legend of Mediterranean music and flamenco guitar, brings his band to town for what’s likely to be an evening of classy virtuosity.
John Langford with opener Sonny Baker
Sunday, April 7, 6:00 p.m. (4:00 pm for pot-luck cook-out, weather permitting) at Marty Boratin & Susan Tanner’s House, 7341 Nelson Dr.,
Hamburg, NY. Suggested donation: $20
John Langford of the Mekons and Waco Brothers. Sonny Baker of Lazlo Hollyfeld and Talking Deadheads. Two legends. Three, if you count your host, Marty Boratin.
Igor & The Red Elvises
Saturday, April 6, 8 p.m. at Sportsmens Tavern, Buffalo, NY. $20
Rockabilly and roots rock, via Russia? Yep! These guys are cookin’.
Start Making Sense & The Ocean Avenue Stompers
Friday, April 5, 8 p.m. at Asbury Hall, Babeville, Buffalo, NY. $28/$33
An evening of music by Talking Heads and David Byrne. Makes perfect sense to me.
Delaware Park Flow Jam Fundraiser: Intrepid Travelers w/ Ricky Ryatt
Sunday, April 7, 5 p.m. at Riff City, Buffalo, NY. $20
Get your jam on alongside Hoyt Lake in Delaware Park, and support the series while you’re at it.
The Floyd Concept: Dark Side of the Moon
Monday, April 8, 3-5:30 p.m. at Gratwick Park, North Tonawanda, NY. FREE (Parking Fee)
The City of North Tonawanda’s eclipse-viewing party, dubbed "NT's Blackout Bash," will feature The Floyd Concept performing Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon. Don’t forget to wear your protective glasses, and stare at the band, not the sun.
The Slackers with special guests Some Ska Band
Monday, April 8, 7 p.m. at Rec Room, Buffalo, NY. $33.62
Alt-reggae and ska, with attitude.
Buffalo Dead All Stars (Todd Eberwine, Eric Crittenden, Jim Wynne, Mark Hitchcock)
Wednesday, April 10, 7 p.m. at Sportsmens Tavern, Buffalo, NY. $10
Ten bucks for this lineup? Hell yeah.
Greater Buffalo Youth Orchestra (GBYO) with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra
Wednesday, April 10, 7:30 p.m. at Kleinhans Music Hall, Buffalo, NY. FREE
The program for this ‘side-by-side’ performance will include works by Dvorak, Shostakovich, Saint-Saens, Hindemith, and more.
Buffalo Music Vault presents Rock4Life: A Night of Music, Unity & Support: benefiting Kids Escaping Drugs
Saturday, April 13, 7 p.m. at at Asbury Hall, Buffalo, NY. $10
Perilous, the McVans Band, Little Liar, StarJuice, Velvet Bethany, Melissa Sauers and the Alison Pipitone Band join forces to benefit Kids Escaping Drugs.