Where the Bands Are: This Week in Live Music and Concert News
Nickel Creek, Samantha Fish, new show announcements, and more
A few more new show announcements this week, including an addition to the rapidly expanding lineup at the Terminal B Amphitheater on Buffalo’s Outer Harbor. Fun Time Presents and the Buffalo Waterfront Group announced a stop on alternative/pop-punk outfit A Day to Remember’s Least Anticipated Album Tour at the new venue on June 16. The Story So Far, Four Year Strong and Militarie Gun will open the show. The artist pre-sale is happening now, and general public on-sale kicks off at 10 a.m. on Friday, March 22. General admission tickets are going for $55, and VIP packages will also be available.
Prog-heads might rejoice at the announcement that a show booked under the banner “The Return of Emerson Lake & Palmer” will be taking place at Electric City on July 21. Of course, they might also scratch their heads and wonder how such an event is possible, given the fact that both Keith Emerson and Greg Lake are no longer with us. Well, the deal is this: Carl Palmer’s ELP Legacy will be performing live, with a pair of large video screens sharing rare performance footage of Emerson and Lake. Whatever your thoughts on these types of shows, you can rest assured that Palmer’s ELP Legacy plays the ELP catalog with both precision and considerable passion. Tickets for this show go on sale Thursday, March 21 at 10 a.m.
I’m not sure if this is a brand new announcement, but it was new to me, and I grabbed tickets post haste upon hearing that EXTC - Terry Chambers & Friends had been booked for a May 4 gig at the beautiful and intimate 9th Ward on the lower level of the Babeville/Asbury Hall complex.
If you’re an XTC fan, you know that catching the band live was not going to happen after the 1982 release of the epic English Settlement album, when they pulled a Beatles/Brian Wilson move, and decided to dedicate themselves to crafting immaculate masterpieces in the recording studio. This was largely due to singer/guitarist/songwriter Andy Partridge’s distaste for the touring life, and not everyone in the band was on board with the decision. Among the bummed out faction was drummer Terry Chambers, whose playing leant post-punk edge to the band’s early work.
Now, with Partridge’s blessing - he actually came up with the EXTC sobriquet - Chambers has formed a trio with former Joe Jackson/the Vapors/Dead Crow Road guitarist/vocalist Steve Hampton and bassist/vocalist Terry Lines and decided to make up for lost time.
This show represents EXTC’s second pass through Buffalo - there was a March, 2023 stop at Mohawk Place, which I missed - and promises to offers us some crackling versions of beloved tunes from albums like Drums & Wires, English Settlement and Black Sea.
Ahhhh, ecstasy!
And now, for the immediate future…
Nothing screams summer more than Grateful Dead music, and area Deadheads can break out their Birkenstocks a little early this week, with three shows by a various members of the Buffalo GD community. Name your poison:
Workingman’s Dead
Friday, March 22, 8 p.m. at Buffalo Iron Works, Buffalo, NY. $15
Dead Alliance Buffalo
Saturday, March 23, 8 p.m. at the Evening Star Concert Hall, Niagara Falls, NY. $10
Scarlet Begonias
Friday, March 22, 7 p.m. at the Lion and Eagle Pub, Clarence, NY. $10.
Also more than noteworthy this week…