Where the Bands Are: This Week in Live Music and Concert News

Music manages to unite us; AKG Art of Jazz announced; This week's recommended shows

Jan 23, 2025

Hey now, music lovers.

What a time to be alive.

Never in my life have I noted the horrible and the sublime living in such close quarters. One day there’s hope and light, the next day there’s darkness and despair. And some days, the balance between the two seems to shift by the hour.

I was raised to be politically aware and involved, and I’ve tried to spend my life honoring that fact. But these days, I’ve turned my gaze wholly toward more immediate, local, and grassroots efforts. I can’t deal with all of this destructive nonsense, or the great echo-chamber of ill-informed opinion, to say nothing of the ominous cloud of anger-fueled hatred that seems to pass for our planet’s atmosphere these days. So I’ve found myself digging deeper and deeper into music, and pondering its potential to make things better, or at the very least, less bad, for people in our community, and others like it.

Music has always been a crutch for my own mental health, and it continues to allow me to view the world through a (wearily) optimistic lens, more often than not. Music can also help us build bridges toward something resembling compassion and civility in the way we treat each other, in our own community, and in the broader world. We need that now more than ever, and happily, its readily observable - especially if you can find a way to turn up the signal and tune out the noise.

We either make things better, or we make them worse, and recently, I’ve seen a lot of people trying to make them better - a case in point being the Help On the Way: A Buffalo Benefit for Musicians Displaced by the LA Wildfires event, which took place at the Sportsmen’s Tavern on Monday January 20. Our music community - the musicians, the music-lovers, venue owners and music education advocates - came together in a spirit of supporting people who are suffering. We heard some positively transcendent live music. And we raised more than $6k for the MusiCares LA Wildfire Relief Fund. This felt like a positive and tangible thing. Like forcing a moment of hope and order into a menacing chaos. Proof of music’s ability to unite us, then.

(So many people affected by these fires still need help. And they’re going to, for a long time. If you’re moved to do so, you can still donate. Learn about what MusiCares does with the money it raises, and consider donating yourself, here. And you can learn about the people this disaster has hit the hardest - and I’d urge you not to believe the politically motivated hype that suggests that this is somehow only about ‘rich people’ - by checking out the California Community Foundation’s Black LA Relief & Recovery Fund here.

Here at home, we can continue to support our music scene, and keep our eyes, ears, hearts and minds open to what the music might be trying to tell us. (Hint: It’s something like ‘be kind,’ in its simplest form.)

Here are some of the many things happening in our scene, this week and beyond…

Emmet Cohen brings his trio to the Buffalo AKG Art of Jazz Series in May.

The Buffalo AKG has announced its annual Art of Jazz Series, and its comprised of 4 shows celebrating the enduring small-scale majesty and grandeur of the jazz trio - 2 of which find renowned artists paying tribute to giants, with the remaining pair making their Buffalo debut.

Here’s the full lineup.

Dena DeRose Trio

February 2, 2025, 3 pm

Joe Alterman Plays the Music of Les McCann: Big Mo & Little Joe

March 9, 2025, 3 pm

Jeff Hamilton Trio: A Special Tribute Performance of Oscar Peterson’s “Canadiana Suite” in Honor of Peterson’s Centennial

April 13, 2025, 3 pm

The Emmet Cohen Trio

May 18, 2025, 3 pm

Note that the AKG is offering various price points: Season subscription: $150; AKG member season subscription: $130; General admission (single concert): $45; AKG member general admission (single concert): $40

Snag yourself some Art of Jazz tix right here.

While we’re in a jazz mode, note that The 10th Annual JazzBuffalo Poll is now open for voting. You can honor and celebrate your favorites among our deep talent of Buffalo jazz musicians right here.

This week, UB’s Center for the Arts announced its 30th Anniversary campaign, which includes a broadly diverse lineup of music, dance, and Distinguished Speaker appearances. There’s much more to come on the concert front at the CFA, but for now, note that Elvis Costello & Steve Nieve are performing as part of the CFA’s landmark season on Friday, March 7. Some good tickets on both the orchestra and balcony levels remain, and be found here. (Also, Bills fans might want to grab themselves tickets to catch Damar Hamlin’s Distinguished Speaker Series turn on March 13.)

Tsavo Highway - Album Release Show

Saturday, January 25, 8 p.m. at The Sportsmen’s Tavern, Buffalo, NY. $10.

This burgeoning jam-indie outfit celebrates the release of its debut full-length effort, Circles, with the help of special guest Dj Sike and featured artists Jacob Jay and Nick Lippa. I’ve heard the record, and if you’re a fan of the more soulful strains of modern jam-based music - think TTB with a side of Phish and a sprinkling of Circles Around the Sun - I wholeheartedly recommend you check them out.

Tauk w/ Chalk Dinosaur

Thursday, January 23, 8 pm at Buffalo Iron Works, Buffalo, NY.

Funktional Flow w/ Johnny Hart & the Mess

Friday, January 24, 8 pm at Buffalo Iron Works, Buffalo, NY.

Lotus w/ DJ U-Lock

Friday, January 24, 7:30 pm at The Town Ballroom, Buffalo, NY.

Community Music School Guitar Ensemble with Will Brobston

January 23 - March 13; Open to players with at least 1 year of experience. Learn more here.

Healy & the DayDrinkers w/ guests Buck Quigley, Jared Tinkham, Ana Vafai, Ivan Gonzalez, to benefit the Buffalo Academy of Visual & Performing Arts Class of 2026

Friday, January 24, 3:30 pm at Buffalo Distilling Company, Buffalo, NY.

Drive-By Truckers: Southern Rock Opera Revisited

Tuesday, January 28, 7:30 pm at The Town Ballroom, Buffalo, NY.

Zach Nugent’s Dead Set

Thursday, January 30, 8 pm at Buffalo Iron Works, Buffalo, NY.

Mohawk Place - Final Run of Shows

Damages, The Queen Guillotined, Mental Anguish

Saturday, January 25, 7pm doors/8pm show, $10 advance/$15 at the door

Mohawk Place’s Farewell Show: Handsome Jack, The Irving Klaws, Evil Things, Malarchuk, Nine Layers Deep, Cooler, and others

Friday, January 31, 4pm doors/5pm show

Fire Aid

Thursday, January 30, 6 pm at Intuit Dome and Kia Forum, Inglewood, CA.

Tickets for FireAid are on sale. If you can’t get there in person, the benefit will be broadcast via AMC Theatres, Apple Music and the Apple TV App, Max, iHeartRadio, KTLA+, Netflix/Tudom, Paramount+, Prime Video and the Amazon Music Channel on Twitch, SiriusXM, Spotify, SoundCloud, Veeps, and YouTube, which will present an option for live donations.

FTMP Events presents:

Burt Fest 2025 (Part I)

Featuring: Creating A Sinner, March Lions, Halations, Red Button Dilemma, Taken By Storm, & Call Me Disaster

Saturday, January 25, 5 pm doors at Evening Star Concert Hall, Niagara Falls, NY. $15

Buffalo Music Coalition presents:

Little Mountain Band Acoustic Trio

Saturday, January 25, 4pm at Flying Bison Brewing Company, Buffalo. FREE

Thursday Night Live: Jay/Sharp-tet

Thursday, January 23, 5:30 pm at Wilson Town Square, Knox Building, Buffalo AKG Museum, Buffalo. Free.

The Strictly Hip January Residency

Fridays, January 24, and 31, 7 pm doors at the 9th Ward in Babeville, Buffalo. $25 for single show

January 24 – PHANTOM POWER w/ special guest Jamie Holka

January 31 – YER FAVORITES w/ special guest Erin Hoyle & Ian Liedke

Miers on Music

Discussion about this post