Category: Western NY

Darien Lake 2014 Summer Concert Lineup

The Summer music season is in full swing with the start of the Memorial Day weekend upon us and is your #1 source for music in NY State. As part of a 3-part series we are running this week and next, we are showcasing the concerts coming to town at the three major concert venues – Darien Lake, CMAC and SPAC – for 2014.

Here is your guide to music in NY for the Summer of 2014 at Darien Lake Performing Arts Center –

June 11 – The Dave Mathews Band

June 18 – Backstreet Boys with special guest Averil Lavigne

June 24 – Journey and the Steve Miller Band

July 2 – Monumentour: Fall Out Boy & Paramore

July 6 – Brad Paisley

July 8 – Vans Warped Tour

July 12 – Jason Aldean

July 13 – Bad Company & Lynyrd Skynyrd

July 25 – Keith Urban

July 29 – Rock Star Energy Drink Mayhem Festival

August 2 – Blake Shelton

August 9 – One Republic with special guest The Script

August 13 – KISS & Def Leppard

August 16 – Luke Bryan

August 19 – Kings of Leon

August 21 – Linkin Park

August 22 – Goo Goo Dolls and Daughtry with special guest Plain White T’s

August 23 – Zac Brown Band

August 27 – The Fresh Beat Band Live

August 29 – Platinum Tour: Miranda Lambert with Justin Moore and Thomas Rhett

August 31 – Motley Crue

Ticket information can be found here: Live Nation

May 22, 2014
Consider Spring Revived: Spring Revival 2 at Carey Lake

After what can only be called a “trying” Winter and early Spring, Upstate NY was more then ready for a weekend that didn’t suck monkey balls. Enter Statewide Music’s Spring Revival 2. With forecasts only showing a few storms and weather ranging into the 80’s, the timing couldn’t have been better for a revival of the Spring we had yet to receive. This three day fest entered it’s second year in a brand new venue: Macedon, NY’s Carey Lake. Situated perfectly between Rochester, Syracuse, Buffalo, and Ithaca, the venue was easy to find and flat, with plenty of space for car camping, surrounded with enough trees, streams, gardens, and woodland creatures to satisfy the even the most Ranger Rick loving hippies. A bar and restaurant fronted the head of the property and also held the late night bands with a heaping dose of small town hospitality (Not to mention a pretty kick ass brunch!).

Thursday night kicked kicked the festival off with a nice group of early arrivals with the new improv-heavy Rochester trio, Underground Funk. Headliner and ‘s March Madness Winner, Lucid, (who also have the coolest tour bus ever) held the main stage expertly, and Rochester’s Haewa, whom would play two blistering sets over the weekend, kept things going until 1AM. It’s often when the music is done at small festivals when you really get to wander and meet new and interesting people and many were up til the sun rose. The night time revealed travelers from at least four different states had come to share in the groove, some who lived life from festival to festival, and many others that came to see the specific acts. Acoustic guitars, joyful conversations, and a small drum circle carried the festival until the morning.

Speaking of sun, Friday came with a ton of it. Temps soared into the 80’s by the time Personal Blend kicked off and no one was complaining. The first truly glorious day of 2014 also inspired all the bands that day as everyone was delivering their A-game sets. Albany’s Formula 5 won the afternoon crowd over with an inspired set and their brand new bassist (not to be confused with movie and television star) James Woods. The fun was given an exhilarating short break late in the afternoon as a short but fierce storm, henceforth named Hurricane EZ-Down, gave everything a nice soak and showed whose tents were truly “wind-friendly.” After a short break and a slight schedule change, Ithaca’s Solaris and Vermont’s Flabberghaster paved the way for the first of two headlining nights for Buffalo’s hottest export, Aqueous. The foursome whose genre, dubbed “groove rock”, but was more like “everything is awesome rock”, played an energy filled set anchored by a spot on first time cover debut of Red Hot Chili Pepper’s “Funky Monk”. Closing down the evening, Rochester’s nocturnal psych-rock-animal Ocupanther, kept the night owls going ’til last call.

Revival’s Saturday schedule was loaded with bands straight through from 11AM until 2AM. Many bounced between the two stages with a seemingly endless supply of dancing fuel, while others played Frisbee or explored the grounds. This was a great time to check out many of the great vendors on site as well, and I picked myself up some organic homemade deodorant and a brisket taco that can only be described as freakin’ delicious. Straying from the music didn’t last long though as Albany’s Mister F blew up a cover of Jamiroquai’s “Canned Heat”, made famous in Napoleon Dynamite. Warming up the stage for Aqueous’s second night, a full two set show, were Rochester’s Roots Collider and Haewa’s second set of the weekend.

Aqueous wasted no time getting into two blistering energy filled sets with the pairing of fan favorite originals, “Complex Part II” and “Origami”, with Solare Flare’s Hank and Margo spinning fire stage left. Concluding the set with a debut of The Cars “Just What I Needed”, the band took a short break while the audience refilled their beers. Never short on surprises, the band re-entered with bassist Evan McPhaden dressed in a full Tigger costume and a set of music that truly defined the amazing weekend as a champion. The newly re-finagled Universe Shark closed the festival down in style in the Carey Lake bar.

Carey Lake will hold three more Statewide Music events this year with the next being the bluegrass/Americana/folk based Fiddler’s Picnic (June 12-15). Wish you had made it? No worries. Spring Revival 3 has already been announced for May 14-17th 2015.

May 21, 2014
Buffalo Packed Nietzsche’s to Catch the Genius that is Marco Benevento

As the weather breaks and nicer temperatures start to become the norm, the residents of Buffalo begin to come out of their winter slumber and explore the city again. This past Friday night, Marco Benevento was in town and, with mother nature’s cooperation, Buffalo’s music community came out in droves and ascended upon Nietzsche’s for a night of great music. As 10pm came and went, the venue began filling up with all walks of life to catch the jazz experimentalist himself. Benevento has played Buffalo pretty consistently as of late and it seems as though the scene here is not only appreciative of his visits, but the crowd continues to grow every time he comes back.

The night started off with local favorites, Lazlo Hollyfeld. With a beer in hand, it was actually difficult to try to maneuver to the front of the venue as it was that densely packed for Lazlo. The group, in my eyes, was a perfect fit to open the night as their instrumental experimentation goes hand in hand with the type of crowd Benevento brings out. With over ten years under their belts, Lazlo knew exactly how to draw a crowd in and keep them entranced with their choice of songs for the set. Without any effort, your ears immediately gravitated towards Matt Felski who has the unique role of Vibraphonist in the band. For those unfamiliar, the instrument is similar to a xylophone and, as you can imagine, stuck out like a sore thumb. That might sound like a slight, but the way Felski utilized staccato and legato couldn’t have been more perfect. I can’t say I’ve ever heard this instrument outside of jazz, let alone in a small band, but these guys made it work and have a truly unique sound because of it. While I would’ve enjoyed seeing some more of them that night, their set was stellar and got the crowd in the perfect mindset for what was to come. Their jamming was dark and exploratory, having almost a heavy metal feel in terms of both tempo and tone. Guitarist Sonny Baker was the visual focal piece for the band as his energy swelled with peaks in the music and forced him to frantically pluck away in certain segments and attack his solos with a fierce tenacity. As they wrapped up their set, the crowd let out an exuberant cheer, letting the band know of their appreciation and enjoyment.

Marco Benevento took the stage around midnight, which was appropriate for Buffalo as the city is known for its late nights and 4am last call. Midnight is when things start to get interesting here and that would hold true on this night as well. Benevento started off the night sprinting out of the gate and showing everyone right away why he’s so talented. On one song, he held the strings inside of his piano, creating a similar effect to a muted guitar and adding a layer of texture to his deep overall tone. As he stated in our interview, he doesn’t go on stage with a setlist in mind; he completely plays to the crowd and feels out what they’re hoping to hear from him. Friday night was no different. Benevento was locked in from the get-go as every change in tempo and every blistering solo only electrified the crowd even more. A few songs in, he turned and looked out across the crowd, grinning, to let both the band and audience know he was having a good time.

As we got deeper into the set, you began to question how much his weathered piano could take. Even though it looked like it could’ve been lying around in the back of Nietzsche’s, the tone that was culled from its depths was beautiful. It was definitely an odd juxtaposition of visual ugliness, yet tonal beauty. The use of effect pedals with his historic rig only make his sound that much more unique. His tone and approach is literally out of this world. If you closed your eyes, it was almost as if you were strolling through Dalí’s “The Persistence of Memory” and he was playing the soundtrack.

While only a year has passed since I last saw these guys, they have grown tighter as an overall entity. Dave Dreiwitz (bass) and Andy Borger (drums) have learned how to compliment what Benevento does and now play much larger roles within the group. When they would collectively stop, it felt as though the pressure had finally let up. The three were so good at keeping an incessant pace that you felt the need to gasp for air on the short break in between songs.

Benevento himself is a madman behind the keys. You could see it in his face at various points throughout the show that he was really trying to push his musical boundaries. In and of itself, you can respect him for that, but he balances that seriousness with a jovial side that enjoys the dynamic between the band and crowd. As a clear example of his playful side, a large wolf mask somehow made its was to the stage and Marco was the first to embrace it, playing through the second half of a song while it was on his head. It was difficult to discern whether the whole thing was planned, but Marco’s eagerness and energized playing said otherwise.

The show went on until about 2am with Marco covering songs off of every album, including some new tunes off of his upcoming Fall release. It was an incredible night of music to say the least. As the crowd filed out, I overheard what I presumed to be a new fan talking about how they couldn’t wait for the next time he’s in town. Not surprised, I now understand why Marco is always smiling.

May 20, 2014
An Interview with Marco Benevento Before Friday’s Stop at Nietzsche’s

Marco Benevento is coming to Buffalo this Friday for an intimate night of music at Nietzsche’s and sat down for an interview with Jeremiah Shea. The experimental pianist, who’s known for his engaging live show, will be joined by his band which features Dave Dreiwitz on bass and Andy Borger on drums. The three were last in the area when they headlined the Night Lights Fall Music Festival this past September and fans of Marco have been eagerly awaiting his return. Opening up the night will be WeazilDust (Packy Lunn from Jimkata doing a DJ set) and Lazlo Hollyfeld who play regularly in the area and will add to a night of great music.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABW_fIufv9g

I got the chance to sit down with Marco and discuss a few things from his upcoming album to his approach to the stage. Marco is exactly how you’d expect him to be when we talked: personable, genuine, and appreciative of all of the support he’s had throughout his career. Our talk only lasted a half hour, but the insight into his music and life went pretty deep as his candid answers were anything but rehearsed.

Jeremiah Shea: It’s been a little while, but what was the experience like having Holly Bowling sit in with you on more than one occasion?

Marco Benevento: It was awesome! The first time it happened, we were playing in San Francisco and the audience was really close to the stage. The point of the gig was a fundraiser for Bread and Roses and every cent that came into the door went right to that organization. Nobody got paid for the gig, it was just volunteered time. Because we were setup so close to the audience, people could actually reach the piano from the audience and press a key down. I was jokingly saying, “It’s $2 if you want to reach up here and play a couple of keys.” People just got out singles and were holding money in the air to reach up and play. Holly just jumped up on stage and I was like, “Oh shit,” but she sat down next to me and said, “Don’t worry, I’m not a crazy fan and I’m friends with Dan.” Dan is our sound guy, so I knew it was ok and she jumped right into “Atari.” We totally rocked out and she knew the changes, and then we recreated that same experience at the Highline Ballroom in NY.

JS: I know you guys are experienced in improvisation, but how was it being the one who was surprised?

MB: Oh it totally made the night, especially in San Francisco. There were a lot of people who thought it was planned, so it was a cool experience. I was totally taken back by her knowledge and how she just knew all of the chords and didn’t flinch.

JS: You’re a guy who is always testing new ideas and mixing things up musically speaking. What new projects have you been working on?

MB: Yeah, my band, which includes Dave Dreiwitz on bass and Andy Borger on drums, went out to Oregon and we recorded with this incredible engineer/songwriter, Richard Swift, who is my age and plays with The Shins and The Black Keys. He’s just this genius engineer with a studio outside of Portland and we made the record with him that is primarily a vocal record. It’s all new music I wrote and instead of being instrumental, I put words to my melodies. We’ve been testing it out a lot lately, but the new record is the biggest project we’ve been working on.

JS: Is the plan to still have the album out this Fall?

MB: Yep!

JS: Now the vocal approach is a little different from what you normally do. Was that Richard’s idea or yours?

MB: That was my idea going into it and prior to going into it, we had made demos at my place before we went in. I knew I wanted to do it and I thought I should do it with a guy who has done a lot of that stuff. It was all something that I had planned out, but I wanted him to be the guy to capture it all. We did it in three days and it was just a very natural evolution of sound for me.

JS: Have you been tinkering with any new gadgets lately for your rig?

MB: One of my favorite gadgets is my Boss DR-3 delay pedal which was made back in the 70’s or 80’s and is just rockin’. I also have this Casiotone RC-1 which is predominantly featured on the new record. I sampled a lot of it from the Casio that’s here in my studio and it’s one of the best drum machines I’ve ever heard in my life. I want to do a whole album with it because it’s that amazing. The RC-1 has been rockin’ it for me and I never see it for sale or find anyone that knows about it. It’s just a hidden gem that is so badass.

JS: How was your experience at Bowlive this year?

MB: I’ve been doing that with them for about the last five years and it was great. They asked me to do it this year, and I said yes, but only if we covered “Soulful Strut” by Young Hault and “The In Crowd” by Randy Lewis. Those are both old school, funky piano jams from the 70’s and were instrumental hits at the time. It was a lot of fun and they have a great thing going over there.

JS: You had a pretty packed schedule at this years New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. How was that experience as a whole and what was your favorite gig?

MB: I played about 1-4 gigs a day over the course of ten days, so it was busy. I got the chance to play with George Porter, my old band, and a bunch of other gigs. It’s always fun to play Jazz Fest. My favorite gig was probably playing at the Fairgrounds right before Phish with Anders Osborne. Playing for that many people at the Fairgrounds is a real treat.

JS: You are very personable on stage and it seems as though you like the interaction with the crowd. How do they shape the show and what does it do for you to have that back and forth?

MB: You get so much energy from the audience. If there’s 50, 200, or 2000 looking at you, dancing with you, and listening to you, you feel that when you’re on stage. It’s hard to describe, but you feel that. You can sense that maybe a lot of them are on acid and it’ll be a weird night or they’re drunk and belligerent, and we play to that. We never write a set list down, so when we go on stage, nobody knows what’s going to happen. I try to feel out what the crowd wants to hear next. You can ignore that feeling from the crowd as a musician and play what you’ve already decided on playing, but I don’t like to do things like that. I like to go out there and think, “what do these guys want to hear?” You really get a sense of what the audience wants while you’re out there being focused on.

JS: You’ve said this past year that you wanted to do a residency at the Red Square in Albany this upcoming Fall. Do you have any details on that?

MB: The last time I played a gig there, I was egging the crowd on and announced on the mic, “Tell the Red Square we want to play here every Saturday in October,” and the crowd went nuts. What I said leaked online and we had planned to do it, but the promoter had his hesitations. We were talking about doing it this October, but I don’t think it’s going to happen unfortunately.

JS: What upcoming festival gigs are you most looking forward to and why?

MB: We’re doing this really great one in Oregon, just outside of Portland, called Pickathon. It’s incredible! It has such a wide variety of music there and I just really like it. It’s not every jam band you’ve ever heard of playing there, it’s more a big variety and I just love that!

May 14, 2014
The New Mastersounds Announce First Show in Buffalo with Orgone

Just announced today, The New Mastersounds will be playing their first ever show in Buffalo, NY later this year on Wednesday, September 3rd with Orgone. Calling England home, it’s understandable why this funky four-piece hasn’t played the area, but The Tralf will welcome them with open arms as the group has always had a great following due to their unique blend of music. Their most recent album, Therapy, was released earlier this year in March to great reviews and adds to an impressive catalog of music since their inception in 1999.

Joining them is another band who’s rarely played Buffalo in Orgone. The L.A.-based band is well-known on the West Coast, but has rarely done any extensive touring on this side of the country. Like The New Mastersounds, Orgone has its roots in funk, but stretches the boundaries in many directions as they touch on soul, boogie, disco, and afrobeat.

The combination of the two bands is going to make for one incredible night of music as they compliment each other well and likely won’t be back again for quite some time. Stay tuned for ticket info this Friday, and make sure to grab them fast to take advantage of this rare opportunity.

May 13, 2014
Canalside 2014 Summer Schedule Nearly Complete

Buffalo’s annual Canalside summer music venue announced their concert line-up for the 2014 summer this week.

Local favorites (moe., BPO and Conehead Buddha) are sprinkled in along the names of headliners from the past (Shaggy, George Thorogood and Extreme) and more.

The final date, August 14th, is left to be announced at a later time.

This will be the first Canalside since The Erie Canal Harbor Development Corporation Board of Directors voted in January to enter into a contract with Global Spectrum.

Global Spectrum is one of the world’s largest and most respected venue management companies, and is now responsible for public space management at Canalside in Buffalo.

June 12: Shaggy with DJ Milk and Soul Rebels
June 19: Moe. with Conehead Buddhs
June 21: Tedeschi Trucks Band
June 26: Sam Roberts Band with July Talk
June 27: George Thorogood and the Destroyers
July 3: Gord Downie and the Sadies with Hey Rosetta! and Boy & Bear
July 10: Fitz and the Tantrums
July 17: Lake Street Dive and the Oh Hellos
July 24: Extreme
July 31: Sheila E.
August 7: BPO Rock Show: Earth Wind & Fire and Michael Jackson
August 8: Girl Talk
August 14: TBA

Thursday events are free, otherwise presale prices run at $15 and Day of Show at $25.

May 10, 2014
The Continental holds 2nd Annual Reunion

On April 26th, SUNY Fredonia Professor Elmer Ploetz, myself and another volunteer made our way towards the back entrance of the Town Ballroom in downtown Buffalo on April 26th. It was to play host to the second annual Continental Reunion Show and I had volunteered to help Prof. Ploetz record and interview people. At this year’s reunion, 11 bands were set to perform. I thought it would be like any other rock show. I was dead wrong.

The Continental, located on 212 Franklin Street, was Buffalo’s largest goth and punk scene in the late ’80s before ultimately closing down in 2005. Last year’s reunion had nearly 1,000 people showing up for the event.

The clock on the wall struck seven and the doors opened with a wave of people in leather, fishnets, heavy make up, corsets. Soon after, the slight smell of cannabis filled the arena. I stayed behind my set up tripod on the upper level of the venue while I waited for the bands to take stage.

Bob James’ band started out the night with his first single “Lorraine.” The crowd bobbed their heads to the music as they came in with drink in hand to prepare for the rest of the evening. Each band was set to play for approximately 20 minutes. Even between the short amounts of time, the atmosphere was great and the fans cheered and rooted as bands brought up old memories.

The band that caught my attention was The Kevin K Band. With my camera, I zoomed in on the singer who wore purple glasses with a bright vest. The band rocked out one song after another and I found myself singing along to the chorus of each song, cheering loudly as they finished. With their loud and hard guitars and fast beats, they were the definition of an old school punk band.

I was told the bands that everyone was looking forward to were Tension and The Enemies. That night was the first time that Tension played in 25 years and I heard non-stop talk about them performing. The Enemies caused an equal amount of buzz between fans, as they were to perform with two of the original members.

Between sets, I got the opportunity to take a break behind the camera and venture out into the bar area to interview people. For an older, edgier crowd, people had smiles on their faces and were hugging one another in remembrance of The Continental.

I heard stories about The Continental being a safe haven and a place where misfits went and felt like they belonged. A person from our crew sparked a conversation with a man, who as he spoke, painted an image of young, goth girls looking in the mirror, fixing their make up. The interview turned quite a loop when be mentioned that he was blind, something I failed to initially observe. In an instant, he pulled on a leash he had in his hand and a woman immediately came to his side. She had a collar around her neck and my eyes could not stop looking at her golden eye make up. She introduced herself as his “Seeing-eye Bitch.” I was thrown off guard at the sight of the two of them but that gave me a realization that The Continental was all about the strange and the unusual.

And, I was part of it.

Tension and The Enemies took the stage toward the end of the night, and that was the most I heard the crowd cheer. Some people starred in awe since it was years since they saw the bands play. My professor was even rocking out to the music along with the people who waited for the reunion to happen. I, along with two other girls from our crew, went to the front of the stage to watch the two bands perform. From our vantage point, I saw older faces light up and young rock ‘n’ roll hearts unleashed again. We then just let everything loose, threw up the classic horns with our hands and screamed after each song. We didn’t know the words, but the excitement and the feeling of the drums rocking our bodies made us want to be part of the crowd. After their sets, we took our sweaty selves up near the tripods and cameras. We all babbled about how awesome the bands were and almost forgot that two more bands were set to perform.

We watched as the stage was prepared for the next act. A black banner with red, bloody letters read, “SKINBOUND.” We knew the next band was not going to be some classic punk band. The lights dimmed and a red light surrounded the stage. Everyone looked confused when over the speakers they heard the sound of eerie church music and suddenly, the band came out with rough guitars and pounding drums. The singer came out with harsh growls and screams.

At first, I was taken back by the band. I was like, ‘Who would have a heavy metal band at a punk show?’ But, in a heartbeat, the three of us made our way to the stage again and we followed suit with the crowd, heads banging to the beat of the guitars. We yelled and once more threw up the horns. I gasped a few times as I watched the keyboard player do backflips while he stood on stage. “We are going to play Coldplay’s, ‘Viva La Vida’ because we like to piss them off,” the singer announced, and the band proceeded into a metal version, complete with deep growls. It made a lasting impression as I knew I would never listen to the original song without the image of a band dressed in black, a keyboard player doing backflips, and a tattooed covered singer doing intense vocals. As much as the band was intimidating on stage, I met them after the show and observed young guys with humbled hearts as they were asked to take pictures and sign autographs.

Progressively fewer people made their way towards the stage as the last band started to play, which was not until after midnight. Industry of Life Divine took the stage with pink and black balloons filling the stage. We made our way back to the camera and video area and watched as the stage filled with half-naked women in leather, carrying whips. The scene distracted from the music, the music that came through the band sounded like a poppy version of Marilyn Manson, with a psychedelic rock. On the corner of the stage was a girl who twirled around a light up, rainbow hula-hoop and I mentally gave her props for being able to twirl it around her neck, legs and hips. But, that was the only real entertainment on the stage.

All our equipment was packed and our crew got out of the venue before the total chaos of traffic could happen. My ears rang, my throat was dry and the back of my neck sore. I came in there not knowing what to expect and I came out with a real acceptance of what The Continental was: it was a home for the people who were told they did not belong anywhere else. It was a place for the misfits to show their true colors. It was a true punk rock family.

May 8, 2014
The Devil Makes Three ‘Did Wrong Right’ in Rochester

Rochester rarely sees a bluegrass show, let alone a sold out bluegrass show. The April 23rd Devil Makes Three show at the Zeppa Auditorium was a welcomed oddity to that norm but they did wrong right. A 9 PM arrival to a show almost usually results in a few people at the bar, enjoying a drink before the party starts. Count this show as an oddity in that realm too then – the house was packed and pensively listening to the opening band, Joe Fletcher & the Wrong Reasons, an Americana band from Providence, RI with a bluesy sound.

The Devil Makes Three hit the stage strong with “Stranger, a song off the new album” I’m a Stranger Here. They wasted no time with playing house favorites when they slid smoothly into, “Beneath The Piano > Bullet” – the energy level was building with each song. With a look around the room, most knew every word to these songs, which played to the feel of the night, a room full of friends. The setlist was a fantastic combination of new songs and well-known songs from all their albums. Some of the highlights for this girl were, “Old Number 7” and “Gracefully Face Down” and by the sounds of it, I wasn’t the only one there whom had memorized nearly every word to every song. Most notably though, I was thrilled to hear upright bassist Lucia Turino sing a swanky tune. She rarely sings and seeing her play that bass and sing was a definite treat.

Quite possibly the greatest oddity of the night was the “bluegrass moshpit” that ensued and consumed every person anywhere near the stage. Maybe it was the fast paced “Do Right Wrong > Black Irish” that created the frenzy, or possibly it was the energy of the sold out room on another chilly Upstate, NY night, either way the moshpit was a new experience for this gal. A friend advised I take it all in and enjoy, “because it puts hair on your chest,” he said. But I digress, I prefer not to be tackled whilst dancing my heart out.

If this show was any indication of the things to come for this band, I will say that they are on their way up and already have a strong fan base in just about every city they play. Look for The Devil Makes Three this summer at festivals across the country.

May 8, 2014
The Black Keys Coming to Rochester in September

Everyone’s favorite blues rocking duo The Black Keys have announced a Rochester, NY show for September 14th at The Blue Cross Arena.

The band will be touring in support of their newly released album, Turn Blue. This will be the bands first Flower City visit since 2010 at CMAC. Back then they were still an opener, now they are headlining and no doubt will have a packed house. Cage the Elephant will open the show. Ticket information is not yet available.

The Black Keys 2014 Tour dates
9/05 – Columbus, OH @ Schottenstein Center*
9/06 – Cleveland, OH @ Quicken Loans Arena*
9/07 – Grand Rapids, MI @ Van Andel Arena*
9/09 – Milwaukee, WI @ BMO Harris Bradley Center*
9/10 – Louisville, KY @ KFC Yum! Center*
9/12 – Detroit, MI @ Joe Louis Arena*
9/13 – Pittsburgh, PA @ CONSOL Energy Center*
9/14 – Rochester, NY @ Blue Cross Arena*
9/16 – Toronto, ON, Canada @ Air Canada Centre*
9/18 – Montreal, QC, Canada @ Bell Centre*
9/20 – Philadelphia, PA @ Wells Fargo Center*
9/21 – Boston, MA @ TD Garden*
9/24 – Brooklyn, NY @ Barclays Center*
9/25 – Washington, DC @ Verizon Center*
9/27 – Chicago, IL @ United Center*
10/24 – Minneapolis, MN @ Target Center†
10/25 – Winnipeg, MB @ MTS Centre†
10/27 – Calgary, AB, Canada @ Scotiabank Saddledome†
10/28 – Edmonton, AB, Canada @ Rexall Place†
10/30 – Vancouver, BC, Canada @ Pacific Coliseum†
10/31 – Portland, OR @ Moda Center†
11/1 – Seattle, WA @ Key Arena†
11/9 – San Diego, CA @ Viejas Arena at Aztec Bowl†
11/10 – Phoenix, AZ @ U.S. Airways Center†
11/12 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Maverik Center†
11/13 – Denver, CO @ Pepsi Center†
11/15 – Houston, TX @ Toyota Center†
11/16 – Dallas, TX @ American Airlines Center†
12/4 – Baltimore, MD @ Baltimore Arena‡
12/5 – Raleigh, NC @ PNC Arena‡
12/6 – Richmond, VA @ Richmond Coliseum‡
12/8 – Nashville, TN @ Bridgestone Arena‡
12/9 – St. Louis, MO @ Scottrade Center‡
12/11 – Atlanta, GA @ Philips Arena‡
12/12 – Charlotte, NC @ Time Warner Cable Arena‡
12/13 – Greenville, SC @ Bon Secours Wellness Arena‡
12/15 – Ft. Lauderdale, FL @ BB&T Center‡
12/16 – Tampa, FL @ Tampa Bay Times Forum‡
12/17 – Orlando, FL @ Amway Center‡
12/19 – Austin, TX @ Frank Erwin Center‡
12/20 – Tulsa, OK @ BOK Center‡
12/21 – Kansas City, MO @ Sprint Center‡

*with special guest Cage The Elephant
†with special guest Jake Bugg
‡with special guest St. Vincent

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May 8, 2014
Local Limelight, Geek Week Edition: Buffalo’s Armcannon

Armcannon, a most unique band from Buffalo, makes music for nerds. Not just any nerds, but those who loved video game music, metal and progressive rock. As part of Geek Week, spoke to Chris Dlugosz (keyboard) and Dan Theman (guitar) about the band, their music, and appearances at unique music festivals you might not have heard of. Mike Willard (guitar), Larry Steele (drums) and Ian Machniak (bass) round out the Western New York group making waves as electronic music and metal merge genres.

photo credit: David Weaver http://www.burstmethod.com

Jeremiah Shea: Finish this sentence: Armcannon is for fans of…

Chris Dlugosz: The nostalgia of the classic themes of NES and SNES, as well as non videogame people who appreciate musical proficiency.

Dan Theman: Armcannon is for fans of progressive metal, retro gaming nerds, and people who like serious music that doesn’t take itself too seriously.

Jeremiah Shea: Where would Armcannon like to see themselves in 5 years?

Chris Dlugosz: With another complete album or three available to the public. Our constant improvement in quality is not slowing.

Dan Theman: Oh god. I don’t think we’re a band that has delusions of grandeur, that we’ll be playing Brazilian soccer stadiums in 5 years. We take our compositions and arrangements incredibly seriously, and labor over every chord, every accent, and every note. But we’re not a band who focuses that sort of energy towards the music business and “making it”. That said, Dan (Danimal Cannon) is currently composing music for new video games and he would love to be a well known video game composer in 5 years. Chris would be right at home scoring movies, and Mike would be known as a world class guitar player and jazz/metal guitarist. It’s kind of funny how our ultimate goals are not necessarily focused on the band itself, but Armcannon has given us the privilege, the pleasure, and the the practice to really hone our skills as musicians, meet amazing people, and play some incredible shows. That said, in 5 years, hopefully we’ll have an album of original music out, because as much as we love arranging old nostalgic themes, we also desire to spread our wings as musicians as far as they’ll go.

Jeremiah Shea: What’s on the horizon this year for Armcannon?

Chris Dlugosz: We are secretly writing a secret new kind of album that nobody has done before.

Dan Theman: We’ll be in Orlando this upcoming weekend headlining an event called Ongaku Overdrive. We’re currently writing some original music, we’ll see where that takes us.

Jeremiah Shea: Explain how you got involved with the upcoming festival in Orlando. Is this your first Fest?

Chris Dlugosz: They approached us through this beautiful process we like to call “The Internet does all the work for us” and simply invited us to play. This is utterly and absolutely NOT our first fest, as fests are 99% of the type of shows we have always played. The biggest of them all is MAGfest which stands for Music And Gaming fest. It’s basically a mecca where all the good videogame bands converge for a whole weekend.

Dan Theman: We usually play a few festivals around the US every year. There’s actually a growing and thriving scene of bands and artists making music that’s inspired from games in all kinds of genres. Sometimes that includes acts that are considered “nerdy” as well. Most of the regular shows we play we’re incredibly different than any of the acts on the bill, we stick out like a beautiful sore thumb. These festivals allow us to play shows with like-minded artists from all across the world, for fanbases that you wouldn’t believe. This sort of scene is completely off the radar of the traditional music business, but the dedication of the fans who pack these events allow these events to successfully exist as a microcosm of the rock world, on another planet entirely. What if I told you one of the most intense and raucous shows we’ve ever played was in a hotel ballroom? It’s really something else.

photo credit: Emi Spicer http://uglymachine.net/

Jeremiah Shea: Cite some major accomplishments for the band – I know you guys have played with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, correct?

Chris Dlugosz: Through some interesting circumstances, we were allowed a brief cameo on two different occasions with the BPO. it was an event called VideoGames Live where a touring conductor goes from city to city and hijacks the philharmonic orchestras and makes them play video game music.

Dan Theman: We’ve performed with the Buffalo Philharmonic twice actually! We played small sets in the middle of the touring Video Games Live orchestral show, I love the idea that you might find us in a sweaty basement, or on a gilded stage filled with world class musicians. We take immense pride in our 3 album releases, and hearing another musician talk about how our arrangements and playing have influenced them in some way never seems to get old. This year we were contacted by Capcom to produce some official remixes for a Megaman 25th Anniversary album which was really fun to do.

Jeremiah Shea: What’s the coolest thing you’ve ever been a part of?

Chris Dlugosz: The coolest thing we have been a part of is MAGfest. We have been headliners there every year since 2006, and since then we have made literally hundreds of good friends and network connections for this ever-expanding nostalgia-infused sub-culture. We have watched the staff there grow from excited youths to full fledged business filling entire convention centers rivaling the size of PAX.

Dan Theman: The coolest thing for us is performing at a festival called MAGfest which stands for Music and Gaming Festival. The crowds at that particular festival are special in the way that they truly “get” what we’re trying to do, they catch all of the obscure subtleties that we layer into our music. Their intensity during the show is essentially unrivaled, and that sort of passion feeds back into us, pushing us to new heights. We feel very much at home there, in a world where we constantly feel a little like outcasts that exist as a novelty or curiosity for most people.

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Dan Theman also makes original music with Nintendo Gameboys. It’s called Chiptune and you can see his TED talk about it earlier this year.

May 7, 2014