NYS Music 20​17

Tag: buffalo

  • The Mockstrosity Tour Crashes into Buffalo

    I like to think anyone can appreciate a joke band with a solid gimmick. Just as long as it doesn’t go over people’s heads, anyone should get it under the right circumstances. That’s what drew me to Buffalo’s Tralf Music Hall on the March 23 to see the Mockstrosity tour, a collection of three such joke bands with substantial cult followings taking their gimmicks nationwide.

    Hell, the show posters show an evil Ronald McDonald, a black-clad mariachi member, and stupid sexy Ned Flanders tearing up buildings Godzilla-style. They are well aware of their jokes and embrace it wholeheartedly.

    Oh I had questions as to how these bands decided to tour together in the first place. But I left my sense of reality at the door, choosing to believe the story Mac Sabbath singer Ronald Osborne told the audience during their set. Evidently, Mac Sabbath was tired of playing with other “Drive-Thru Metal” bands, like Twisted Sizzler and Bauhaus of Pancakes, writer of the hit song “Taco Bela Lugosi’s Dead,” and organized an “international” tour with bands of different metal genres.

    The first act, Okilly Dokilly, the world’s only “Nedal” band, came on stage rather unceremoniously. Amidst the covered props for the other acts, the five members, with their green sweaters, khakis, and Ned Flanders mustaches, gave the audience their first sense of leaving reasonable music taste outside. The singer, “Head Ned,” greeted the audience with a “Howdilly Doodilly neighboreenos!” in his best Ned Flanders voice before starting off with “They Warned Me (that the devil would be attractive).”

    Their entire setlist was like a rundown of the most quotable Ned Flander’s phrases. Songs like “Godspeed Little Doodle,” “You’re a Jerk,” and the time Ned Flanders was the devil and tricked Homer into eating a donut to steal his soul. Since the whole joke is centered on how a metalcore band writes songs about such an innocent character, it’s all the more amusing how Head Ned alternates between screaming the lyrics and resuming his impression in between songs. This goes to the extreme as he goes on a monologue about how left-handed people are at war with society in general (like spiral notebooks and pants). He would also occasionally wrestle with the keyboardist on stage, when the keyboard wasn’t being thrown around of course.

    Okilly Dokilly ended their show with arguably the most iconic Flander’s quote of them all, “Nothing at All.” Head Ned even revealed himself to be wearing a ski suit underneath his other outfit, to which he just had to say, “Feels like I’m wearing nothing at all.” With one last “Nedal” hoorah, including a bit of the Offspring’s “Gone Away,” Okilly Dokilly left the stage as unceremoniously as they came on.

    The second crazy act on, Metalachi, was lead on stage with a hype man, claiming they’d convert all the Metalachi virgins in the crowd tonight. With a setup that included bra-covered microphones and outfits like any 80’s metal band would wear, the five-piece band, from Juarez, Mexico by way of Los Angeles, launched right away with “Symphony of Destruction” and “Ace of Spades.” Between songs, there would be plenty of banter between the singer, Veca de la Rockha, and the trumpeter, El Cucuy, joking about being so close to the Canadian border and finding a girl to get a green card.

    The range of their covers was all over the place. The beginning had them singing the likes of Dio, Def Leppard, and Guns N Roses, before moving onto Sublime and Journey, where the big guitar player, Nacho Picante, sang “Open Arms,” to an audience member decked out in skull facepaint. Then the violinist, “Queen” Kyla Vera,” performed an instrumental medley containing the likes of Metallica, Zeppelin, and Iron Maiden before moving onto more Metallica, AC/DC, and ending with “Raining Blood.”

    So, yes: a mariachi band playing metal covers. They sound as if a Mexican restaurant house band decided to have a more twisted version of Day of the Dead. But oh man, did I have a smile on my face for every bit of metal I did recognize.

    The final act, the one most people in the audience wore shirts of, the one that had roadies dressed as fast food employees, and had props of evil looking Ronald McDonalds and a burger drum kit, Mac Sabbath took the stage to audio that sounded like it was talking about the evil clown sightings in North Carolina. As their curtain fell, playing their “War Pigs” parody “More Ribs,” Ronald Osborne came out wearing a straightjacket, eventually freeing himself of it as the song went on. As the song ended, as Ronald proclaimed Mac Sabbath are the forefathers of “Drive-Thru Metal,” the audience chanted out “Drive-Thru Metal” (because Buffalonians can’t pass up a chance to chant ‘Let’s Go Buffalo’).

    After performing “Sweet Beef,” Ronald explained the already mentioned reasons for the tour. He joked about partying with Metalachi down in Mexico and how they retired their t-shirt cannon out of respect for Maude Flanders. They later made a reference to “White Wine Spritzer” and Okilly Dokilly’s crazy keyboard player later on, wondering if he could come back on. For some reason, after performing “Lord of the Swirl,” which featured Ronald pulling a giant straw out of his pants and drinking beer, he made a Blue Velvet reference (Pabst Blue Ribbon?) before a lip synced interlude of Roy Orbison’s “In Dreams” where even Ronald acknowledged, “That was weird.”

    In the spaces between the songs, Ronald essentially did stand-up comedy all revolving around bad food and restaurant puns, though he pretty much had to carry the show since Slayer McCheese and Grimalice couldn’t talk due to their costumes, and The Catburgler just doesn’t talk, he just made rimshots at the bad punchlines. I’m pretty sure at one point, he was just reciting the “The Duck Song,” (the one that goes “Got any grapes?”)

    In all fairness, Mac Sabbath themselves do pretty solid Sabbath covers, capturing the various kinds of metal genres they spawned back in the 70’s. But when “Children of the Grave” becomes “Chicken of the Slaves,” complete with Ronald downing some chicken nuggets and slapping together metal spatulas, it very much becomes it’s own unique thing. The same goes for closers “Frying Pan” and “Pair-of-buns,” complete with Ronald eating the head off a fake bat.

    I’m probably not looking hard enough as to when bands like these go out on nationwide tours, since I’m a fan of similarly comedic acts like Weird Al and Ninja Sex Party. I can legitimately see how someone came up with these bizarre ideas, both with and without the use of illicit substances. And I can see why each of them has legitimate cult followings. The three bands do well enough on their own, but playing all together in one night play off each other well. Okilly Dokilly brings the modern reference weirdness, Metalachi brings out the ethnic party atmosphere, and Mac Sabbath brings the bizarre politics/classic rock vibes. Certainly something to enjoy and laugh with for an evening.

  • The Griswolds Rock Out at The Waiting Room

    Friday, March 3:  the first Sunday of Lent. In Buffalo, that normally means every restaurant has their take on fish fries out and people are trying to better themselves through personal sacrifice. However, those attending The Waiting Room that evening found themselves in a very party-friendly environment. One that resulted in a lot of spilled beer on the floor. But given that the band was from Australia, a country known for their heavy drinking, it seemed only fitting. And it also seemed fitting that the band, The Griswolds, named for the Vacation film series family often driven to their limits, was the main event.

    The Griswolds hail from Sydney, Australia and were on tour behind their new album, High Times for Low Lives. The lineup, made of Christopher Whitehall on lead vocals and guitar, Daniel Duque-Perez on keyboards and guitar, Tim John on bass and Lachlan West on drums, claim to be inspired by the likes of 2000’s indie bands Vampire Weekend, MGMT, and Of Montreal along with Kanye West and the Beach Boys.

    Whitehall definitely gives off the impression of an Australian man, with a scruffy head of long hair along with a somewhat trimmed beard. His thick accent when he spoke to the crowd was the common kind of slurred speech people often expect to hear from Australians. That sort of made his open attempts of getting the audience to party all the more amusing. His guitar sported the phrase “Love Trumps Hate” in a slightly more pleasant looking matter than if Tom Morello would’ve done it.

    The music itself does bear the influences of the band on its sleeves. The walk-on music for the band was the same “In High Places” sample by Mike Oldfield, used in Kanye West’s “Dark Fantasy” before going into “Role Models.” The various tricks performed were often found in prominent 2000’s acts, like the weird synth vocals in “16 Years,” the psychedelic sounding keyboards of “Right on Track” and high-pitched chorus line of “Be Impressive.”

    At one point, Whitehall asked if anyone in the audience had a birthday, and a few did raise their hands. He then told the crowd it was the drummer’s birthday and replied, “This is the best birthday ever” in a similarly thick accent. After a round of “Happy Birthday,” the band delved into their own song titled “Birthday,” one that played much slower and less joyous, but went in deeper. Compared to the much more upbeat, “If You Wanna Stay,” which probably got the most party-like reception the band wanted, The Griswolds really run a gauntlet of various tastes.

    After ending with “Down and Out,” complete with Whitehall doing a guitar solo with the guitar strapped to his back, and a plainly obvious attempt at an encore, they played the very Vampire Weekend-esque “Beware the Dog,” another song where the drummer got into the hard rhythms. In a rather surprising move, Whitehall, after asking the audience if they wanted one more, invited one of the opening acts, Dreamers, onto the stage. The now 8-person band on stage, in one last bit of fun-giving, played the ever-classic “Hey Ya!” Whitehall and Dreamers singer Nick Wold traded verses and lines in the chorus, trying to channel whatever parts of Andre 3000 they could muster.

    The Griswold’s music was plenty entertaining enough, with their odd mix of new wave, electronics, and funk rhythms. But at the same time, they didn’t make too much of an impression of me beyond that. I was interested in seeing this band because of the question, what would a band named The Griswolds sound like? And now that I have, I can say I’ve heard plenty of other bands trying the same thing. It’s not anything original, but it’s not anything to completely discount either.

  • GZA Runs through Wu-Tang Classics at the Waiting Room

    On Saturday, February 25, the bizarre weeklong heatwave in Buffalo finally came to an end as snow blustered across the city. And at the Waiting Room, numerous patrons were wearing Wu-Tang Clan shirts, GZA hats, and one wearing a New York Rangers style jersey, but with Wu-Tang images instead. The smell of weed permeated the air, and the audience on the bottom floor stage was packed from the front stage to where the merchandise stand would normally be. Wu-Tang was certainly representing this evening. And the crowd was here for one of it’s prime members: GZA the Genius.

    GZA Waiting RoomBorn Gary Grice from Brooklyn, New York, the GZA is the cousin of Wu-Tang mastermind RZA. He’s the oldest member of the 9-piece rap group and the only MC who released an album before the Wu-Tang Clan formed. He’s often regarded as having one of the most extensive vocabularies of any MC, which I suppose comes naturally with being in a group with as far ranging rhyme styles as the Wu-Tang Clan. It must come from trying to keep up with everyone else.

    GZA wasn’t touring behind a new release. His last solo work was 2008’s Pro Tools, and the last Wu-Tang project was the infamous Once Upon a Time in Shaolin. The Genius decided to take the mostly Wu-Tang clad audience on a trip down memory lane, spitting out some of his best-known rhymes from his 90’s glory period.

    The majority of the first set of song/excerpts were from the acclaimed Liquid Swords, the album that established where, even if he was solo, GZA was one of the most lyrically adept members of the clan. From the standard hip-hop braggado of “Duel of the Iron Mic,” and “Shadowboxin’,” to the more street-conscious “Gold,” “I Got Ya Back,” and “Living in the World Today,” it’s impressive how GZA can still manage such precise, dense lyrics from albums made 2 decades ago, even as the backing tracks cut out to let the audience chant along some of the iconic lines.

    Something else that was prominent throughout the performance was how GZA, in his effort to appeal to the massive Wu-Tang fans there, would rap some of the other MC’s lines, occasionally some songs he had no part in. The DJ said a few times during the set this show was dedicated to the deceased Ol’ Dirty Bastard. And as a proper tribute goes, the audience was hectic as the piano line of “Shimmy Shimmy Ya,” started playing, with them shouting how they “like it raaaaaw.” The same was for when songs from the Wu-Tang’s debut Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) was playing. Aside from “Clan in Da Front,” essentially a GZA solo track, he went through other MC’s verses on “Protect Ya Neck,” “Wu-Tang Clan Ain’t Nuthin ta F’ Wit,” and “C.R.E.A.M.” (dolla dolla bils y’all!)

    During a break in-between songs, GZA asked the crowd where we got the name Buffalo from anyway, out of curiosity. Mainly because he goes through towns with Native American names, of which Buffalo is one such place. GZA then went on a bit where he asked if there were any Trump supporters here (there were none), followed by if there were anti-Trump people there, where the whole crowd responded. He then gave off a “we’re not with you,” before saying how “we’re gonna make America great again our way.”

    GZA waiting roomGZA even jumped into the crowd to do a rendition of “Crash Your Crew,” surrounded by eager fans taking cell phone pics and videos.  Some bodyguards came out from backstage in case any fans got a bit too crazy. He also casually signed autographs in the middle of his set, sometimes while still in the middle of rapping. That showed the level of cool and experience GZA gave off.

    The show ended with a seemingly freestyle bit incorporating “Triumph,” “Shame on a Nigga,” and “Wu-Tang Clan Ain’t Nuthin ta F’ Wit,” ending an hour-long set keeping the Wu faithful plenty satisfied. And no doubt if any other of the Wu’s killer bees ever come into town again, the same situation will play itself out again.

  • Red Hot Chili Peppers Play Key Bank Center

    I can’t believe I made it this far in life without ever seeing the Red Hot Chili Peppers but I’m so glad I was able to drive in a snow storm from Syracuse to the Key Bank Center in Buffalo on February 10 to make this at the last possible minute.  I just feel bad for missing the openers. Going into this concert my first thought was “what on earth is this band going to be like without John Frusciante?!”  And honestly this band still holds its own as the kings of funk rock. Guitarist Josh Klinghoffer is damn amazing at what he does, plays the parts justified, the solos slightly different, but nails the backing vocals.

    Overall, the band is as vital as it ever was, and show no signs of slowing down.  But their stage production was massive and unique.   Above the crowd and stage was the new kinetic light sculpture, designed by the production company called TAIT Towers.  This technique and stage design has  never been done before at other shows.  The band made an ambitious move to excite the crowd and add to their already insane musical experience.  It is really hard to explain how these lights work but check out this link to see a better explanation.

    The band opened with a cool little jam before frontman Anthony Kiedis stormed the stage before going into “Can’t Stop” and “Dani California.”  I also want to point out that Flea is still one of the most bad ass bassists ever to grace music and Chad Smith can pound the drums meaner than Animal the Muppet.  Eat your heart out Will Farrell.  Also in addition to all the crazy production, the band had additional musicians when they performed songs off their latest album The Getaway.  They had an additional guitarist, keyboardist, and percussionist to make the songs more massive.  It was also cool to see the band do jams, bass interludes, and guitar solos in between songs, as well as showing off their sense of humor.

    One of the highlights of the night was “Aeroplane” which was off their 1995 album One Hot Minute which featured Dave Navarro on guitar at the time….which was why it was such an unexpected treat to hear.  And my life was complete towards the end of the show when they played the iconic “Under The Bridge.”  Found it interesting when the band did a cover of Iggy and The Stooges’ “Search and Destroy” in which Kiedis took his shirt off.  Not sure if that was supposed to be a nod to Iggy himself.  The band closed off their set with “By The Way” before a kick ass two song encore of “Good Bye Angels” off The Getaway and the oh-so-fun and dirty song “Give It Away” which the crowd went bananas over.

    Overall it was an unforgettable night, I would expect RHCP will be back in NY very soon and will still sell out a massive arena…and it would be great to see what kind of ambitious production they would carry next.  Not to mention with so many albums out, there’s so many songs that still need to be incorporated into their set.

  • Datsik Sells out Town Ballroom

    Town Ballroom was bursting at the seams with a whole new culture Thursday January 19 with Datsik in town and with a sold out venue. EDM music is becoming more and more popular and I can see why. In line you could find someone in a Pikachu onesie, or another in a unicorn and some girls who seemed to just have on their bra and panties.
    datsik town ballroom

    Virtual Riot was playing by the time everyone walked in. EDM music is not door at 8 and music starts at 8:30-9pm, it is doors are at 8 and the music is already bumping. The beats were lively and it created an atmosphere that was all its own. Virtual was a perfect opener, he got the continuously lingering crowd hyped up for the night and put them in a party mindset.

    Christopher Lee Marshall better known as Crizzly hailing from Austin, Texas was an entertainment all his own. He brought a hype man with him who did just that, hype the crowd. He jumped all around the stage and even at one point jumped in the crowd and moshed with the audience.

    datsik town ballroomDatsik, what is there to say about him? His visual effects were captivating; he had screens set up that took up the entire stage, his new stage setup was by Shogun stage production. He ditched the vortex this tour. The beats he created released the crowd into an animalistic behavior. The crowd was a bit out of control. Sitting on the platform you could see everything going on.

    Not long into his set there was a girl who passed out and as soon as that happened the bodyguard guarding the pit entrance attention turned to that; then two girls who looked to be on something ran into the pit and began to “erotic dance.” As soon as another guard saw what the girls were doing, they were swooped up like rag dolls and thrown out. People were taking off their clothes and it became a free for all. Datsik did his job and entranced the Town Ballroom crowd and left everyone feeling new and free.

  • Tokyo Police Club Play to a Packed Waiting Room

    It’s one thing if a band from your immediate area becomes a sensation in any regard. But if any band from a major regional city, like Toronto, start off their latest American tour in a city right across the border, you better imagine fans will come in droves to see them. That’s why on January 19, Toronto indie darlings Tokyo Police Club played in front of a nearly-full crowd at Buffalo’s Waiting Room. And the crowd came from near and far to see the Canadian lads.

    Tokyo Police Club, made up of David Monks (bass/lead vocals), Josh Hook (guitar), Graham Wright (keyboards/guitar), and Greg Alsop (drums) have been big names in the U.S./Canadian border indie scene for a while now. In the past 10 years, they’ve performed at festivals including Coachella, Lollapalooza, Glastonbury, Reading and Leeds, and Bonnaroo. They’ve toured with the likes of Weezer, and Foster the People and released four LP’s and three (or four if you’re picky) EP’s. Buffalo was the first stop on their tour promoting their new EP, with stops in Washington DC, Cambridge, MA, Montreal, and Peterborough, Ontario coming up.

    Monks had immediate control over getting the crowd, wearing a black button-down shirt that gave off a look oddly reminding me of Billy Corgan. Maybe it was intentional, since their lastest, two-part EP is called Mellon Collie and the Infinite Radness. Either way, the crowd at the front reached their hands inches from Monks’ face as he reached the edge of the stage with his bass. Wright, doing double duty on backing guitar and keyboards, was by far the most enthusiastic performer of the act, bobbing around as he churned out various synth riffs and was by far the more energetic guitar player, even if his riffs mostly came in when Hook had a solo.

    The audience was more than willing to clap along when Monks urged them too, or on their own. There were also instances of a pineapple being passed around and held up by audience members, along with one attempt at crowd surfing that didn’t get too far. Musically, people recognized each song that started playing, like the distinct opening synth riffs of “Bambi” and “PCH.” They chanted along with the chorus lines of “Favorite Color” and “My House.” They waved their arms side-to-side during the slow intro of “Breakneck Speed.” And they managed to keep up with the multi-part “Argentina.”

    The band closed out their initial set by playing their first EP, A Lesson in Crime, in it’s entirely to celebrate its 10th anniversary. With each song hardly breaking the two and a half minute mark, they were notably more unrefined, more raw. The opening track, “Cheer It On,” harkens back to the time bands like The Strokes and Interpol were the toast of the indie community. “Shoulders & Arms” has a streak of noise-like guitar they would hardly come back to, while “Citizens of Tomorrow,” even with it’s hints of dance-punk, would harken to what the band would eventually turn into.

    By the time the band finished playing “La Ferrassie,” the final song from A Lesson in Crime, and bid their audience goodnight before coming out for an encore, the place had been completely enamored by whatever plans the band had up their sleeve. If the crowds at their upcoming shows are anything as responsive as the one in Buffalo, then Tokyo Police Club should expect a good time up ahead.