Buffalo groove rockers Aqueous will be making their Town Ballroom headlining debut this New Year’s Eve. In anticipation of the evening, the Buffalo based quartet has announced that in addition to their own catalog, they will be dedicating a set of music to the English virtual band, Gorillaz.
“AQ draws from many different bands’ catalogs for inspiration, and the Gorillaz catalog is one that all four of us are HUGE fans of,” noted Aqueous frontman and guitarist Mike Ganzter via press release. “Their catalog integrates four styles of music that we all love: hip-hop, rock, punk and electronic, and once the idea got thrown out there to do a Gorillaz themed set, it was clear that that was the vibe we wanted to really set our NYE party over the top!”
This past March, Aqueous made their performance debut at the Town Ballroom opening in support of Vermont’s genre fusing jam band, Twiddle. As AQ steps into the headlining position to close out 2017, Ganzter reveals the evening’s importance to the band. “This city has so much love for us and has supported us on a really profound level at every turn,” he said. “We’re coming into this gig with true gratitude and a mission to deliver in a big way at a venue that we all grew up seeing our favorite bands perform at.”
Buffalo post-rock art band Lazlo Hollyfeld has been added in support.
On Thanksgiving eve, Ganzter stopped by the Lazlo Hollyfeld annual Thanksgiving Eve show for an unannounced sit-in. Besides their own unique brand of musical stylings, Lazlo Hollyfeld is also known for their perfected tribute sets, including performances of the Talking Heads, Radiohead and most recently, Arcade Fire.
Aqueous is currently finishing up a nearly three month tour of the greater United States before retuning home to celebrate the New Year with their hometown fans. AQ will kick off 2018 with performances on Jam Cruise as well as tour in support of Papadosio for recently announced dates in February and March.
Tickets for Aqueous’ NYE Gorillaz bash at Hometown Ballroom are $20 in advance and are still.
Aqueous Upcoming Tour Dates
Dec. 6 – Omaha, NE – Reverb Lounge
Dec. 8 – Fort Collins, CO – Hodi’s Half Note
Dec. 9 – Frisco, CO – The Barkley Ballroom
Dec. 12 – Davenport, IA – Redstone Room
Dec. 13 – St. Louis, MO – The Bootleg at Atomic Cowboy
Dec. 14 – Lexington, KY – Cosmic Charlie’s
Dec. 15 – Columbus, OH – Woodlands Tavern
Dec. 16 – Pittsburgh, PA – The Rex Theater
Dec. 29 – Denver, CO – Fillmore Auditorium * Dec. 31 – Buffalo, NY – Town Ballroom
Jan. 17 – 22 – Miami, FL – Jam Cruise
The day after Halloween the ghouls were still out play and people were ready to rock with mutant metal band Gwar. The intergalactic band bestowed mere earthlings of Buffalo in support of their latest album “The Blood of Gods”. Town Ballroom housed all the humans and extraterrestrial bands that night. Brent Purgason was pulling double duty, his band U.S. Bastards, the most earthling related of the group kicked things off.
Next up was Doyle, The Misfits guitarist Doyle Wolfgang Von Frankenstein, His singer Alex Story gave everyone a good laugh, before every song he said “This is a love song; you can dance to it if you want too.” In a girlish voice that complimented his mini skirt and fishnet stockings.
Ghoul performed with their potato sack masks, like something you would see out of a old scary movie. The band’s thematic set is heavily influenced by Gwar. Ghoul had various characters that squirted fake blood — from an odd dictator in a cape and gas mask to their dreaded voodoo magician complete with his large fake chicken that streamed red liquid into the crowd. Also, who wouldn’t love a giant distorted looking turnip to end a set?Black Sabbath`s “War Pigs” came over the speakers and the earthlings started getting wrestles. Fans started singing the first verse at the top of their lungs. GWAR walked onto the stage and started “War on the Gwar” playing the first track off the new album The Blood of Gods. Other new tracks included the catchy “I’ll Be Your Monster Baby” which is probably the closest thing you’ll ever get to a love song by GWAR. Blothar proceeded to covered the front section of the crowd with fake blood from his cow utter like penises
The crowd of monster lovers also partied to older blood-filled songs like “Hail, Genocide!” and “Saddam a Go-Go.” Everyone who attends a Gwar show knows there is no hold bar with them, they poke fun at politics, corporations, social media and of course religion. During the new song “El Presidente” they brought out a Jabba the Hut looking Donald Trump which received “Boos” from the crowd as well as a mutant version of Hillary Clinton. Both were slaughtered for the gluttonous fans who wanted blood. Politics doesn’t matter at a GWAR show, mutants rule their world.
“Do you want Blood?” asked Blothar. The already soaked crowd wanted more and they got it. GWAR ended the night with a cover of AC/DC’s “If You Want Blood (You’ve Got it)” Bone Snapper came out with his infamous sawblade spinning machine which spat out waves of blue into the audience.
After all the recent sad events going on in the world GWAR and the other bands gave people a chance to escape from their troubles and have a great time full of singing laughter and of course blood.
Vermont jam band Twiddle and Buffalo groove rockers Aqueous teamed up for a legendary weekend of music. Saturday March 4, not only marked Twiddle’s first two-night run at the historical venue, but also marked Aqueous’ debut. Saturday night was marked a sell out, while Sunday night ticket sales landed just under capacity.
Aqueous made the most out of their debut weekend. The band’s hometown fan base came out in full support, with many AQ fans traveling to witness the group’s first shows at the Town Ballroom. Mike Abrahamson made the five hour drive from Hudson Falls, NY and commented, “I’ve never heard a crowd that loud for the opening band. It was insanity.”
Saturday night, Aqueous opened with the fan favorite “Strange Times.” Moving forward, the set progressed to a newer tune, the recently debuted “Second Sight.” “Numbers and Facts” took a highly talked about turn, when the band switched gears midway and debuted a cover of the NWA classic “Express Yourself,” featuring bassist Evan McPhaden on vocals with Twiddle bassist Zdenek Gubb on bass duties. McPhaden took to crowd surfing before returning to the stage to conclude “Numbers and Facts” with the band. Aqueous closed out their debut set with the high energy “Don’t Do It” from their EP Best in Show.
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Twiddle held nothing back on night one, instantly commanding the room with “Blunderbuss” an intense, high energy instrumental that is slated for release on the upcoming Plump – Chapter 2. Their Saturday night set was a varied list of fan favorites that spanned the band’s catalog including “Brick of Barley,” “Carter Candlestick,” “Indigo Trigger” and “Lost in the Cold.”
Twiddle also welcomed Aqueous guitarist Mike Ganzter for the Twiddle instrumental “Latin Tang.” Ganzter’s guitar work added an incredible layer of guitar harmonies. It also added an incredible layer of on-stage camaraderie. There is an evident level of musical respect and appreciation between the two bands that shines, specifically when Gantzer and Twiddle guitarist Mihali Savoulidis take the stage together.
The night concluded with Ganzter returning to the stage with McPhaden on synth. The pair sat-in with Twiddle for the Ray Parker Jr. hit “Ghostbusters.” The encore choice was inspired by a plaque in the venue, listing the site at one of Western New York’s most haunted buildings. Formerly known as the Town Casino and used as a speakeasy during Prohibition, employees of the Town Ballroom often report ghost sightings, unexplained sounds through the venue’s basement tunnels and the venue’s equipment often turning on without explanation.
Both bands used Saturday night’s momentum to launch a Sunday night burner. Aqueous came out firing, bringing a unique twist to some of their most beloved tunes. The night was kicked off with “Underlyer” and “Marty.” AQ then fired into an alternative funk version of “Eon Don” (nicknamed “Eon Ron”) before bringing on Twiddle drummer Brook Jordan for the David Bowie classic “Let’s Dance.” Vocals on the tune were handled by Aqueous drummer Rob Houk. Aqueous concluded their two-night run at the Town Ballroom with the high energy favorite “Origami.”
Longtime Buffalo fan Matt Shotwell enjoyed the band’s take on songs he’s heard at many previous shows: “Still can’t get over how they gave seemingly every song at least a slight reworking. New tempos, new licks and teases aplenty.”
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Sunday night proved that Aqueous is poised to move into larger venues. Their sound is built to fill a larger space. Abrahamson summed it up best telling NYS Music, “The boys absolutely commanded the attention of the room without hiccups. The sound was perfect in my opinion. It can be hard to upscale your sound to a bigger stage but they had no problem whatsoever.”
Their incredible use of layers and depth, enhanced by Lighting Director Ryan Bress, showcased an entire stage package that hometown fans have longed to see. Bress, also went on to light Twiddle both nights to rave reviews.
Twiddle brought high energy on Sunday night. The mellow mood established by first set opener “Subconscious Prelude” was quickly turned on its ear as the band turned the Town Ballroom into a dance party fueled by “Apples>Funkytown>Apples.” Set one also contained fan favorite “Gatsby the Great” and concluded with the instrumental tune “The Catapillar.”
Set two kicked off with “Earth Mama” followed by the moody and edgy combination of “Wasabi Eruption > The Box.” The four-song set concluded with “Syncopated Healing” featuring Ganzter on a quitar solo that had fans of both band’s talking. NYS Music Photographer Tim Merrill, who was shooting at the time even noted that “Gantzers solo during syncopated had me in tears in the pit. It was beautiful.” Ganzter returned to the stage with Twiddle for a Radiohead “Karma Police” encore.
Taylor Cauwels, who traveled both nights from Rochester, summed up the feelings of a lot of fans at the conclusion of the weekend. She told NYS Music, “So thankful for this band and the medicine they provide. I leave every show with more “frends” than I came with. The amazing feelings that radiated throughout the Ballroom were almost overwhelming. My cheeks still hurt from smiling so much.”
Gantzer left the weekend feeling supported by their local fan base. “I feel a true sense of pride and admiration for our fan base at this moment in time,” he said. “Our hometown crowd really brought it (as they always do), and the weekend was full of absolute magic because of their incredible energy and excitement; it was a shared experience and one that I’ll likely never forget.”
The weekend was not only a success for Twiddle and Aqueous, but also for the Twiddle fan funded organization The White Light Foundation. The charity held its first event in Buffalo successfully raising money for two Western New York charities, Crisis Services and Going to The Dogs Rescue.
Ganzter noted that, “We also have been having THE BEST time with the twiddle boys and their awesome crew, so we’re psyched to keep this momentum going with them on and off stage!”
Twiddle and Aqueous hit the road together again and head to Keene, New Hampshire on March 17 and March 18. The two bands will also be making stops together in Stroudsburg, PA and Washington, D.C. before concluding their shows together at the Playstation Theatre in New York City on March 31 and April 1. Aqueous was also recently announced on Twiddle’s Festival Tumble Down which will be held in Burlington on July 28 and July 29.
Twiddle Setlist via uTwiddle.net
Saturday 3/4/2017 Set 1: Blunderbuss, Polluted Beauty, White Light, Brick Of Barley, Carter Candlestick
Set 2: Wildfire, Indigo Trigger, Dr. Remidi’s Melodium, Latin Tang[1], Lost In The Cold Encore: Ghostbusters[2]
Show Notes: [1] “Latin Tang” featured Mike Gantzer (Aqueous) on guitar. [2] “Ghostbusters” featured Mike Gantzer (Aqueous) on guitar and Evan McPhaden (Aqueous) on bass.
Sunday 3/5/2017 Set 1: Subconscious Prelude, Apples -> Funky Town -> Apples, Gatsby The Great, Dusk ‘Til Dawn, The Catapillar
Set 2: Earth Mama, Wasabi Eruption -> The Box, Syncopated Healing[1] Encore: Karma Police[1]
Show Notes: [1] “Syncopated Healing” and “Karma Police” featured Mike Gantzer (Aqueous) on guitar.
Aqueous setlist via – aqueousband.com
Saturday 3/4/2017 Set 1: Strange Times, Second Sight, Numbers and Facts > Express Yourself1 2 3 > Numbers and Facts, Don’t Do It
Show Notes: 1NWA cover, Aqueous debut 2 Evan rapping (Last Evan rap – 2013/5/11 436 shows)3 Gubb [Twiddle] on bass, Donkey Kong theme in DDI, Post rapping Evan crowd surfed. #rockstar
Sunday 3/5/2017 Set 1: Underlyer > Marty, Eon Don > Let’s Dance1 2 > Complex Pt. I, Origami
Show Notes: 1 Rob on vocals 2 Brook Jordan [Twiddle] on drums, Let’s Dance last played 2016/8/11 67 shows
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.
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, 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.
“AQ draws from many different bands’ catalogs for inspiration, and the Gorillaz catalog is one that all four of us are HUGE fans of,” noted Aqueous frontman and guitarist Mike Ganzter via press release. “Their catalog integrates four styles of music that we all love: hip-hop, rock, punk and electronic, and once the idea got thrown out there to do a Gorillaz themed set, it was clear that that was the vibe we wanted to really set our NYE party over the top!”
Next up was Doyle, 
