St. Patrick's Day Celebrations

Saturday & Sunday, March 15 & 16

Whether you’re a Buffalonian with a deep and proud Irish heritage, or one of the many weekend-Irish joining in on the beer-soaked festivities, St. Patrick’s Day in the Queen’s City is one hell of a celebration. Of course, limiting such a holiday to one day doesn’t make muVch sense, and while being “Irish for two days” lacks that familiar ring, St. Patrick’s Day is very much a weekend affair. While throngs of people converge on downtown on Sunday, the “real” parade—as it is affectionately referred to by Buffalo’s Irish population—takes place on Saturday (March 15) in the historic Old First Ward, with the 21st Annual “Old Neighborhood” St. Patrick’s Day Parade. The parade kicks off at noon from the Valley Community Center on Leddy Street and ends on O’Connell Street, retracing the original 1913 parade route. If you haven’t experienced Patty’s Day in the OFW, this is where it’s at. Don’t forget to head down to the tried and true OFW watering hole Gene McCarthy’s (73 Hamburg St.), for a pint (or several) on parade day. Now under new ownership from a crew of local craft beer enthusiasts, the revamped Gene McCarthy’s boasts a new pub menu, and recently celebrated the opening of their brewery, located next door, with a number of house beers already on tap. On a much grander scale, the Buffalo St. Patrick’s Day Parade begins at 2pm on Sunday (March 16), beginning at Niagara Square and marching onward to North Street down Delaware Avenue. The celebration doesn’t end there; show off your best drunken Irish jig at The Buffalo Irish Center (245 Abbott Rd.) with live music following the parade, including performances from Irish/Celtic bands the LeftOvers and McCarthyizm among others. If you’re pub hopping around town, you can’t go wrong with D’Arcy McGee’s (257 Franklin), Mulligan’s Brick Bar (229 Allen St.) and Nietzsche’s (248 Allen St.) for your post-parade revelry.

- jon wheelock

Various places, various times

Thursday, March 13

Stevie Tombstone

In a time when arrogant, synthetic and talentless “musicians” are surfing the mainstream, you can’t help but melt over an artist who wears his art on his sleeve. An artist whose music bleeds honesty, a sense of struggle and his raw triumphs is the artist who gets in our bones and shakes loose our demons by slaying his own with chords and words. Artists like Johnny Cash, Janis Joplin... and Stevie Tombstone. For three decades, Stevie Tombstone has crafted a folksy country sound that teeters on bluesy rock. His blend of edgy country with rock ingredients will forever be seared into the blues/folk genre. Acoustically based, his music still bites and strikes but even when it lashes out, it soothes. Simply put, his music has no boundaries—it could appeal to the hardest rocker or the truest country heart. His albums are consistent with few tempo changes and sparse, but varied instrumentation. His straightforward songwriting style features varying themes that are always underpinned by apt instrumentation and Stevie’s deep vocals. Despite the simplicity of his music, you’ll listen over and over again, and still find extra nuances. Stevie Tombstone will play at Neitzsche’s on Thursday (tonight!) with the Andrew J. Reimers.

- kellie powell

9pm Nietzsche’s, 248 Allen St. (886-8539 / nietzsches.com) $5

Saturday, March 15

Swearin'

When DIY punk Allison Crutchfield’s former band, P.S. Eliot, broke up feminist punks everywhere wept. At the time of the band’s disbanding, Crutchfield, who played drums said the Brooklyn group, which included her twin sister Katie, achieved what they had set out to do creatively. Starting over can be difficult but for Crutchfield it was just a matter of putting down her drumsticks and picking up a microphone. She teamed up with guitarist Kyle Gilbride; their friend, drummer Jeff Bolt of Philedeliphia; and bassist Keith Spencer to create Swearin’, a crunchy indie-punk band with the ability to really cook things up on stage. Their 2012 self-titled debut showcased the band’s layered, yet stripped down brand of fuzzed-out punk music led by Gilbride and Spencer’s over-driven grunge chords, Bolt’s untamed drumming and Crutchfield’s sweet and sour vocals. Their follow-up, 2013’s Surfing Strange, not only doubled down on the band’s technicality, but also on the intensity of their emotional lyrics. Check out Swearin’ with local support from Bryan Johnson & Family, Marine Biologist, and the Big this Saturday (March 15) at the Waiting Room.

- cory perla

7pm The Waiting Room, 334 Delaware Ave (852-3900 / waitingroombuffalo.com) $10

Saturday, March 15

Ubiquitous Synergy Seeker

USS is different. From the first listen to one of their tracks, it’s irrefutable. This ToAronto duo’s sound is a comAplex interlacing of electronica, alternative rock and hip-hop, with an aftertaste of 1990’s flair. Singer Ash Boo-Schultz’s effortlessly cool vocals, although limited in range, are deep in all senses of the word. He speaks to fellow Synergy Seekers almost hypnotically and manages to throw some fairly complex lyrical strings together in the process. Human Kebab’s role is to build hype, and he does it well, building fervor by scratching up a storm. Boo-Schultz best describes their interaction and its product as, “Uplifting lyrics on ska, plus jungle music, equals immune system support.” The music is straightforward but like any art, translates to a personal message. If you aim to receive these messages, it would be a good idea to get tickets to their Buffalo Iron Works show this Saturday (March 15) fairly quickly. Their Friday show at the same venue sold out. You see where this is going

- samantha wulff

10:30pm Buffalo Iron Works, 49 Illinois St. (200-1893 / buffaloironworks.com) $5

Saturday, March 15

The Waves 10th Anniversary Show

Dressed in their signature white suits and frantically strumming their black and white Rickenbacker guitars, the Waves make a habit of rocking out Nietzsche’s at least once a year. The British-Invasion inspired rock and roll band, with a hint of punk rock mixed in, prepare to celebrate their 10th anniversary this Saturday (March 15) at Nietzsche’s. In 2005, the Waves had a chance to tour England, but since then they come together to play original garage rock songs like “Cheese” and “Meine Kliene Mann” only about once a year, so don’t miss this chance to rock out, have a drink, and celebrate bassist Joey “Trebble” Maniaci’s birthday all at once. The Waves will be joined by 2013 Artvoice B.O.O.M. grand champions Randle and the Late Night Scandals, indie rockers Noah Gokey & The Skulls, A.C. & The Rockets, and Nix Vega.

- cory perla

9pm Nietzsche’s, 248 Allen St. (886-8539 / nietzsches.com) $5

Tuesday, March 18

Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band

From the southern Indiana foothills comes a swampy, deep Delta sound—at the root of this musical potency plays Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band. They combine Delta blues and hillbilly fervor and mix it all up with musical dexterity sharp as razor wire. The trio includes frontman, Josh Peyton (aka, the Rev); his wife, Breezy; and their distant cousin, Aaron “Cuz” Persinger. Notorious guitar ace, the Rev is so proficient that you have no concept of how difficult the style in which he plays really is. Their live shows are explosive. They play tracks at twice their album speed, never resulting in a sloppy set. Cuz pounds the drums so hard that he often has to realign and secure his kit between songs. Meanwhile Breezy struts across the stage smiling and amping up the crowd. The chemistry amongst the band members and their collaborative energy is what prospers the venue spirit, but the mark of their shows is the Rev’s peacocking. Case in point, in a recent show in St. Louis he played both the bass and the lead horn parts of Henry Mancini’s theme to the TV show “Peter Gunn” simultaneously. YouTube videos simply do not do these stunts justice—you need to experience them to believe them. Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band will play at the Waiting Room on Tuesday (March 18).

- kellie powell

7pm The Waiting Room, 334 Delaware Ave (852-3900 / waitingroombuffalo.com) $15 advance, $20 day of show

Wednesday, March 19

Scajaquada Creek Talks

Scajaquada Creek rises in the Town of Lancaster and flows 13 miles through Cheektowaga and Buffalo’s East Side, much of the time in an underground culvert, before spilling over Serenity Falls in Forest Lawn Cemetery, then underground again to bypass Hoyt Lake in Delaware Park, then in daylight through the West Side, until it empties into the Back Rock Canal and thus into the Niagara River. Along the way its waters are much abused by chemical runoff from the airport, by runoff from the parking lots and roadways around the Galleria Mall, by sewer tie-ins in Cheektowaga and the East Side, and by runoff from the Scajaquada Expressway. But the future of this often ignored urban waterway is not all bleakness: Learn more this Wednesday (March 19) at a presentation and panel discussion at the Buffalo History Museum, currently exhibiting Scajaquada Creek: Photos from the Black Rock Historic Photo Project, which captures the physical and historical breadthV of the waterway. Panelists include Thomas Herrara-Mischler of the Olmsted Conservancy, North District Councilman Joe Golombek, Jill Jedlicka of Buffalo Niagara Riverkeeper, Maria Whyte of Erie County’s Department of Environment & Planning, Artvoice’s Geoff Kelly, historian Bogdan Fundalinski, and Chuck Banas of the New Millennium Group. A reception precedes the talk.

- frances boots

5-6pm Reception, 6-8pm Panel Discussion. Buffalo History Museum, One Museum Court (873-9644 / www.buffalohistory.org) free