buffaBLOG presents: Herd Fest

Thursday & Friday, June 12 & 13

buffaBLOG and the city’s musicians and artists will take over Allentown on Friday, June 20 and Saturday, June 21 for the blog’s first ever festival, Herd Fest. In a similar fashion to South by Southwest, nine showcases will take place over the span of two days among the various venues located on Allen Street. Curators include The Good Neighborhood (which will also coincide with a Music Is Art instrument donation drive), Quiet Country Audio, Sugar City, Steak & Cake Records, Harvest Sum, and Only Comrades. Each curator has put together a lineup for the festival that suits and reflects their sound and persona. Bonus showcases will also be held at Black Dots record store, located at 223 Lafayette Ave. and Spiral Scratch Records, 291 Bryant St. Bracelets will be sold at those locations and also via buffaBLOG’s Big Cartel page (buffablog.bigcartel.com). Bracelet wearers will get into all of the participating venues on both nights, otherwise, it will be $5 at each venue. Herd Fest is a celebration of music, community and the heart of Buffalo. With a heavy numbered staff, the buffaBLOGGERs are out and about on the streets of Buffalo with the purpose of keeping the city updated on the music beat. Now, rather than bringing it to you just through the internet, it’ll be collectively presented in real life.

- alicia greco

7pm-4am Various Locations, Allentown, all access bracelets: $20, $5 per venue without

Friday, June 20

BBQ & Blues Bash featuring Popa Chubby & Joanne Shaw Taylor

It’s no secret that Buffalonians know how to navigate through their fair city in the name of good food and live music. Bringing the two together is exponentially better for everyone, and there might not be more complementary pair than the homebred, slow cooked flavors of blues and BBQ. This Friday (June 20th), Gateway-Longview is cookin’ up some fun and revelry with their 6th annual BBQ & Blues Bash, a live, outdoor music and food festival in the historic Cobblestone District. Among the headliners is national recording blues artist Popa Chubby, a rough, goatee’d, no-frills bluesman to the core, who puts a little extra grease into his hardswinging style of electric blues. The Bronx native knows all about hardship, having raised himself since the age of 7, and the big man tells his story to audiences the only way he knows how, through his raw, guitar-searing modern blues. Co-headliner Joanne Shaw Taylor has been a rising star on the British Blues circuit, having been discovered by Eurythmics’ Dave Stewart when he heard her play at a charity gig when she was only 16. Since then, her stock has continued to skyrocket both abroad and in the US market, making her name well known not only as a female blues artist, but as one of the leading young blues guitarists out there today. With a lineup that promises to showcase some of blues’ biggest personalities, the food is certainly just as bold, with BBQ mainstays Dinosaur BBQ, Fat Bob’s Smokehouse, and Big Belly BBQ dishing out goodness all night. Proceeds from the event benefit children and families of Gateway-Longview.

- jon wheelock

5:30pm to 9:30pm Mississippi Street, Buffalo (bbqbluesbash.com) $25 pre-sale / $30 day of show 21+

Sunday, June 22

Primus

For the second year in a row, iconic alternative rock band, Primus will take the stage in North Tonawanda for Cornerstone’s Niagara River Rocks. This year, in case checking out Les Claypool, Larry LaLonde, and Tim Alexander in the flesh weren’t enough, they’ll be accompanied by another legendary band, Fishbone. Primus and Fishbone simultaneously helped define Califronia’s rock scene in the early 1990s. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Fishbone rose to fame with a combination ska/funk sound that paved the way for bands like No Doubt and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. At around the same time, Primus was entering the scene with their spastic brand of metalish alt/funk led by Claypool’s maniacal bass slapping. Last year, long time, on again off again Primus member, Tim Alexander returned to the band, and if all goes according to plan he’ll help the band craft the follow up to their 2011 album, Green Naugahyde. It’s not every day that you get to witness a musician that has revolutionized the way people look at his instrument, but fans will get such an opportunity when Primus comes to Gratwick Park for Niagara River Rocks on Sunday (June 22) with Fishbone for a mere $7.

- cory perla

3:30pm Gratwick Park, North Tonawanda (niagarariverrocks.com) $7

Wednesday, June 25

Ziggy Marley

“There’s a rainbow in the sky, all the time, don’t be blind,” a famous lyric by Ziggy Marley. On Wednesday (June 25) Ziggy Marley fans of Western New York will unite under the eternal rainbow in the sky in Lewiston as he comes to Artpark with Steel Purse. Marley’s most recent release, Fly Rasta, is an album that the reagge artist says represents a “galactic sonic journey” that began in 2013. Marley’s goal was to make an album that was entirely true to himself and create a call to empowerment, enlightenment, freedom and the higher power of love. The 45-year-old son of Bob Marley will perform numbers from this most recent release as well as his classic hits at Artpark. Opening for Marley will be Steel Pulse, a UK Grammy-Winning reggae band that uses “sonic truth” to promote positive messages through spiritually uplifting music.

- sean heidinger

6:30pm Artpark, 450 South 4th St., Lewiston (754-4375 / artpark.net) VIP: $26, $6 general admission

Wednesday, June 25

Foxy Shazam

Foxy Shazam, a glam rock band from Cincinnati, recently surprised their fans with the release of their latest album, GONZO—which came out for free download via the band’s website. GONZO is a concept album that was recorded live in one room in Chicago with renowned producer Steve Albini. Now they are on a nationwide tour promoting the album at club dates and festival shows, including a stop in Buffalo on Wednesday (June 25) at the Town Ballroom. You may have seen Foxy Shazam perform in the past, touring with acts such as the Strokes, Panic! at the Disco, Portugal. The Man, Bad Rabbits, and the Young Veins. Warped Tour veterans Larry and His Flask, a punk-bluegrass group from Central Oregon, will be opening the show.

- sean heidinger

7pm Town Ballroom, 681 Main St. (852-3900 / townballroom.com) $16 advance, $18 day of show

Wednesday, June 25

Delta Rae

For Durham, North Carolina blues-rock band, Delta Rae it took venturing out on the well-worn highways of America to create their own path. The six-piece band, which consists of siblings Ian Hölljes (vocals and guitar), Brittany Hölljes (vocals), and Eric Hölljes (vocals and guitar) as well as percussionist Mike McKee, vocalist Elizabeth Hopkins, and bassist Grant Emerson, have been rising quickly since their formation in 2009. In 2011 the band released their debut album Carry The Fire on which they channeled contemporary folk acts like Iron & Wine, Fleet Foxes, and the Avett Brothers. They followed that record with a tour that criss crossed America and inspired their next record, Chasing Twisters EP, on which they finally came into their own. The songs on Chasing Twisters no longer imitate the bands Delta Rae strive to be like; instead they allowed their journey through the heartlands of American to inspire the tracks that echo the vast canyons and plains of this country. They’ll bring their popular brand of folk rock to the Tralf Music Hall on Wednesday (June 25).

- cory perla

7pm The Tralf Music Hall, 622 Main St. (852-2860 / tralfmusichall.com) $17 advance, $20 day of show

Thursday, June 26

Sam Roberts Band

The Canadian indie rock sextet, Sam Roberts Band works to translate ideas into sound. Guitarist Dave Nugent, guitarist/keyboardist Eric Fares, bassist James Hall, drummer Josh Trager, and horn player Chet Doxas join frontman Sam Roberts in hook writing groovy, spacey rock tunes. The band’s non-traditional percussion style ignites acoustic rhythms with a completely authentic sound. Released in 2003, full-length studio album We Were Born in a Flame debuted at number two on the Canadian Albums Chart. “Hard Road,” the first track on the album, outlines the hardships and struggles of foolishly chasing a passion, while it conveys “there are no shortcuts to any place worth going.” The Canadian rockers have not accumulated much of a following south of the border; however, the organic, basement-written tunes continue to build the band’s fan base. The true musicians are in sync, energetic, and create a contagious stage presence. Don’t miss this free rock show at Canalside on Thursday (June 26).

- hannah epstein

6pm to 10pm Canalside, 1 Navel Park Cove (canalsidebuffalo.com) free