The Swellers 'Call it a Night' Tour

Thursday, November 13

From the down-on-its-luck, rustbelt factory town of Flint, Michigan, comes a band that knows a thing or two about making hard, no-nonsense American punk music. Following in the footsteps of other notable Flintites such as Grand Funk Railroad, Repulsion, and the late rapper M.C. Breed, The Swellers have forged a hard-edged, accessible style of punk over the past decade. The first thing you’ll notice about the Michigan quartet is how quickly you’ll be engaged. Every song you hear is stripped down to the core, with no extended intros, outros or interludes. It’s a writing style that works extremely well for the band. From their first album End of Discussion to their latest 2013 release The Light Under Closed Doors (No Sleep Records), the band has managed to stay true to their melodic ‘in your face’ pop-punk sound. Fans of The Swellers everywhere were extremely sad to hear the news about an indefinite hiatus this past summer, but band wants to clarify something. They are not breaking up. They’re just retiring. “Don’t consider this a ‘break up’ or an ‘are dead’ situation. We’re just...retiring. We are done, and it was good,” says vocalist/guitarist Nick Diener. Don’t miss out on your last chance to see The Swellers on their “Call It A Night” Tour when it hits Buffalo this Thursday (11/13) at the Studio at Waiting Room.

- Jeff Czum

6pm The Studio Waiting Room, 334 Delaware Ave (852-3900 / waitingroombuffalo.com) $10

Thursday, November 13

Stuart Fuchs

Stuart Fuchs first captured Buffalo’s attention with his extraordinary guitar work in the jazz group Babik, winner of several Artvoice Best of Buffalo awards. You can’t go wrong when you fashion your playing after Europe’s famous gypsy guitarist Jango Reinhardt, one of the greatest jazz guitarist of all time, and Fuchs has mastered the style. Babik has been featured on NPR and has also performed symphonic arrangements of Django Reinhardt’s music with orchestras, including the Buffalo Philharmonic. Guitar, Ukulele, Native American flute, Aboriginal didjeridoo and the Bolivan charango; these are the instruments used by artist Stuart Fuchs. Described as a “modern day pied piper,” Fuchs is passionate about bringing music into everyone’s life and believes strongly in the healing power of music for personal expression and wellness. Traveling internationally, Fuchs has pushed the boundaries of his ukulele performance in both concerts and workshops designed introduce people to their innate music ability. On Thursday (11/13) The Center For The Arts at University of Buffalo hosts a unique and intimate event with this talented musician when both Fuchs and the audience will be seated on stage.

- Jeff Czum

7:30pm UB Center for the Arts, 103 Center For The Arts. (645-6259 / ubcfa.org) $14

Thursday, November 13 - Saturday, November 15

Jessimae Peluso

She is described as “a bottle rocket with a pulse.” The self-proclaimed “insecure narcissist,” Jessimae Peluso has achieved a solid comic reputation in New York City and beyond, slaying audiences with her unequivocal, straightforward, ravishingly raw humor. Listeners are graced with her thoughts on everything from her roots in Syracuse, to her fear of children and her infatuation with John Stamos. Jessimae first went after her career in comedy in Boston, where she performed improv with a comedy group called ‘The Tribe,’ honing her unique and spontaneous brand of original comedy. Peluso has recently leapt onto the small screen with appearances on The Tyra Banks Show, The Bethenny Show, and E!’s Chelsea Lately. She made a couple of appearances on MTV’s Failosophy and is a regular on MTV’s hit-show Girl Code. She has contributed to Playboy.com, MadeMen.com, and been featured in the Huffington Post as one of the funniest comics to follow on twitter. Jessimae Peluso will be turning heads at Hemium Comedy Club this Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.

- Jeff Czum

Thursday: 8PM / Friday: 7:30pm & 10pm / Saturday: 7:30pm & 10pm Helium Comedy Club, 30 Mississippi St. (853-1211 / heliumcomedy.com) $20-$27

Saturday, November 15

Bubblefest

The Buffalo Museum of Science’s wildly popular annual Bubblefest is set to take place this Saturday from 10am-4pm. People of all ages are invited to spend a day at the museum for this suds-stravaganza (sorry...) event. For those who have never experienced Bubblefest before, get ready to be blown away. The event is a day-long celebration of everything related to bubbles and offers family friendly activities and exciting demonstrations on all four floors of the museum. Bubble crafts, giant bubble tubes, hands on spectacles and a techno bubble dance room filled with thousands of bubbles all await your amusement. Special guests from the Corning Museum of Glass will present free flame working showcases throughout the day as well as live, narrated demonstrations of glass working at extremely high temperatures. Attendees may also enjoy special on stage Bubblemania performances by full time professional entertainer and graduate of Ringling Bros, Doug Rougex. He’ll present his one man show of science, art, comedy, and of course, bubbles, at 11am, 12pm, 1:30pm, 2:30pm and 3:30pm in the museum auditorium. Entry is included with general museum admission, $10 adults, $9 seniors, $8 children 2-17 and free for all BMS Members. Don’t miss your chance to be a part of this highly talked about event. It’s sure to be.... (Ready for this?) Unbelievabubble.

- Jeff Czum

10am The Buffalo Museum of Science, 1020 Humboldt Pkwy (896-5200 / sciencebuff.org) $8-$10

Saturday, November 15

Donna the Buffalo

Any band surviving the cruel, unforgiving world of the music industry for more than a few years is a feat in itself, but to survive for 25 years a band has to be really good and really loved. Donna the Buffalo is one of those under-the-radar bands that managed to gain a significant following in the underground folk scene. Since 1989, these Ithaca natives have sold thousands of records and perform close to 100 shows per year. They’ve earned a reputation as one of the most respected and eclectic acts in Americana. Greatly influenced by Old-time string music of American heritage, DTB mixes elements of Cajun, zydeco, reggae, folk, and country, resulting in something straight out of an Appalachian hoedown. Donna the Buffalo’s melodies are poignant, energetic and danceable, and attending DTB a performance is said to be a spiritual experience for some. Their lyrics range from mystical to political, and there’s meditativeness about the music that brings you to a relaxed state of mind. Over the years of constant touring and songwriting, the band has released a total of 10 full-length albums. Their most recent self-release Tonight, Tomorrow and Yesterday, is a testament of what they have accomplished as a band. With a rural-bluegrass approach, the band proves itself once more to their fans and Americana listeners everywhere. Be a part of this wild performance as Donne the Buffalo makes their grand entrance this Saturday night (11/15) at Iron Works.

- Jeff Czum

8pm Iron Works, 49 Illinois St. (200-1893 / buffaloironworks.com) $20-$24 ages 21+

Sunday, November 16

Kublai Khan

I’m willing to bet that a band named after the grandson of Genghis Khan (You know, that guy who killed roughly 11% of the worlds population during the 13th century...) is probably going to be one of the hardest metal shows you’ve ever seen. It’s safe to say this American thrash metal band will make your pulse rise. The Sherman, Texas band released their debut album Balancing Survival and Happiness (Artery Records) earlier this year and is starting to make a great impact on the metal scene. The band joined forces with Tulsa-area audio engineer Ryan Harvey, who is notorious for his loud and heavy approach to working with ‘extreme music.’ The album is an intense, meaty chug-fest, maintaining an air of testosterone-fueled, nihilistic desolation. Sonically, it offers pulverizing heavy guitars locked in with every kick drum hit that will thrill any metal veteran listener. Balancing Survival and Happiness is a solid slab of heavy metal that most extreme music fans will appreciate. “We are trying to make an impact in a music scene bogged down with meaningless lyrics and recycled mindless music. We want to use our music as a vessel to relate with people and emit hope,” says singer Nolan Ashley. Detroit, metal/hardcore band Gift Giver and the unsigned Chicago group Barrier will be joining Kublai Khan at the Studio at Waiting Room this Sunday (11/16) at 6PM.

- Jeff Czum

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

Wednesday, November 19

At Issues: An Investigative Post

We are drowning in a sea of digital options in our personal lives, our news sources and our digital marketing choices in business ventures. The most adept players follow and use our digital habits to herd us into this or that digital friend space or store or blog or news chat, etc. In real estate it’s location, location, location. Online it’s traffic, traffic, traffic. Whether you’re an end user or a manipulative webmaster Investigative Post is hosting a decidedly worthwhile event. There’s no better way to have some experts help make sense of the often confusing digital matrix surrounding us than with a happy hour beverage and the comfortable Allentown Hardware Cafe. Investigative Post continues it’s “At Issue” series with a look at how digital media has changed the way we communicate and organize in our community. Social media marketer Jason Mollica of JRM Comm will speak about the influence social media has on advertising and communication and how Buffalo compares to other markets. Justin Booth from GoBike Buffalo will talk about how they use social media for their work organizing followers and furthering their mission. Michael Wooten from WGRZ will talk about how he social media, digital mapping and crowdsourcing to enhance his reporting in tandem with traditional methods. $10 fee includes a free drink and an Investigative Post membership.

- Jamie Moses

6pm Allen Street Hardwar, 245 Allen St. (882-8843 / allenstreethardware.com) $10