Between the Buried & Me

Wednesday, February 6

There is no easy way to describe the style of Between the Buried and Me. The only way to classify this ever-evolving band is that, overall, they have a metal backbone which runs through everything that they touch. While they might incorporate many other genres within their work, it’s their heavy metal lens that you look through as you listen to any one song or album. On one of their early releases, The Anatomy Of, the band put together a group of cover songs which showcased their eclectic taste that’s influenced them over the years. They covered a wide variety bands, from Queen and the Smashing Pumpkins, to obvious choies like Pantera and Metallica. When you begin to understand where they are coming from, you can begin to understand their sound and how it has evolved to its current state. Throughout their career, they’ve woven an intricate web of progressive metal and have been one of the leaders of this new movement in the metal scene. Since their lineup solidified around 2005, the band has released music that is quite different from a lot of their contemporaries; they arrange their albums in a way where songs blend together into a cohesive piece that flows, rather than ten to twelve individual songs. In a similar fashion, the band’s tours have also aligned with this thought process. When new albums are released, the band has often times toured and played the album in its entirety. Their songs can stand alone, but together they are a powerful piece and better understood. While the music industry has shifted to fans downloading mp3’s, these guys construct albums in a way that doesn’t follow the status quo and demands fans to purchase and listen to the body of work, start to finish. Their most recent release, The Parallax II: Future Sequence, is the band’s second album on Metal Blade Records and the second in a two-part, overall concept. This album, just like others in the past, flows together and is their best work to date as they continue to evolve, mature, and progress as musicians. Next Wednesday (Feb 6), the band will be hitting the stage at Club Infinity on one of the only off-dates of their upcoming tour. Why Buffalo was specifically chosen for this hasn’t been explained by the band, but regardless, this is clearly something special not to miss.

- jeremiah shea

7pm Club Infinity. 8166 Main St., Williamsville (565-0110 / infinityconcerts.com) $16 advance $18 day of show

January 31 - February 16

Night Lights at The Gardens

For the second year in a row, the Buffalo & Erie County Botanical Gardens explode with light and sound. Night Lights at the Gardens transforms the Botanical Gardens into an interactive space full of lights, sounds, art, and fun, as every corner of is lit with hundreds of colorful lights powered by National Grid. Visitors can walk at their leisure and enjoy the beautiful vegetation illuminated by lasers, video projections, and lighting designs of all sorts. In addition to the lights, there will be musical performances by local bands Smack Dab on February 2nd, Ben Perrello on February 7th, Lazlo Hollyfeld on February 9, John & Mary on February 15th, and more. Musical performances begin at 8pm. “Doug Sitler of SitlerHQ and Volt Vision setup a really cool display which changes in each room of the Botanical Gardens,” said Sonny Baker, guitarist of Lazlo Hollyfeld, who, in addition to performing at the event this year, enjoyed the event last year. Night Lights at the Gardens runs January 31, February 1 2, 6, 7, 8, 9, 13, 14, 15, and 16, 6pm to 9pm on Wednesdays and Thursdays, and 6pm to 10pm on Fridays and Saturdays

- cory perla

Various times, The Botanical Gardens, 2655 South Park Avenue (827-1584 / buffalogardens.com) $10 adults, $8 Garden members, seniors & students, $5 kids 3-12, kids under 3 are free

Thursday, January 31 - Satuday, February 2

Brian Posehn

Comedian Brian Posehn is the self-proclaimed “Slayer of comedy,” but unlike the legendary 1980s thrash metal band, Posehn does not perform at breakneck speed, and—aside from his appearance in Rob Zombie’s horror flick The Devil’s Rejects—he’s not nearly as satanic. Like Slayer, he is “More Metal Than You,” though, according to the heavy metal track by the same name from his 2010 comedy album titled Fart and Wiener Jokes which features guest spots by metal legends like Anthrax’s Scott Ian, Mark Morton of Lamb Of God, and Hatebreed’s Jamey Jasta. The big-bearded comedian has also appeared on TV shows like The Sarah Silverman Program, Metalocalypse, Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job, and the Comedy Central Roast of Bob Saget. “I was such a nerd in high school, I didn’t even have imaginary friends, I had imaginary bullies,” quipped Poeshn in one of his recent stand-up acts. A beacon of hope for all of the world’s nerds, Posehn continues to spew hilarious jokes that even the bullies could enjoy. The 6 foot 6 “raging nerd” that is Brian Posehn comes to Buffalo’s Helium Comedy Club for five sets this Thursday (Jan 31) through Saturday (Feb 2).

- cory perla

8pm Thursday, Friday, & Saturday/10:30pm Friday & Saturday, Helium Comedy Club, 30 Mississippi St. (853-1211 / heliumcomedy.com) $20 general admission, $25 reserved seating

Friday, February 1

Kurt and The Loders play Pearl Jam

Usually, the phrase “tribute” band would make you think of a band that performs the songs of one group on a regular basis. Kurt And The Loders, however, are not like most tribute bands. Rather, they pay homage to different bands at different shows. Specifically, they recall the halcyon days of 1990s rock, when grunge ruled the airwaves, and the phrase “nickelback” only related to football. A recent performance, in which they delved into the Weezer catalog, was met with rave reviews. This Friday (Feb 1), they will be heading to Nietzche’s, for a show that will focus on the music of Pearl Jam, arguably the most popular band to come out of the 1990s. Considering the depth and diversity of Pearl Jam’s work, this serves to be a great test of the band’s range. Eddie Vedder has always been apt at changing his vocal style to suit the needs of the song in question. From the blistering growl of “Even Flow,” and “Jeremy,” to the hushed whisper of “Wish List,” and “Breathe,” he’s quite the vocal chameleon. It will be interesting to see if Kurt & The Loders focus primarily on the early albums, like Ten, Vs., and Vitalogy, or if they’ll go into to some of their later gems, too. Either way, they’ll have some fine material to work with. The first set will focus on Pearl Jam, while the second set will be more generalized, covering multiple bands from the era. If you love 1990s rock, you should probably come. If you’re still waiting for Eddie Vedder to reply to the fan letter you sent him in 1993, you should definitely come.

- john hugar

10pm Nietzsche’s, 248 Allen St. (886-8539 / nietzsches.com) $5

Friday, February 1

Harlem Globetrotters "You Write the Rules Tour"

As one of the most internationally recognized and beloved teams in all of sports, the Harlem Globetrotters have been rewriting the rules of basketball for over 80 years. Originally born as the “Savoy Big Five” on the South Side of Chicago in the late 1920’s as one of the early all-black basketball teams, the team known as the “New York Harlem Globetrotters” came about in 1929, playing out-of-town games in Illinois and Iowa. The team eventually developed their trademark performance style, becoming recognized for their highflying array of tricks, showmanship, comedy routines, and perpetual winning streak against their inept foes, the Washington Generals. Since then, the Globetrotters have become the face of sports-entertainment, playing over 20,000 exhibition games in 120 countries. Gimmicks aside, the Globetrotters are premier athletes, and at one point, had future NBA’ers like Wilt “The Stilt” Chamberlain and Connie “The Hawk” Hawkins on their roster. The current incarnation of the Harlem Globetrotters, which includes names like Special K, Buckets, and Flight Time, comes to the First Niagara Center this Friday (Feb 1) for their “You Write the Rules Tour.” Fans are invited to put their mark on the game by suggesting rules and stipulations that the players will have to abide by. Whether that means playing with two basketballs, or playing blindfolded, the Globetrotters will most certainly beat up on the Washington Generals once again, chalking up another win for the franchise that put trick basketball on the map.

- jon wheelock

7pm First Niagara Center, One Seymour H. Knox III Plaza (855-4100 / firstniagaracenter.com) $17.50 to $104.50.

Saturday, February 2

Eoto

No backup tracks, pure improvisation, the duo of Michael Travis and Jason Hann make up what is EOTO. Hann calls their music, “complete, organized chaos” explaining that their improvisation makes a show alluring and definitely different every time. EOTO fuses the elements of live instrumentation with trance, house music, gritty dubstep, and electro. “When we’re playing live for three hours a night, its like playing tribal drums in a ceremony,” Hann explains. “I’m looking at one person at a time out there, and thinking ‘what can I do to make you dance?’” On EOTO’s first two studio releases; 2006’s Elephants Only Talk Occasionally, and the 2008 release Razed, EOTO bounced playfully between house, trance, and breakbeat. Coming from a background in music, Hann has played percussion since he was a middle schooler, with a specialization in African and Latin drumming traditions. His style led him to years of touring and recording with legends in the music scene like Dr. Dre and Isaac Hayes. Travis’s style on the other hand can be described as “otherworldly” as he meticulously makes smart musical choices with his synthesizers and other various digital tracks. Playing at the historic Rapids Theatre on Saturday (Feb 2), EOTO are sure to turn heads.

- jessica reinhardt

6:30pm Rapids Theatre, 1711 Main St., Niagara Falls. (205-8925 / rapidstheatre.com) $25 advance, $30 day of show

Saturday, February 2

Tadaaki Naganuma

Tadaaki Naganuma is the Japanese Paul McCartney. I’m not saying that in some kind of metaphorical sense, he’s not just like Paul McCartney; he actually plays Paul McCartney on stage. Naganuma is part of an all Japanese Beatles cover band called the Silver Beats in which the bassist and singer plays the part of Sir Macca. The Silver Beats have played Buffalo before, but when Naganuma comes through town this time, he’ll be flying solo. Wielding McCartney’s signature Höfner bass and imitating his universally recognizable singing style, Naganuma could fool any die-hard Beatles fan with his covers of songs like “Rocky Raccoon,” and “Yesterday,” and Wings songs like “Hi Hi Hi” and “Band on the Run.” Although he won’t have the Japanese Ringo, John, or George by his side, “NaganuMaCartney” should still have a wonderful time playing some of the Beatles’ classic songs. The Magical Mystery Celebration of All Things Beatles and Wings featuring Tadaaki Naganuma comes to the Sportsmen’s Tavern this Saturday (Feb 2) with special guests Geno McManus, Cathy Carfagna, Rob Lynch, and Jim Whitford, so don’t be afraid to come by and say konnichiwa, sayonara.

- cory perla

9:30pm Sportsmen’s Tavern, 326 Amherst St. (874-7734 / sportsmenstavern.com) $12

Saturday, February 2

Buffalo Winter Brewfest

Raise a glass of your favorite craft swill and escape the winter doldrums as the historic Connecticut Street Armory is transformed into a rollicking Irish pub this Saturday (Feb 2) for the Buffalo Winter Brewfest. Now in it’s second year, the Buffalo Winter Brewfest provides beer-enthusiasts and newcomers alike the opportunity to knock back samples of some of the best regional and national brews around, all while taking in the spacious surroundings of the Armory. A ticket gains you a complimentary tasting glass and unlimited access to over 60 beers from local favorites like Southern Tier, Ommegang, Ellicottville Brewing Co., and Pearl Street, as well as national mainstays such as Harpoon, Sierra Nevada, and Sam Adams breweries, among many more. Brewery reps tend to be extremely knowledgeable and passionate folks when it comes to beer, so don’t be shy about asking questions or seeking tips for your own homebrewing adventures. There will be numerous vendors setting up shop and selling their beer-related wares, as well as Irish/Celtic music from Stone Row. Sláinte!

- jon wheelock

Session #1: 1pm-4pm, Session #2: 6pm-9pm. Connecticut Street Armory, 184 Connecticut St. (buffalowinterbrewfest.com) $35 advance, $45 at the door