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See You There!

Artvoice's weekly round-up of featured events, including our editor's picks for the week: the Artvoice B.O.O.M! Live Showdown, this Friday the 28th at Nietzsche's.

If you haven't already, be sure to check out our full events calendar on-line for complete event listings, a location guide to find your way about the city, restaurant reviews, and more.



Artvoice B.O.O.M! Live Showdown

Friday, February 28

It’s time for the second live battle of the bands in this year’s Artvoice Battle Of Original Music, or BOOM, for short. This Friday’s contest features four acts who have won their way onto the bill by collecting the most online votes in our weekly matchups: Ronaldraygun, Intrepid Travelers, Pine Fever, and Wolf. Visit boom.artvoice.com to learn more. Our first live semi-final show took place in January, with Folk Faces gaining the most votes from the capacity crowd at Nietzsche’s. If you’ve never attended one of our live battles, here’s how it works: Each person through the door gets one ballot on which to indicate the act he or she prefers. At the end of the night, those slips of paper are counted and the act with the most votes wins. There are no judges to impress, seduce or bribe. In this way, the acts that come out on top are those that have created a unique sound and built a large and supportive following. What happens when a band wins a semi-final round? They gain a spot in the BOOM Grand Finale on June 6 at the Tralf Music Hall. There, the act that collects the most votes wins eternal bragging rights as the 2014 Artvoice BOOM Grand Champion, along with $5,000. It’s a strong field this Friday, so come out and be surprised at the caliber of original music coming out of Buffalo. May the best band win.

- buck quigley

10pm. Nietzsche’s, 248 Allen St. (866-8539 / nietzsches.com) $5 21+

Friday, February 28

Greg Klyma: Another Man's Treasure

How does he keep doing it? Late of Cheektowaga, now a naturalized citizen of the road, Greg Klyma can’t help himself: Everything becomes words set to music. He cranks out songs—and records them for your pleasure—as naturally as breathing. Everything is a subject: the lessons he’s learned from his family, from his itinerant life, from the beautiful people with whom he’s made music along the way. The traveling troubadour debuts his latest CD, Another Man’s Treasure, this Friday (Feb 28) in the cozy grotto of the Ninth Ward at Babeville. It’s the perfect place to engage Klyma, and to be engaged by this consummate songwriter, musicians, and showman. Buy a ticket at once: He’ll sell out that little venue quickly. And if you’re lucky enough to get in, ask him about the guy who stole his guitar.

- geoff kelly

doors 7pm, music 8pm. Ninth Ward at Babeville, 341 Delaware Ave. (852-3835 / babevillebuffalo.com). $12

Friday, February 28

Badfish: A Tribute to Sublime

Nobody can replace Bradley Nowell or recreate his signature sound. Sublime fans don’t seem to mind Pat Downes trying, though. Downes is just one of the four components that make up Badfish: A Tribute to Sublime. And while Providence, Rhode Island may not seem like the most likely place to channel the uniquely eclectic nature of one of the most iconic ska punk bands of the 1990s, for Badfish, it has worked. It’s almost a disservice to group these guys into the category of “tribute band,” because they do the near impossible: they capture the essence of Bradley and the boys— if you close your eyes you ‘ll get the effect of being transported back about 20 years. How else could a “tribute band” survive—even thrive—playing to fans who grew up listening to the real thing? These guys are clearly as big of fans of Sublime as their audience. Badfish will have you swaying your hips and answering the question: “Are you a badfish too?” this Friday (Feb 28) at Town Ballroom.

- samantha wulff

7pm Town Ballroom, 681 Main St. (852-3900 / townballroom.com) $17 advance, $19 day of show

Saturday, March 1

Protest the Hero

Protest the Hero is the type of band that you either love or hate; there is no middle ground. Over the course of their 10-plus year career, the band has grown and their sound has evolved with every successive release. While their early years saw them catering to the punk crowds, the band is currently putting a condensed spin on progressive metal, highlighted with dizzying riffs and an equally impressive rhythm section. The polarizing part though stems from their constant evolution in sound, but is centered on lead singer Rody Walker whose unique voice divides listeners. The norm in metal for quite some time has been screaming vocals with little to no melodic contribution, but Protest has always fought that, as Walker’s vocals have a wide range and add significantly to each of their songs. Their newest album Volition was released this past October and was completely fan-funded as the band left their longtime record company, Vagrant Records. The 11-song album is brilliant musically and also features Chris Adler of Lamb of God fame on drums. This Saturday (March 1), the band will kick off their North American tour in Buffalo at The Waiting Room. Joining them and opening the show is Battlecross, the Safety Fire, Intervals, and Night Verses. With Protest having their hand in the business-side of things now, expect all four openers to bring an array of talent and more metal than you can handle in a given night.

- jeremiah shea

6pm The Waiting Room, 334 Delaware Ave (852-3900 / waitingroombuffalo.com) $17 advance, $18 day of show

Saturday, March 1

Give For Greatness Presents: Lawyers for the Arts

Modern studies confirm that the arts can lower your blood pressure, raise IQ, strengthen the heart, and elevate your mood. It can also protect society from corruption by speaking truth to power. So important are the arts to society that when county cultural funding was cut in 2010, Artvoice created the non-profit Give For Greatness to raise private funds for arts organizations; attorney Leroi Johnson joined the G4G board early on to lend a hand. Now, for the third year in a row, a fundraiser titled Lawyers for the Arts will gather an all lawyer cast of musicians to trade their suits and brief cases for jeans and guitar pics to raise money for G4G. The Lawyers for the Arts 2014 show will be held at the Sportsmen’s Tavern on Saturday (March 1) at 2pm. According to Johnson, G4G’s fundraising efforts have “helped to sustain the arts, with 100% of all money raised going to support local cultural and arts groups.” Johnson, an accomplished painter and talented Brazilian style guitarist, was also the business manager of his brother, the late Rick James. This year the event will also feature a fine art auction of works by local artist lawyers including those by real estate attorney Keri Caolocchia. Guitarist and singer attorney Joe O’Donnell whose band, the Bench and Bar Project will rock out on Saturday seems to agree, “Music is a nice break from the day to day rigors of practicing law. It’s good for the soul.”

- sandra cassidy

2pm Sportsmen’s Tavern, 326 Amherst St. (874-7734 / sportsmenstavern.com) $15 general, $10 students, available at the door

Monday, March 3

That 1 Guy

When Mike Silverman, better known as That 1 Guy takes the stage for a live performance he could easily be mistaken for a Dr. Seuss chracter strapped from head to toe with flu floopers, tar tinkers, and who wompers. In reality the one-man-band is wearing very useable instruments of his own creation that range from a pair of cowboy boots that transform into a musical instrument to his signature contraption simply known as the Magic Pipe. The harp shaped instrument, which stands at seven feet tall, is full of metal sprockets, thick steel bass strings, and pivoting pipes that belch out funky bass lines —and even controls a video light show—as Silverman masterfully manipulates it. His mastery of his self-made instruments is apparent on his six studio albums, including his latest—released last week—charmingly titled Poseidon’s Deep Water Adventure Friends. Many audience members may take a turn on their own magical pipe prior to That 1 Guy’s performance, but that story is for a different Dr Seuss book. The classically trained bassist, who has toured with the likes of Buckethead, Yo La Tengo, and hometown girl Ani DiFranco, will bring his whacky noise making gadgets to the the Forvm on Monday (March 3)

- cory perla

7pm The Forvm, 4224 Maple Rd (831-3271 / theforvmbuffalo.com) $14 advance, $17 day of show

Saturday & Sunday, March 8 & 9

Brian Posehn

To classify Brian Posehn as a “nerd comic” doesn’t fully encompass the breadth of his material. For every great Star Wars bit he hashes out, there is an equally great bit about strippers or punching babies. Fans of the Doug Benson documentary Super High Me and Posehn’s character Brian Spukowski on The Sarah Silverman Program may be surprised to learn that he stopped smoking pot in 2011, but his material on the subject is still garden-fresh. Those familiar with his comedy specials Fart and Wiener Jokes and The Fartist—or just their titles—may know that Posehn isn’t one to shy away from scatological humor, either. Although he swore throughout his career that he’d never be “the guy to talk about...having a kid,” Posehn doesn’t at all taint his brand by doing so. He explores the intricacies of parenthood just as hilariously as explores the time Christian Slater smelled one of his farts. Catch the nerd comic next Thursday (March 6) through Saturday (March 8) at Helium Comedy Club.

- johnny moran

7:30pm & 10:00pm Saturday; 7:00pm Sunday. Helium Comedy Club, 30 Mississippi St. (853-1211 / heliumcomedy.com) $15-$30